PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *^ 


Presented   by  C7\Mc2Cj^aVvne/  C).  t)rr^^J^V^  Qy 

nil 

Division W.W.L.- 

Section yrrKw..k^  CI. 


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7^2: 


THOMAS  SMYTH,   D.   D. 

From  engraving  made  in   Edinburgh  in   1851 

as  frontispiece  for  his  book  'The   Unity  of  the   Human   Races. 


NOV  11  1914 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL  NOTES, 
LETTERS  AND  REFLECTIONS 


THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D. 


EDITED    BY    HIS    GRANDDAUGHTER 


LOUISA   CHBVES   STONBY 


CHARLESTON.    S.    C; 

WALKER.    EVANS     ft     COGSWELL     COMPAr 

1914 


ERRATA 


Page 

4,  note  lacking;  Ann  Magee  was  the  daughter  of  James  of  Saintfield. 
55,  note,  for  Rushington,  read  Lushington. 
148,   154,  for  Wm.  Smith,  Jr.  read  Sr. 
164,  line  6,  for  Secession  read  Session. 
174,  for  Dr.  W.  S.  Palmer,  read  Plumer. 
199,   for   Danna  read   Dana. 
285,  for  Elder-ship  read  Eldership. 
241,  references  lacking — 351,  352;  356-378;  257-262. 
240,  for  F.  G.  Lorimer  read  J.  G.  Lorimer. 

296-300,  Bibliog.  Articles  omitted,  Rev.  of  Book  of  Dis.,  Memp.  Pres., 
1873.  Loss  of  the  Steam  Packet  i?owt?.  Revivals,  1858.  Slavery, 
Journal  of  Commercf,  1861. 

316,  for  Armenian  read  Arminian. 

360,  after  United  read  States. 

426,  for  meditator  read  mediator. 

619,  note  5,  after  dioceses  read  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

659,  for  Commodore,  read  Commander. 

730,  note,  for  Charles  read  Alfred  R.  Stillman. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  AND  LETTERS i 

REMOVAL  TO  AMERICA,   Princeton— Charleston    .  .      57 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  SMYTH  LIBRARY  1 1 1 

LIFE  AND  PROBLEMS  IN  THE  SECOND  PRES- 
BYTERIAN CHURCH   133 

AUTHOR'S  APOLOGY  AND  REASONS  FOR  AU- 
THORSHIP      209 

INCIDENTS  OF  MY  LIFE  :— 

Chapter  i.     1834-1845    301 

Chapter  2.     1846    359 

Chapter  3.     Mrs.    Magee's   Will    405 

Chapter  4.     1847-1862   428 

SALE  OF  THE  SMYTH  LIBRARY 495 

LESSONS  FROM  MY  LIFE,  REFLECTIONS 507 

PAPERS  RELATING  TO   SECESSION   AND  THE 
WAR.     1860-1865  :— 

Chapter  i.     The  Democratic  and  Secession  Conven- 
tions    , ••••547 

Chapter  2.     From   Secession  to   Sumter    564 

Chapter  3.     From    Sumter   to   the   Bombardment   of 

Charleston    616 

Chapter  4.     Life  as  a  Refugee    658 

THE  LAST  YEARS    677 

MEMORL\L  NOTES  AND  LETTERS    713 

APPENDIX    743 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 

THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D Frontispiece. 

From  an  engraving  made  in  1851. 

Page 
SAMUEL   SMITH    2 

From  a  portrait. 

ANN    MAGEE   -- 5 

Wife  of  Samuel  Smith;  from  a  portrait. 

SMYTH  ARMS .:.._ ' 63 

THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D.  .._ : _ 99 

From  a  miniature. 

MARGARET  MILLIGAN  ADGER  _ 101 

Wife  of  Thomas  Smyth;  from  a  miniature. 

JAMES  ADGER  __.. 151 

From  a  miniature  by  Eraser. 

SARAH  ELLISON  -..- ...- 153 

Wife  of  James  Adger;  from  a  miniature  by  Eraser. 

THOMAS   SMYTH,   D.   D 160 

From  a  daguerreotype. 

MARGARET  MILLIGAN  ADGER  161 

Wife  of  Thomas  Smyth;  from  a  daguerreotype. 

THOMAS   SMYTH,   D.   D 361 

From  a  daguerreotype. 

MARGARET  MILLIGAN  ADGER 379 

Wife  of  Thomas  Smyth;  from  a  daguerreotype. 

THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D 516 

From  a  photograph. 

MARGARET  MILLIGAN  ADGER 525 

Wife  of  Thomas  Smyth;  from  a  daguerreotype. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 

The  memoranda  from  which  this  volume  has  been  compiled 
were  collected  by  Dr.  Sm3'th  in  three  bulky  volumes  with  the 
evident  intention  of  some  day  writing  the  full  story  of  his 
eventful  and  unusual  life.  The  greater  part  of  the  early  rec- 
ollections was  written  apparently  in  the  Summer  of  1839,  but 
was  largely  added  to  by  notes  and  interpolations  when  the 
work  was  resumed  in  the  Summer  of  1859.  The  early  work 
ends  abruptly  and  a  note  shows  the  change  of  date. 

It  has  been  impossible  from  the  nature  of  the  material  to 
construct  an  orderly  narrative,  and  great  difficulty  has  been 
experienced  in  making  the  necessary  omissions.  Numbers  of 
letters  dealing  with  Dr.  Smyth's  many  religious  publications, 
with  the  history  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Charleston  and  of  different  religious  Societies  and  organiza- 
tions, have  of  necessity  been  omitted,  as  the  desire  of  such  of 
Dr.  Smyth's  family  as  have  been  engaged  in  this  work,  has 
been  to  present  as  far  as  possible  a  picture  of  the  man  for  the 
better  understanding  of  his  descendants.  His  literary  work 
received  the  seal  of  approval  from  his  contemporaries  and 
requires  no  comment  here,  his  work  as  a  Minister  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  is  told  by  his  successful  ministration  of 
more  than  forty  years  in  the  old  Second  Church  of  Charleston. 
The  influence  of  his  life  is  Scill  strong  and  his  memory  still 
green  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

This  brief  prefatory  note  cannot  close  without  a  word  of 
heart-felt  regret  that  this  work  could  not  have  been  done  as 
originally  planned  by  Mrs.  Smyth,  by  the  Reverend  John 
William  Flinn,  D.  D.  Although  he  had  never  known  Dr. 
Smyth  he  was  so  completely  in  sympathy  with  the  older  man's 
thought  and  work,  and  had  from  much  talk  with  Mrs.  Smyth 
and  her  daughter,  his  wife,  so  filled  himself  with  the  spirit  of 
this  Autobiography,  that  it  became  the  great  but  unfulfilled 
desire  of  his  later  years  to  make  a  real  book  of  the  scattered 
notes  and  letters.  'We  owe  to  him  the  careful  revision  of  Dr. 
Smyth's  most  important  religious  publications — it  is  an  irrepar- 
able loss  to  all  concerned  in  the  work  that  he  should  not  have 
lived  to  complete  the  "Life."  To  him  is  affectionately  derl- 
icated  what  little  share  the  editor  has  in  this  book. 

Louisa  Cheves  Stonev. 


Most  appreciative  thanks  are  due  to  many  (friends  now 
even  if  strangers  formerly,)  who  have  readily  and  heartily 
lent  their  aid  to  the  editor  in  the  onerous  task  of  arranging 
these  papers  for  publication.  Chief  among  those  to  whose 
help  is  due  any  real  understanding  shown  in  the  editing  of 
the  important  passages  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  the  great  men  of  her  past  stands  the  Rev- 
erend Joseph  Heatly  Dulles,  Librarian  of  Princeton  Seminary, 
whose  information  has  been  so  clearly  given  that  even  igno- 
rance could  not  err  in  the  transcription  thereof.  The  Reverend 
Thornton  Whaling,  D.  D.,  L.  L.  D.,  President  of  Columbia 
Theological  Seminary,  has  also  most  cordially  aided  by  refer- 
ence to  the  Smyth  Library  as  well  as  the  records  of  the 
Seminary.  The  Charleston  Library,  with  its  invaluable  col- 
lection of  newspapers  and  rare  pamphlets  has  been  of  incal- 
culable aid;  also  the  library  of  the  South  Carolina  Historical 
Society. 

Space  does  not  permit  the  publishing  of  a  full  list  of  the 
others  to  whom  the  editor  has  had  recourse ;  but  all,  whether 
ministers,  old  members  of  the  congregation  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  old  friends  or  new,  have  the  very  sincere 
srratitude  of  the  editor. 


EARLY 


RECOLLECTIONS  AND 
LETTERS 


SAMUEL  SMITH. 
From  a  portrait  in  the  possession  of  the  Family. 


EARLY  RECOLLECTIONS  AND  LETTERS. 

My  Grandfather's  name  was  Joseph  Smyth,  a 
osep      my      ^g^j^j^gj-  [^  ^j^g  town  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  where  he 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  96.     He  had  five  sons  of  whom 
Samuel,    my    Father,    was    the    second — ^born    on 
frsmkh™""^   Wednesday     morning     August     11,     1763,     and 
brought  up  to  his  father's  trade  which  he  followed 
for  many  years,  until  he  entered  into  the  Grocery  and  Com- 
mission and  Tobacco  Manufacturing  business. 
,     In  early  life  he  had  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  consequence  of 
some  misunderstanding  at  home.     He  remained  in  the  army  a 
year.     The  knowledge  of  military  tactics  thus  acquired,   his 
activity  which  was  such  as  to  secure  his  promotion,  together 
with  that  honest  indignation  which  he  felt  against  the  oppres- 
sions   of    his    country,    prepared    him   to   take    a 
0/ i^  ^g"  prominent  position  during  that  struggle    (1798), 

which  had  it  been  successful,  would  have  been 
regarded  as  a  glorious  revolution  but  which  as  it  was  abortive 
is  now  stigmatized  as  a  vile  rebellion.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  the  scenes  of  that  eventful  period.  He  was  appointed  to  a 
command  and  was  frequently  out  in  the  nocturnal  efforts  nec- 
essary to  carry  on  the  designs  of  the  Irish  Volunteers — and 
afforded  a  harbour  beneath  the  floors  of  his  house  for  the 
arms  which  had  been  provided.  On  the  defeat  of  the  King's 
party  at  Ballynahinch,  a  small  town  near  Belfast,  this  latter 
town  was  placed  under  military  law — the  houses  searched  and 
ordered  to  be  shut — &  many  of  the  inhabitants  seized,  impris- 
oned, summarily  tried,  executed  or  transported.  Among  those 
thus  suddenly  taken  from  their  deserted  and  unprotected 
families,  was  my  Father.  He  was  carried  to  the  Castle  where 
he  found  many  of  the  most  respectable  members  of  the  Com- 
munity under  the  charge  of  a  Soldiery,  infuriated  by  defeat 
and  with  positive  orders,  should  there  be  the  slightest  symp- 
toms of  a  disturbance  in  the  town,  to  kill  each  man  his 
prisoner.  Some  of  these  unfortunate  men  were  subjected  to 
the  tyrannous  and  arbitrary  power  of  military  despotism,  but 
not  being  able  to  find  any  evidence  against  my  Father,  he  was 
finally  set  free — Mr.  McCracken,  Mr.  Orr  and  others  who 
were  executed  were  among  his  friends.     Many  papers  of  his 


which  I  have  perused  and  which  at  the  time  would  have 
subjected  their  possessor  to  very  summary  veng-eance,  are 
worthy  of  being  examined. 

This  history  will  account  for  that  genuine  hatred  of  British 
intolerance  and  cruel  injustice  toward  Ireland,  with  which 
every  member  of  our  family  seemed  to  be  imbued. 

My  Father  afterwards  became  wealthy  and  lived  in  ease  and 
comfort.  His  children  received  all  the  benefits  of  a  liberal 
and  accomplished  education,  as  far  as  they  would  partake  of 
them.' 

Changes  in  ^7  Father  changed  his  name  to  Smith,  but,  as 

spelling  of  hc  has  told  me,  without  any  reason  except  the 
name.  troublc  of  the  letter  y.    The  old  family  Bible  still 

preserves  my  Grandfather's  name  in  his  constant  orthography 
of  Smyth.  My  Mother's  marriage  certificate  still  in  my  pos- 
session has  also  Smyth.  I  resumed  the  y  in  1837  while  at  the 
General  Assembly  at  Pittsburgh.'  There  was  another  Thomas 
Smith  present  with  whose  my  letters  were  commingled,  and 
confusion  and  mistake  occasioned,  and  as  I  had  only  published 
a  few  local  pamphlets  I  determined  at  once  to  restore  my  an- 
cestral name.  I  had  published  or  printed  The  Anniversary 
Sermon  on  Nature  and  Design  of  the  Church^ — Juvenile  Mis- 
sionary Papers  which  were  monthly — and  a  Premium  Mis- 
sionary Tract. 

My  Mother's  name  was  Ann  Magee.  Born 
agee.  j^^^  ^^^  1 772.  Her  family  were  from  Scotland 
as  my  father's  were  from  England.  She  was  married  to  my 
father  January  i8,  1793.  She  died  in  Vincennes,  America, 
on  Aug.  23  A.  D.  1832,  after  a  lingering  illness.  Her  father 
I  can  just  recollect  on  a  visit  to  town.  He  was  then  more  than 
one  hundred  years  of  age,  and  died  aged  106  without  any 
previous  sickness,  suddenly  falling  back  as  he  was  getting 
into  bed  at  night,  after  having  walked  round  his  farm  that  day. 

^My  Father  was  for  many  years  a  ruling  Elder  in  the  Church 
of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hanna,  father  of  the  now  celebrated  Dr.  Wm. 
Hanna.  All  my  relations  or  kindred  were  either  ruling  elders  or 
wives  of  such,  and  my  uncle  the  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Lurgan. 

^The  General  Assembly  of  1837  met  in  Philadelphia,  that  of 
1836  in  Pittsburg.  The  first  document  signed  Thomas  Smyth  in 
existence  is  an  entry  in  the  Church  Session  Book  dated  January 
1837.  A  letter  from  Dr.  Witherspoon  (see  page  158)  shows  that 
Dr.  Smyth  did  not  attend  the  Assembly  in  1836,  that  of  1837  he 
attended  as  shown  by  his  tract  on  the  Charleston  Union  Presby- 
tery.— Ed. 

^In  1834,  see  vol.  V,  p.  31,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


ANN  MAGEE. 

Wife  of  Samuel  Smith. 
From  a  portrait  in   the   possession   of  the   Family. 


My  Mother's  brother  was  the  Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Lurgan,  County  Armagh  in  Ulster,  Ireland.  He 
was  the  only  husband  of  Mrs.  Magee*  who  so 
largely  endowed  the  Presbyterian  Ch.  in  Ireland. 
He  was  a  man  of  remarkably  fine  form  and  appearance  and 
strength.  I  have  heard  of  his  once  encountering  and  master- 
ing a  bull  in  a  field.  He  was  also  a  man  of  great  refinement 
and  gentlemanly  manners,  and  his  society  therefore  much 
sought  after.  He  left  Mrs.  Magee  a  widow.  She  was  a  Miss 
Stuart,  descended  from  a  Scotch  Royalist  family  who  on  ac- 
count of  their  connection  with  the  Pretender  were  obliged  to 
leave  and  forfeit  their  estate.  She  had  one  brother  a  General, 
and  the  other  a  Colonel  in  the  army  in  India.  Both  served  full 
time  and  retired  on  full  pay.  Both  remained  unmarried  and 
died  intestate.  The  general  lived  longest  and  had  sent  for  a 
lawyer  to  make  his  will,  sending  Mrs.  Magee  to  visit  a  friend 
—  (they  lived  together  in  Lurgan,  where  they  spent  the  Win- 
ter— travelling  during  the  Summer) — when  he  was  seized  with 
apoplexy  and  never  spoke.  Mrs.  M.  became  therefore  sole 
heir  which  she  would  not  have  been  by  will,  as  both  brothers 
were  irreligious  and  probably  infidel.  She  then  removed  to 
Dublin  and  became  a  member  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richard  Dill's 
church,  and  a  most  liberal  patron  to  him  and  his  church  and 
to  every  good  cause.  She  principally  erected  and  endowed 
the  Schools  of  the  present  handsome  Ormond  Quay  Church — 
gave  $2,500  to  the  Free  Church  Fund  and  left  to  Mr.  Dill — 
besides  unknown  bounty  while  alive,  to  Dr.  Henry,  her  physi- 
cian, and  to  Mr.  Greer,  her  counsellor,  $25,000, 
ofife^e  besides    large   living   benefactions — left   $100,000 

and  upwards  to  found  the  Magee  College  at  Derry, 
and  several  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  The  Home  and  For- 
eign Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 

She  made  a  yearly  visit  to  my  father's  house  and  was  very 
partial  to  my  mother.  She  called  me  her  favourite,  as  resem- 
bling one  of  her  two  sons  (and  only  children)  who  died  in  the 
army.  James,  the  eldest,  left  our  house  to  prosecute  his  voy- 
age to  India  (Bengal)  as  an  army  Surgeon.  I  remember  him 
well  as  a  most  noble  hearted  young  man.  He  died  there  of 
hydrophobia,  from  the  bite  of  his  own  dog.  She  was  thus 
left  childless  and  very  much  broken  in  heart,  though  a  woman 
of  unbounded  energy  and  self-countroul.  The  Diary  of  her 
son's  sickness  and  death  as  kept  by  a  brother  Physician,  came 
unintentionally  to  her  knowledge  and  possession  and  was  very 

^The  following  account  of  Dr.  Smyth's  aunt,  Mrs.   Magee,  was 
written  in  1859. — Ed. 


frequently  perused  in  lonely  grief.  She  was  a  great  reader, 
exceedingly  smart  and  witty,  equally  proud  arid  sensitive  and 
full  of  hospitable  generosity.  I  frequently  spent  part  of  vaca- 
tion with  her  while  a  boy. 

In  1844  I  visited  her  at  Dublin  and  spent  six  weeks  in  her 
house  and  was,  I  think,  instrumental  in  deciding  her  to  endow 
a  Presbyterian  College.  She  was  very  liberal  and  kind  to  me 
and  urged  me  much  to  remain  in  Dublin,  where  the  Adelaide 
St.  Church  was  vacant,  and  would,  she  thought,  and  others 
said,  no  doubt  have  called  me.  My  organ,  which  cost  $750 
altogether,  was  originally  her  gift.  Had  I  done  this,  I  might 
have  inherited  largely,  as  she  seemed  to  doat  upon  me.  But 
this  I  could  not  do.  Some  considerable  time  after  and  under 
various  influences,  she  made  her  will*  and  being  made  to  be- 
lieve I  would  not  survive  her,  she  left  me  only  $10,000.  When 
she  became  ill,  however,  she  wrote  for  me,  and  I  was  in  Edin- 
burgh on  the  way  to  see  her,  when  at  breakfast,  at  Dr. 
Chalmers',  with  Drs.  Candlish  and  others,  I  heard  incidentally 
she  was  dead.  She  is  buried  at  Harold's  Cross  Cemetery, 
where  she  pointed  out  to  me  her  intended  grave,  and  where, 
near  to  her,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dill  has  since  been  buried.  He  left 
largely  to  the  Magee  College,  being  a  bachelor. 

My  Mother  inherited  a  peculiarly  sensitive  dis- 
r.    myt  s       position  from  her  mother,  of  whom  she  was  the 

Grandmother.      -f^  ' 

youngest  child.  This  lady  had  lost  a  very  favour- 
ite and  promising  son,  v/hile  at  College.  From  the  shock 
given  by  his  death  she  never  recovered.  She  gave  herself  up 
to  grief.  She  spent  her  time  in  melancholy,  retiring  from  all 
interest  in  the  family  arrangements  and  most  generally  eating 
alone  and  at  unusual  hours.  At  midnight  she  would  be  dis- 
covered, wandering  in  the  neighboring  graveyard,  or  weeping 
over  the  grave  of  her  buried  Son.  She  soon  became  herself  a 
tenant  of  the  same  lone  and  silent  habitation,  where  in  ashes 
she  lies  commingled  with  him,  at  Saintfield,  near  Belfast. 

"Oh!  she  was  changed 
As  by  the  sickness  of  the  soul;  her  mind 
Had  wander'd  from  its  dwelling,  and  her  eyes 
They  had  not  their  own  lustre,  but  the  look 
Which  is  not  of  the  earth;  she  was  become 
The  queen  of  a   fantastic  realm;  her  thoughts 
Were    combinations    of    disjointed    things; 
And  forms  impalpable  and  unperceived 
Of  others'  sight  familiar  were   to  hers. 
And  this  the  world  calls  frenzy;  but  the  wise 

^See  "Mrs.  Magee's  Will." — Ed. 


Have  a  far  deeper  madness,  and  the  glance 
Of  melancholy  is  a  fearful  gift; 
What  is  it  but  the  telescope  of  truth? 
Which   strips   the   distance   of  its   fantasies, 
And  brings  life  near  in  utter  nakedness, 
Making  the  cold  reality  too  real!" 

The  same  tender  sensibility,  the  same  suscepti- 
bility to  deep  emotion,  characterized  my  Mother 
and  threw  over  her  a  soft  shade  of  subdued  melancholy.  But 
in  her  this  disposition  was  to  a  great  extent  controulled  by 
sound  judgment  and  the  all  transforming  power  of  religious 
hope. 

When  I  was  young,  many  gentlemen  of  great  respectability 
have  spoken  to  me  in  the  highest  commendation  of  my  Mother 
as  of  an  example  to  her  sex.  I  believe  her,  when  estimated 
by  the  present  shattered  condition  of  human  nature,  to  have 
been  very  nearly  perfect.  Her  mind  was  strong — her  passions 
deep— her  principles  sternly  unbending  in  their  integrity — her 
sense  of  honor  most  tender — and  her  affection  unbounded.  In 
her  domestic  arrangements  she  was  systematic  and  regular. 
Everything  was  conducted  by  rule.  She  had  a  place  for  every- 
thing and  kept  everything  in  its  place.  Every  hour  had  its 
prescribed  duty  unless  when  circumstances  indicated  a  differ- 
ent arrangement  to  be  necessary.  To  my  Father  she  was  most 
respectful,  attentive,  and  affectionate.  He  has  told  me  he  was 
indebted  to  her  for  deliverance  from  the  tyranny  of  one  of 
the  most  violent  tempers  and  for  preservation  from  a  thousand 
misfortunes  and  evils.  To  her  children  she  was  ever  the 
mother  inspiring  love ;  the  guardian  overlooking  them  with 
watchful  eye;  the  faithful  disciplinarian  correcting  all  their 
faults  and  requiring  implicit  subjection  to  all  her  commands. 
My  Father  I  can  only  remember  to  have  whipped  me  once,  my 
Mother  often.  For  every  such  correction  I  now  thank  her,  for 
it  was  administered  not  in  anger,  but  in  reason — ^gently  yet 
firmly.  In  the  government  of  her  domestics  she  was  equally 
kind  and  regular — requiring  the  punctual  discharge  of  eveiy 
duty — and  granting  to  them  every  reasonable  indulgence. 

My  Mother  was  a  keeper  at  home.  She  had  a  few  friends 
with  whom  she  kept  up  an  intimate  acquaintance.  But  her 
sphere  of  activity  and  enjoyment  was  her  family.  When  I 
knew  her,  from  having  been  a  very  healthy  woman  she  had 
become  infirm  and  subject  to  many  weaknesses  peculiar  to  her 
sex  and  her  situation.  My  early  remembrances  are  frequently 
associated  with  a  sick-room — the  windows  considerably  dark- 
ened—  the  bed  curtains  but  partially  withdrawn — my  Mother 


stretched  upon  the  bed,  with  her  spectacles  and  Bible  beside 
her.  There  have  I  shed  many  a  tear  as  I  felt  around  me  the 
solemn  shadows  of  unknown  death,  and  thought  of  being  de- 
serted by  that  beloved  Mother. 

Our  Summers  were  generally  spent  at  the  Sea  Shore^  for 
the  benefit  of  the  country  air  and  bathing.  There  would  my 
mother,  surrounded  by  her  young  group,  walk  afield  or  by 
the  murmuring  sea-beat  shore,  with  her  knitting  or  her  para- 
sol in  her  hand  and  talk  to  us  by  the  way,  causing  our  young 
hearts  to  burn  within  us. 

She  read  considerably,  often  securing  time  when  all  the 
sewing  and  other  duties  of  the  family  were  over,  in  the  silence 
of  the  night,  to  meditate  on  holy  things  and  hold  converse 
with  holy  men  of  God.  How  often  have  I  seen  her  with 
Burkitt  on  the  New  Testament,  opened  up  before  her  and  her 
countenance  absorbed  as  in  the  contemplation  of  divine  things. 
Flavel,  Owen,  The  Life  of  Mrs.  Graham,  Russell's  Practical 
and  Consolatory  Letters,  Bishop  Wilson's  Sacraments,  Jay 
and  such  writers  were  her  favourites. 

In  the  afternoons  my  Father  used  to  drive  us 
all  out  into  the  country  and  there  allowed  us  an 
opportunity  to  recreate  and  amuse  ourselves.  He  always  took 
great  delight  in  our  amusements  and  interested  himself  in 
them,  and  very  frequently  accompanied  us  to  his  meadow  to 
fly  kites  and  roll  hard  boiled  and  tastefully  dyed  eggs.  Shoot- 
ing marbles,  spinning  tops,  whipping  tops,  hide  and  go  seek 
through  the  extensive  yard  and  numerous  out  buildings,  were 
favourite  pastimes,  in  all  of  which  he  took  pleasure  in  acting 
as  umpire  and  peace-maker. 

But  my  holiest  recollections  of  my  Mother  are  also  associated 
with  our  days  of  darkness  and  adversity.  The  year  1825  was 
a  disastrous  one  in  the  commercial  world.  Wave  after  wave 
of  trial  had  swept  over  my  Father  in  previous  years  through 
the  failures  of  foreign  houses  after  the  wars.  This  year  con- 
summated his  ruin.*  He  was  obliged  to  yield  every  thing  to 
his  creditors — to  leave  his  own  fine  house,  which  with  several 

°The  Coast  near  Belfast  is  unusually  beautiful  and  one  spot, 
Carrickfergus,  the  family  must  have  often  visited.  The  Highbury 
letters  of  1830  speak  of  Thomas  having  been  there  in  1829  and 
having  there  come  to  important  decisions.  As  Carrickfergus  is  a 
most  historic  spot,  the  first  landing  and  settlement  of  the  Scottish 
Presbyterians  as  well  as  the  landing  of  William  of  Orange  having 
been  made  there,  the  impressionable  young  student  must  have 
derived  great  inspiration  from  the  visit. — Ed. 

*See  letter  of  Samuel  Smith,  1839. — Ed. 


10 

others  he  had  built — to  deprive  himself  of  horse  and  gig — to 
submit  to  destitution.  The  only  inheritance  now  left  us  was 
the  honorable  character  of  a  too-easy  and  too-trusting  parent 
— "honest  Samuel  Smith,"  being  the  familiar  appellation  by 
which  I  have  often  heard  him  distinguished.  Then  it  was  my 
Mother  shone  forth  like  the  moon  through  the  dark  masses  of 
surrounding  clouds,  in  all  her  loveliness.  With  what  submis- 
sion did  she  meet  her  destiny !  With  what  unmurmuring 
calmness  did  she  enter  upon  the  drudgery  it  now  became  nec- 
essary for  her  to  undergo;  and  possess  her  soul  in  patience 
amid  all  the  comparative  privations  to  which  she  was  called. 
I  had  then  entered  upon  my  classical  education  and  there  was 
now  no  prospect  of  any  ability  to  meet  the  expense  necessary 
to  continue  it.  It  was  the  earnest  desire  of  my  Mother  that 
at  least  one  of  her  children  should  enter  a  profession,  and  in 
preference  to  all  others,  that  of  the  ministry.  One  after  an- 
other had  disappointed  her,  and  now  I  was  her  only  remaining 
hope.  Can  I  ever  forget  that  night  when  a  merchant,  who 
was  a  warm  friend  and  in  profitable  business,  having  called, 
it  was  solemnly  proposed  to  me  to  relinquish  study  and  to  go 
into  his  counting  house !  I  hesitated  to  comply.  My  Mother 
looked  at  me  and  said,  "Thomas,  if  you  would  rather  pursue 
your  studies  go  on  and  I  will  work  myself,  if  needful  to  secure 
your  necessary  expenses."  I  determined  to  go  on  and  full 
well  I  know  that  to  meet  my  wants  and  to  carry  me  thro'  the 
course  of  necessary  study,  she  denied  herself  many  a  gratifi- 
cation. 

Most  blessed  Mother !  could  my  thanks  now  reach  thee  on 
thy  bright  throne  above,  I  should  here  amid  these  falling  tears, 
pour  out  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  thy  long  cherished 
son. — I  love  to  think  of  thee — my  Mother!  and  of  thy  illimit- 
able, inexhaustible  love.  I  delight  to  retrace  thy  memory  and 
to  dwell  upon  that  sadly  serious  countenance,  furrowed  with 
the  lines  of  anxious  thought  and  wrought  into  the  fixed  ex- 
pression of  long-endured  infirmities.  Thou  art  now,  my 
Mother,  where  thou  didst  so  often  wish  to  be,  even  where 
the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest. 
It  is  my  consolation  that  a  letter  giving  an  account  of  my 
marriage  and  my  call  to  a  settlement  in  the  ministry,  and  con- 
taining an  expression  of  my  filial  regard,  found  thee  in  thy 
unanticipated  illness,  still  sensible ;  that  thy  last  words  and 
thy  latest  thoughts  were  given  to  thy  far  distant  and  absent 
son;  and  that  I  was  permitted  to  erect  a  monument  to  thy 
memory,  to  speak  thy  praise  and  commemorate  thy  many  vir- 
tues, amid  the  silent  prairies  of  the  West. 


11 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  her  tomb  stone  in  the 
Cemetery  at  Vincennes,  Indiana/ 

A  few  more  days  or  months  or  at  most  years,  and  we  shall 
again  behold  each  other  and  be  reunited  I  trust,  in  that  better 
land,  where  the  eye  shall  be  no  more  moistened  by  the  falling 
tear,  nor  the  body  racked  with  pain,  nor  the  heart  oppressed 
with  sadness,  nor  life  darkened  by  clouds  of  sorrow. 

Till  then  peace  be  to  thy  memory. 

Requiescat  in  pace. 
Dr.  Smyth's  ^7  Father  'had  twelve  children — six  boys  and 

birth:  June  six  girls,  of  whom  eight  lived  to  be  men  and 
14,  1808.  women,  six  of  them  being  men — of  these  I  was 

the  youngest  but  three,  including  the  two  girls,  and  was  born 
on  June  14,  1808.  I  was  so  weakly  as  not  to  be  expected  to 
live.  My  Mother  could  not  nurse  me  and  my  wet  nurse  did 
not  do  me  justice.  I  therefore  grew  up  sickly  and  dwarfed. 
My  parents  have  told  me  they  often  walked  out  with  me  be- 
tween them,  holding  by  a  hand  of  each ;  and  that  they  had  no 
expectation  of  ultimately  raising  me.  This  debility  which  is 
singular  in  the  family,  has  ever  to  some  considerable  extent 
characterized  me.  This  may  have  eventuated  happily  for  me 
as  it  threw  me  more  into  my  Mother's  society,  and  led  me  to 
seek  my  pleasures  more  in  retirement  and  study.  Reading 
early  became  my  delight  and  the  possession  of  books  my 
greatest  desire.  I  took  a  pretty  thorough  course  in  the  Juve- 
nile reading  of  that  day,  consisting  of  Fairy  Tales,  Ghost 
Stories,  etc.,  the  influence  of  which  upon  the  imagination 
neither  philosophy  nor  religion  can  ever  wholly  eradicate. 
Robinson  Crusoe  was  a  great  favourite.  Again  and  again 
have  I  read  this  while  seated  amid  the  embowering  leaves  of 
some  lofty  tree  whose  branches  I  had  converted  into  a  couch, 
where  I  used  to  pour  forth  my  sympathetic  tears  over  De  Foe's 
inimitable  and  to  me  most  veritable  story.  It  was  to  me  true 
history  and  is  still  one  of  my  classics.  When  I  read  through 
smaller  books  I  would  change  them  for  larger ;  and  thus  has 
my  library  undergone  many  successive  transformations  until 
it  has  matured  in  its  present  form. 

I  believe  I  never  passed  an  Examination  at 
School  without  obtaining  one  of  the  prizes  given 
for  excellence.  I  can  remember  the  first  I  obtained  when  I 
was  able  to  spell  in  two  syllables,  and  the  exquisite  joy  it 
afiforded  me.  This  was  a  pen-knife  given  by  my  then  teacher 
the  Rev.  John  Kennedy,  who,  if  not  dead,  is  somewhere  in  the 
United  States. 

^For  inscription  see  "Incidents."   1847. — Ed. 


12 

Dr.  Smyth's  sister,  Isabella,  writes  on  January  21,  1851,  to 
Mrs.  Smyth; 

"Since  I  can  remember  any  thing  memory  recalls  distinctly 
being  waked  up  by  Thomas  coming  to  bed  in  the  next  room  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  &  then  again  so  early  that  it  made  me 
almost  shudder  to  think  of  it,  he  was  up  again  &  away  off  thro' 
cold  &  wet  to  some  early  class  at  College,  sometimes  with  three 
socks  on  one  foot  &  one  on  the  other  &  all  sorts  of  mufflers  & 
such  a  variety  of  pieces  of  flannel  that  I  think  no  one  but  a 
Mother  could  have  found  places  for.  I  have  his  likeness  taken 
in  Belfast  when  he  was  19  or  20,  &  I  never  look  at  it  without 
being  reminded  of  his  early  days  of  unceasing  never  ending 
work.  One  corner  of  our  sitting  room  was  his  special  domain, 
his  passion  for  the  beautiful  had  collected  around  him  even  in 
infancy  &  boyhood  what  appeared  to  me  a  perfect  museum,  & 
I  have  seldom  in  this  world  enjoyed  more  pleasure  than  I  did 
in  getting  into  his  corner  &  seat  in  his  absence  &  taking  a  peep 
at  his  curiosities,  opening  &  shutting  his  books  &  getting  my 
child's  heart  &  fancy  filled  with  wonderment  &  admiration. 
How  he  &  our  Mother  planned  &  lectured  &  strove  to  make 
Anne  &  myself  accomplished  &  genteel;  but  alas  their  efforts 
failed,  we  are  two  of  the  plainest  mortals  extant,  &  think  of 
very  little  else  but  the  dear  children  God  in  his  kindness  has 
loaned  us.^ 

I  studied  for  several  years  at  the  Academical  Institution  in 
Belfast,  which  was  then  connected  with  what  is  now  the 
Queen's  College,  as  a  preparatory  or  Higher  School.  Around 
its  spacious  walks,  in  its  grassy  bottoms  or  hollows,  within  the 
elevated  walks  and  squares — its  ball-alleys  and  its  Commons, 
I  spent  the  days  of  boyhood.  This  period  of  life  is  accounted 
generally  happy.  I  am  persuaded  it  is  so  only  comparatively 
and  when  looked  at  retrospectively  and  through  the  mist  of 
years,  "  'Tis  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view."  My 
experience  testifies  that  it  is  a  troubled  dream,  a  mingled  scene 
of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  hope  and  fear,  of  delight  and  discontent- 
ment, of  boisterous  mirth  and  gloomy  sadness.  At  this  time 
it  may  I  think  be  most  emphatically  said  of  man  "he  never  is, 
but  always  to  be  blest."  In  confirmation  of  this  opinion  I  may 
here  quote  the  language  of  the  great  Augustine  in  his  Confes- 
sions. There  is  great  unwillingness  to  be  under  all  the  neces- 
sary government  of  elders  and  superiors.  There  is  oftentimes 
a  sad  reluctance  to  the  duty  that  is  presently  binding.  There 
is  an  intense  craving  after  the  future.     Here  at  the  entrance 

'The  rest  of  this  letter  may  be  found  in  "Incidents,"  1851. — Ed. 


13 

of  its  dark  cave  the  youth  is  frequently  found  sitting,  gazing 
upon  nothingness,  and  straining  his  eyes  if  haply  some  genius 
of  the  place  may  reveal  to  him  his  coming  destiny.  He  ago- 
nizes to  be  a  man — to  be  free  from  all  restraint — to  be  rich — 

to   enjoy   glorious    liberty.      Love   too    begins    to 
f^'iove  °"^  *^    kindle  up  its  wasting  fires  and  to  consume  him 

with  its  quenchless  longings.  How  it  may  be  with 
others  I  know  not,  but  with  me  I  am  free  to  confess  the 
prospect  of  wedded  life  was  like  Eden,  where  guarded  by  the 
dreadful  waving  sword,  there  breathed  round  the  vales  beneath 
those  fragrant  perfumes  it  was  no  longer  permitted  that  man 
should  enjoy.  I  looked  towards  it  as  the  promised  land,  a 
land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey,  and  upon  all  the  interven- 
ing space  as  the  waste,  howling  wilderness. 

Even  the  philosophic  and  learned  Burton  had  informed  me 
that  ''nuptial  love  is  the  warm  and  steady  affection  of  a  virtu- 
ous heart  seeking  its  happiness  in  that  high  and  honourable 
union  which  was  appointed  by  God  in  paradise." 

"For  those  who   spurn  not  Hymen's  powers 
But  seek  for  bliss  within  his  bowers, 

By  sweet  experience  know 
That  marriage   rightly   understood 
Gives   to   the  tender  and  the   good 
A  Paradise  below." 

"This  species  of  love"  he  adds  "captivates  the  soul  by  such 
irresistible  powers,  is  surrounded  by  such  an  assemblage  of 
persuasive  charms,  comes  recommended  by  such  rational  and 
satisfactory  motives,  and  is  capable  of  filling  the  bosom  with 
such  transcendent  and  refined  delight,  that  no  man  who  has 
not  a  gourd  for  his  head  or  a  pippin  for  his  heart  can  avoid 
it."' 

In  addition  to  this  the  testimony  of  Apuleius,  originated  by 
this  same  writer  who  was  eminent  as  a  Scholar,  had  great 
impression  on  deepening  the  desires  of  my  heart.  This  writer 
had  for  some  time  been  a  declared  enemy  to  women,  and  to 
marriage,  but  afterwards  having  married  he  says  "Now  I  re- 
cant, with  Stesichorus  I  approve  of  marriage.  I  am  glad  that 
I  am  a  married  man.  I  am  heartily  glad  that  I  have  a  wife, 
so  young  a  wife,  so  sweet  a  wife,  so  noble  a  wife,  so  chaste  a 
wife,  so  loving  a  wife,  and  I  do  exhort  and  desire  all  other 
men,  especially  Scholars,  to  marry,  that  as  of  old  Martia  did 
to   Hortensius,   Terentia   to   Tully,   Calphurnia   to   Pliny   and 

"See  Anat.  of  Melancholy,  Chap.  VI. 


14 

Prudentella  to  Apuleius,  their  wives  may  hold  the  lamp  to 
them  while  they  read  or  write  as  my  dear  Camilla  now  does 
to  me." 

"Our  grandsire  Adam   ere   of  Eve   possessed, 
Alone  and  even  in   Paradise  unblessed, 
With    mournful    look    the    dismal    scene    surveyed 
And  wandered  in  the  solitary  shade: 
The   Maker   saw,   took   pity   and  bestowed 
Woman,  the  last  and  best  received  of  God." 

Often  have  I  dropped  my  instruments,  and  turned  away 
from  the  hieroglyphic  figures  of  abstract  mathematics,  that  I 
might  sing  a  song  of  love  and  tune  my  half-strung  harp,  dis- 
cordant as  it  was,  to  the  fame  of  some  youthful  companion.^ 
Through  how  many  thorny  brakes,  and  sinking  bogs,  and  wild, 
haunted,  and  terrific  regions  has  this  wild-fire  led  me.  I  was 
ever  worshipping  some  ideal  beauty  and  madly  appropriating 
her  charms  to  some  gay  deceiver,  as  foolish  and  thoughtless 
(shall  I  say  thought-full)  as  myself. — Yes!  Youth  to  me  was 
a  wild  and  feverish  romance.  It  was  the  poetry  of  life  only 
because  it  was  full  of  most  tragic  incidents,  and  convulsed  by 
tempestuous  and  whirlwind  passions.  Kirke  White  must  have 
felt  as  I  did  when  he  so  sorrowfully  depictured  the  trials  of 
childhood. 

"His  love  was  passion's  essence — as  a  tree 
On    fire    by    lightning;    with    ethereal    fiame 
Kindled  he  was,  and  blasted;  for  to  be 
Thus,  and  enamour'd,  were  in  him  the  same. 
But  his  was  not  the  love  of  living  dame, 
Nor  of  the  dead  who  rise  upon  our  dreams, 

'  But  of  ideal  beauty,  which  became 
In   him  existence,   and   o'erflowing  teems 
Along  his  burning  page,  distempered  though  it  seems." 

Even  Vacation,  blessed  time  as  it  is  to  young 
and  unembittered  hope,  is  not  what  it  appears. 
When  the  crowded  Hall  was  formally  dismissed  after  the  pub- 
lic distribution  of  our  prizes  and  our  address  from  the  Presid- 
'ing  Master — when  our  bursting  hearts  gave  vent  to  their 
exuberant  joy  in  loud  clappings  and  unrestrained  huzzas,  as  I 
lingered  behind  the  racing  throng  hurrying  homeward  as  if 
fearful  to  lose  a  moment  of  the  precious  Season,  I  have  felt  a 
most  unaccountable  vacuity  of  mind,  a  heart-sickness  of  a 
most  painful  kind,  and  I  have  walked  along  as  if  in  sadness 

^Note. — See  note  by  Dr.  Smyth,  p.  21. — Ed. 


15 

even  when  carrying  an  arm-full  of  prizes.  There  were  gen- 
erally several  hundred  of  boys  at  this  School — all  of  whom  as- 
sembled in  the  large  Common  Hall — capable  of  holding  1500 
or  2000  people,  every  Saturday  and  on  Examination,  Com- 
mencements and  Dismissals.  Before  vacation  is  over,  its  nov- 
elty too  is  gone,  idleness  ceases  to  have  attractions,  and  we 
long  for  the  return  of  School.' 

At  length  in  the  year  1827  I  entered  the  Belfast 
ft\^^l827  College,  being  about  19  years  of  age — This  Col- 
lege is  conducted  on  the  plan  of  the  Scotch  Univer- 
sities, combining  however  with  it  many  of  the  advantages  of  the 
English  plan.  During  the  first  Session,  I  studied  Greek  with 
Professor  Bruce — ^Hebrew  with  Dr.  Hincks,  author  of  a  Greek 
Grammar,  Lexicon,  etc. ;  Junior  Mathematics  with  Dr.  Thom- 
son— Elocution  with  Professor  McEwen,  who  died  as  Professor 
in  Glasgow  University;  separate  courses  under  the  celebrated 
Sheridan  Knowles,  Tragedian  and  Author  of  Virginius,  & 
William  Tell ;  and  Logic  and  Rhetorick  with  Professor  Cairns, 
whose  Lectures  and  works  are  published.  The  number  of 
fellow  students  was  I  think  about  eighty  to  ninety  in  each 
class.  In  Greek  I  obtained  the  third  prize  in  the  class,  (a 
prize  was  given  at  the  close  of  a  six  months  session,  to  about 
every  ten  students,  voted  for  in  the  presence  of  the  faculty, 
by  the  students  of  each  class,  and  founded  upon  the  exercises 
of  the  whole  term.)^  &  the  Faculty  prize  for  the  best  Transla- 
tion of  Dionysius'  Geography  with  Maps  and  Notes.  In 
Hebrew  I  obtained  the  second  prize.  In  Elocution,  the  second. 
In  Mathematics  the  second  I  believe,  and  in  Senior  year,  first; 
and  in  Logic,  where  the  struggle  was  desperate  between  the 
"present  Counsellor  Allen,  the  Rev.  W.  Gibson  of  Ireland,  (now 
Professor  in  the  Irish  General  Assembly's  Theological  College, 
and  in  1859  Moderator),  and  myself,  I  obtained  by  almost 
entire  unanimity  the  first  prize  voted  by  about  90  students,  and 
unanimously  the  only  prize  given  at  a  public  examination  be- 
fore the  Managers,  the  Commissioners  of  the  Synod  of  Ulster, 

Warm  Springs,  Va.,  August,  1859. 

'This  was  written  some  25  or  26  years  a.go,  [only  20. — Ed.] 
when  I  felt  still  the  heat  of  youthful  blood,  and  was  not  as  now, 
a  sere  and  yellow  leaf  of  an  early  Autumn. 

I  do  not  withdraw  it  because  it  expresses  in  words  what  all 
probable  experience,  and  if  a  peculiar  temperament  has  led  to 
peculiar  trials  and  temptations,  this  record  may  awaken  gratitude 
in  those  more  happily  constituted  and  give  stimulus,  fortitude 
and  hope  to  those  who  are  of  like  passions  and  lead  them  to  take 
heart  again  and  fight  manfully  the  good  fight. 

^This  was  the  Scottish  method  of  award. — Ed. 


16 

&c.  In  addition  to  the  class  prizes  as  above,  a  public  examina- 
tion of  each  class  on  the  whole  course,  was  conducted  by  the 
Professor,  in  the  Common  Hall,  and  before  a  large  audience; 
and  a  prize  voted  by  the  Commissioners  and  Examinators 
present.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Cooke,  was  one  of  these  and,  as  he 
afterwards  told  me,  gave  me  his  vote,  (indeed  it  was  unani- 
mous) on  that  occasion,  which  was  the  most  anxious  and 
proudest  day  of  my  whole  life. 

Next  year  I  studied  Elocution  in  the  Senior  Division — 
Mathematics  in  the  Senior  division  of  the  Junior  class — and 
Moral  Philosophy.  I  also  gave  private  lessons  to  some  stud- 
ents preparing  for  Dublin  College,  and  taught  the  family  of 
Mr.  Casement  an  intimate  friend  of  the  family,  for  two  hours 
each  day,  and  as  my  father  had  again  got  into  comfortable 
circumstances  and  occupation,  there  was  no  difficulty  of  a 
pecuniary  kind  in  my  way.  My  mother  also  was  enabled  to 
give  my  sisters  what  was  ever  her  great  desire,  the  best 
education.  , 

In  Elocution  I  obtained  the  first  prize  and  was  selected 
to  read  in  the  Public  Hall.  This  was  quite  an  honour.  I  also 
recited  there  in  Greek  the  Speech  of  Andromache  in  a 
dialogue,  and  read  there  an  Essay  on  the  Existence  of  God, 
by  appointment  of  Dr.  Young,  Prof,  of  Moral  Phil.  In  math- 
ematics I  obtained  the  2nd  prize — and  in  Moral  Philosophy  in 
competition  with  the  same  men.  Rev.  W.  Gibson  and  Chancel- 
lor Allen,  I  again  unanimously  obtained  the  first  class  prize — 
the  single  prize  at  the  public  examination,  and  two  prizes  for 
examinations  on  both  parts  of  Butler's  Analogy.  I  also 
obtained  the  Faculty  prize  for  an  Essay  on  Philanthropy. 

During     this     session,     I     also     attended     the 
Societ"^  Debating   Society,   where  the  votes   for  the  best 

speaking  were  taken  after  each  night's  debate, 
and  kept  locked  up  until  the  close  of  the  Session,  when 
they  were  counted.  Here  also  I  had  a  great  contest, 
but  obtained  the  premium,  which  I  still  possess.*  Oh !  the  fear- 
ful suspense  of  that  last  night's  debate,  when  my  opponent, 
(afterwards  a  Counsellor  in  Dublin,)  whose  votes  and  mine 
were  supposed  to  be  about  equal,  met  each  other  in  the  arena 
of  discussion,  and  the  Society  awaited  our  encounter  as  a 
final  test  for  the  decision  of  the  prize  which  was  to  be  then 
awarded.  Did  Hannibal  ever  agonize  more  when  the  Roman 
legions  bristled  in  armour  before  him,  and  a  single  day  niight 
give  victory  or  defeat! 

^Brown's  Philosophy  in  i  vol.  handsomely  bound.  A  number 
of  these  vols,  are  in  the  Smyth  Library  such  as  Butler,  Kames, 
Reid,   &c.     Others   were   given   away. 


17 


(Note  i860.) — Specimen  of  Youthful  Composition  Extempo- 
rised and  Uncorrected — The  Boy  the  Father  of  the  ManJ^ 


2nd  Speech  for  Debating  Society.      1st   Copy  unaltered. 

3  1-2  hours  in  Composing.     From  dinner 

to  tea  &  an  hour  after. 

Speech 

on  the 

Question 

Whether  are  the  pleasures  derived  from  the  Con- 
templation of  Nature  or  the  Investigations 
of  Science — Superior  ? 

Delivered 
in  the 

Belfast  Academical  Debating  Society 

on  the  evening 
of 

August  22nd 
1828 


"The    speech    itself    is    omitted    as    it    comprises    twenty-three 
pages  of  extremely  finely  written  note  paper. — Ed. 


[2] 


18 
During  this   Session   my   relis^ious   impressions 

Religious  Life.       ,  jt  i  •j-.u  jjj 

aeepened.  1  was  long  m  distress  and  endured  a 
great  fight  of  inward  affliction,  before  I  found  Christ  and  was 
found  of  Him  in  peace.  Finally  I  joined  the  church  and 
entered  upon  the  christian  course  in  great  joy.  I  had  always 
been  serious/  and  when  most  tempted,  afraid  of  Sin.  I  was, 
early  a  Sabbath  School  teacher  in  the  Brown  St.  Sabbath 
School,  of  which  my  brother  Joseph  was  Superintendent,  and 
afterwards  in  our  own  Congregation  and  in  a  general  School 
held  in  a  Methodist  Church  in  Donegal  Place.  Here  I  made 
my  first  public  prayer  and  enjoyed  many  a  thrice  hallowed 
Season,  Dear  were  the  friends  with  whom  I  here  united,  and 
most  hallowed  the  remembrances  of  this  School.  There  was 
one  in  particular  who  taught  a  class  in  the  gallery  above  me, 
His  engage-  whose  mystcrious  reserve,  sylph  like  form,  and 
ment  to  soft    entrancing    voice     (when    permitted    to    be 

Miss  Spear.  heard  at  some  chance  interval)  more  than  attracted 
me.'  She  became  the  embodied  shape  of  all  my  musings — the 
incarnation  of  my  ideal  form  of  love  and  youth  and  beauty — 
the  centre  of  those  thousand  fond  aspirations  which  the  en- 
thusiasm of  a  piety  that  yearned  to  crucify  all  worldly  ambi- 
tion, now  quickened  with  tenfold  power.  I  became  distracted 
with  love.  But  then  I  knew  well  I  had  to  make  my  own  way 
in  life.  I  was  very  young — I  was  but  a  student — I  was  not  even 
through  College.  The  family  of  the  young  lady  was  very  high, 
tho'  like  my  own  in  rather  reduced  circumstances.  On  the 
other  hand  I  was  miserable  and  could  not  satisfactorily  pursue 
my  studies.  It  would  have  been  a  comfort  to  be  utterly  re- 
jected and  thus  quieted.  With  this  view,  without  ever  having 
spoken  to  the  young  lady,  I  wrote  to  her  telling  just  how  I 
was  situated  and  that  I  had  no  immediate  prospects  of  any 
thing  like  matrimony.  To  my  amazement,  while  she  did  not 
altogether  refuse,  she  referred  me  to  her  father.  I  had  there- 
fore no  alternative  but  to  proceed.  I  requested  an  interview 
and  was  allowed  to  visit  the  family  in  my  declared  character. 
Soon  I  began  to  discover  that  I  had  been  deceived — not  by  the 
young  lady — ^for  she  was  everything  that  is  good,  virtuous  and 
in  many  respects  too  amiable — but  by  myself  in  mistaking 
fancy  for  reality.  So  complete  a  visionary  was  I  that  on  one 
occasion  pointing  her  out  to  a  young  companion  as  she  passed 
on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  he  asked  me  if  I  knew  her. 

^See  vol.   VIII,  p.  603,   Smyth's   Works. — Ed. 
'See  letters  concerning  Miss   Caroline  Spear,  with  note  by  Dr. 
Smyth,  pp.  29,  etc. — Ed. 


19 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  "1  have  done  everything  but  speak  to  her." 
Like  Lambert  I  found  that  whatever  might  be  the  besetting 
sin  and  trials  of  corrupt  nature,  a  regenerated  heart  was  the 
only  remedy — the  only  relief — the  only  calm  for  the  passions 
and  contentment  for  the  heart. 

Lambert,  surrounded  with  debauchery,  and  become  an  ob- 
ject of  hatred  to  the  monks,  felt  from  time  to  time  an  ardent 
desire  to  return  into  the  world,  which  appeared  to  him  infinitely 
more  holy  than  the  cloister :  but  he  found  something  still 
better.  Luther's  works,  carried  to  the  fairs  of  Lyons,  de- 
scended the  Rhone  and  reached  his  cell.  They  were  soon  taken 
from  him  and  burnt;  but  it  was  too  late.  The  spirit  that 
animated  the  Augustine  of  Wittemberg  had  passed  into  the 
Franciscan  of  Avignon :  he  was  saved.  Vainly  until  then  had 
he  resorted  to  frequent  fasting;  vainly  had  he  slept  sitting  on 
a  stool ;  vainly  had  he  shunned  the  looks  of  woman,  worn 
haircloth  next  his  skin,  scourged  himself,  and  so  weakened  his 
body  that  he  could  scarcely  hold  himself  upright,  and  some- 
times even  fainted  in  the  churches  and  fields  as  he  was  preach- 
ing to  the  people.  All  this,  he  tells  us,  could  not  extinguish 
the  desires  and  banish  the  thoughts  that  preyed  upon  him,  and 
it  was  only  in  faith  on  the  free  grace  of  God  and  in  the  sanctity 
of  a  married  life  that  he  found  purity  and  peace.  This  is  one 
of  those  numerous  examples  which  prove  that  marriage,  being 
of  Divine  appointment,  is  a  means  of  grace  and  holiness,  and 
that  the  celibacy^  of  priests  and  monks,  the  invention  of  man, 
is  one  of  the  most  effectual  agents  to  foster  impurity,  sully  the 
imagination,  disturb  the  peace  of  families,  and  fill  society  with 
innumerable  disorders. 

In  short,  this  young  lady  was  not  the  heroine  of  my  passion. 
She  did  not  reciprocate  it  as  I  anticipated  love  would,  or  at 
kast  should.  This  however  I  thought  might  be  wisely  de- 
termined in  order  that  my  extravagance  of  feeling  might  be 
corrected — and  I  submitted,  determined  that  nothing  on  my 
part  should  ever  violate  the  sanctity  of  our  now  plighted  love. 
„.  ,.  Early  in  my  life  my  Father,  who  had  been  for 

His  connection  -'  -'  -  '  •  /-^i  i 

with  the  many  years  an  Elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 

Congregational  Qf  -^yhich  Dr.  Samucl  Hanna,  father  of  Dr.  AVilliam 
Hanna  was  pastor,  to  which  also  his  father  was 
attached,  was  led  to  connect  himself  with  a  Congregational 
Church  then  established  in  Belfast.  The  Presbyterian  Church 
at  this  time  was  sadly  degenerate  both  in  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline, and  the  erection  of  an  Independent  Church  on  prin- 

^See  vol.  X,  p.  708,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


20 

ciples  of  greater  Evangelic  purity,  was  received  with  favour 
by  many.  In  this  church  I  was  brought  up  and  to  it  I  was 
first  attached.  When  I  was  therefore  led  at  this  time  to  per- 
fect a  desire  I  had  cherished  from  infancy,  that  is,  to  enter  the 
ministry,  should  I  ever  be  qualified  by  grace,  I  turned  my  at- 
tention to  the  Dissenting  Academies ;  and  thro'  my  friends, 
and  particularly  the  father  of  the  young  lady  (whose  family 
were  English  and  but  recently  settled  in  Ireland)  I  succeeded 
in  procuring  admission  into  Highbury  College,  Islington, 
in  London. 

This  Academy  was   formerly  held  in  Hoxton, 
Cofie  ""^^  ^^^  ^^  consequence  of  the  confined  situation  of 

that  place,  this ,  more  splendid  establishment  was 
erected.  These  Academies  receive  only  a  limited  number  of 
students,  in  different  stages  of  a  classical  education,  who  are 
all  required  tO'  live  within  the  building,  subject  to  very  strict 
laws  and  regulations.  Provision  is  made  to  meet  all,  or  most 
of  the  expenses  of  the  Students,  as  may  be  found  necessary. 
It  requires  some  considerable  interest  to  obtain  admission.  An 
examination  takes  place  in  which  the  piety  of  the  individual  is 
scrutinized,  and  he  is  required  to  give  a  specimen  sermon  or 
address  and  to  make  prayer.  He  is  then  received  on  six 
months  trial,  after  which  he  is  liable  to  dismission  on  want  of 
ability  or  the  infraction  of  any  of  the  laws  of  the  house.  The 
course  of  study  is  5,  4  or  3  years  in  proportion  to  the  previous 
acquisitions  of  the  Student. 

Classical  and  Theological  Studies  are  pursued  at  the  same 
time  and  practical  as  well  as  theoretical  exercises  in  Sermoniz- 
ing are  required,  which  are  made  more  and  more  public  until 
the  close  of  the  term.  The  Student  is  then  sent  to  preach  in 
some  congregation,  supposed  to  open  up  a  field  in  some  meas- 
ure proportioned  to  his  ability.  They  are  on  the  whole 
admirable  institutions,  and  send  out  many  very  eminent 
preachers  and  scholars.  I  was  very  much  pleased  indeed  with 
Highbury  during  my  noviciate  there.  The  building  is  fine — 
the  grounds  extensive — the  study  and  sleeping  apartments 
commodious—  and  the  Library  extremely  valuable  and  large. 


These  verses  are  by  a  very  early  intimate  family  friend  with 
whom  when  about  14  or  15  or  perhaps  16  I  was  desperately 
in  love  but  though  her  mother  favoured  my  wishes,  she  was 
not  disposed  to  love.  She  since  became  engaged  and  three 
times  broke  it  off,  the  last  time  the  evening  before  marriage 
because  of  her  excessive  modesty  and  this  only.  She  was 
Unitarian.     I  saw  her  in  1846. 


21 

This  note  is  over  a  letter  signed  "Mary  Cunningham"  dated 
"Glenwood,  14  January,  1846."  "Belfast."  The  letter  will  be 
found  in  Chap.  "1846."  Dr.  Smyth  states  that  the  following  is 
"perhaps  from  the  same." — Editor. 

To 


"Farewell,  Farewell  beloved  one 

"A  separate  path  is  ours, 
"Another  course  is  thine  to  run 

"That  doth  not  promise  flowers. 

^         5|<         >{;  ^         ^        ^ 

"I  do  not  ask  a  thought  from  thee 

"A  sister  may  not  claim : 
"Yet  would  I  say  "Remember  me, 

"And  kindly  breathe  my  name." 

"Twas  sweet  to  dream  of  passing  still 

"In  close  communion  on ; 
"But  such  is  not  our  father's  will, 

"Oh  may  that  will  be  done. 

'    "And  what  though  I  had  idly  dreamt 
"A  vision  of  delight, 
"Here  none  from  trial  are  exem.pt 
"No  sun  is  always  bright! 

"Again  farewell ! — I  shed  no  tear — 

"We  do  not  part  with  grief; 
"Yet  I  shall  miss  thy  voice  to  cheer 

"When   sorrow   seeks   relief. 

"Friends  pass  away  like  earthly  flowers, 

"With  slow  or  swift  decay, 
"And  well  might  we  compute  the  hours 

"When  grief  was  all  away. 

"But  this  is  for  a  little  space, 

"And  hope  and  faith  may  soar 
"To  realms  where  sorrow  hath  no  place 

"And  pain  shall  be  no  more." 

Feb.  14,  1829  "M." 

There  is  inserted  also,  in  the  old  MS.  a  long  poem  in  blank 
verse,  "A  Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  Mr.  George  McMurray"  by 
Dr.  Smyth,  who  states  in  a  note  that  it  was  addressed  to  a  young 
cousin  who  had  lately  died,  "say  in  1827." — Editor. 


22 

I  very  early  destroyed  my  poetical  lucubrations' 
unprofitable.       wisely   Concluding  that  poetry  must  either   be   a 

man's  calling  or  his  falling,  and  as  very  unprofit- 
able business.  The  making  and  the  reading,  enjoying  and  even 
occasional  writing  are  very  different. 

While  in  the  Moral  Philosophy  Class  the  stud- 
d"  Young.       ^^^^  made  up  a  very  handsome  gown  as  a  present 

to  Dr.  Young,  the  Professor  and  undoubtedly  a 
very  able  man.  I  was  selected  to  write  the  Address  and  pre- 
sent it,  which  I  did  in  public  in  the  Common  Hall.  This  address 
he  was  pleased  highly  to  commend.  It  is  a  specimen  also  of 
my  careful  penmanship  at  the  time." 

To 

Dr.  Young, 

SIR, 

The  Moral  Philosophy  class  in  connection  with  the  other 
classes  of  Belfast  College  beg  leave  to  express  the  high  esteem 
which  they  entertain  for  your  abilities  and  their  gratitude  for 
the  warm  and  steady  interest  which  you  have  invariably  taken 
in  their  improvement  and  welfare. 

The  manner  in  which  you  have  discharged  the  duties  of 
your  situation,  your  anxiety  to  cultivate  and  strengthen  the 
minds  of  your  students — to  awaken  in  them  a  spirit  of  re- 
search— to  train  them  to  habits  of  thought  and  reflection — and 
above  all  to  imbue  them  with  an  ardent  and  unalterable  love  of 
truth,  can  never  be  forgotten  by  those  who  have  enjoyed  the 
benefit  of  your  instructions.  And  they  feel  assured  that  under 
the  fostering  care  of  such  talents  united  as  they  are  with  such 
persevering  diligence  this  seminary  wiir  yet  become  the  means 
of  diffusing  more  generally  throughout  our  native  land  the 
blessings  of  an  enlightened  and  well  regulated  system  of  Edu- 
cation. 

We  therefore  trust,  sir,  you  will  appreciate  our  sincerity 
when  we  come  forward  thus  publicly  to  avow  our  respect  for 
your  talents  and  acquirements  and  we  request  that  you  will 
accept  this  gown  as  a  slight  testimonial  of  our  regard  accom- 
panied with  the  ardent  wish  that  you  may  long  wear  it  in  a 

^See  vol.  X,  pp.  56-90,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

^The  penmanship  is  wonderful  as  are  all  early  specimens  of 
Dr.  Smyth's  handwriting.  One  sheet  of  Algebra  examples  is  like 
copper  plate.     An  exquisitely  drawn  Map  also  exists. — Ed. 

^"Shall"  originally  written,  scored  in  pencil  and  "will"  substi- 
tuted.— Ed. 


23 

situation  which  you  fill  with  so  much  honor  to  yourself  and 
advantage  to  those  placed  under  your  care. 
College  Belfast. 
January  25,  1828. 

Dr.  Young  was  a  fellow  student  with  Dr.  Thomas  Brown 
under  Dugald  Stewart,  and  was  it  is  believed,  the  originator  of 
his  peculiar  theory  of  suggestion  and  it  was  said  he  had  a  copy 
of  Notes  of  Dr.  Young's  Lectures  in  hand  while  preparing  his 
own.  Dr.  Young  was  cut  off  in  his  prime,  suddenly,  and  be- 
fore, as  he  intended — he  had  published. 

The  students  watched  his  grave  for  a  fortnight  in  the  Poor 
House  Cemetery — (so  called  from  being  near  that  prominent 
building) — in  which  my  father's  monument  to  four  children 
stands. 

Dr.   Smyth  next  inserts  this   certificate. — Editor. 

Standing  at  ^^^-  Smith  thi^  scssiou  entered  the  secnd.  Math- 

Beifast  Col-       ematical  Class  and  the  Natural  Philosophy  Class. 
^^^^-  I  certify  the  above 

Tho.  D.  Hincks.* 
23  Feb.  1829. 

In  the  Debating  Society  the  prize  I  received  was  given  by 
votes  cast  after  every  debate  during  a  six  month's  session. 
This  was  Brown's  Philosophy  7  vols,  now  in  my  Library. 
In  all  19  College  prizes. 

Extract  from  the  Album  of  Belfast  College. 

Mr.  Thomas  Smith  appears  to  have  obtained  the  following 
rewards. 

Greek  Class,  Session  1826-27,  3rd.  prem.  at  close  of  session, 
(by  votes  of  class-fellows)  and  in  following  session  a  premium 
for  a  Translation  of  Dionysius's  Periegesis. 

Logic  Class  1826-27.  ist  premium  (by  votes  of  class-fellows) 
and  the  premium  adjudged  to  the  best  answerer  in  the  Common 
Hall,  by  the  gentlemen  present  and  in  Nov.  1827  a  premium 
for  answering  at  a  Voluntary  Examination  in  the  4th  Book 
of  Locke. 

A  Faculty  Prize  for  Essay  in  Philanthropy. 
Mathematics — Session  1825-26     3rd  premium  Jun^  Div. 
"       1827-28     1st  prem.   Sen'.  Class. 
"       1828-29     prem.  Sec".  Class. 
Moral  Philosophy,  "       1827-28     i"'  premium,  and  premium  in 

^Father  of  Dr.  Edward  Hincks,  a  famous  Egyptian  x\rcheolo- 
gist. 


24 

Common  Hall  as  in  Logic  in  the  preceding  year;  and  in  Nov. 
1828,  2  premiums  for  Voluntary  examinations  in  Locke  and 
in  Butler's  Analogy. 

Hebrew  Class,  session  1825-26,  3''''  premium,  also,  in  1826-27. 
Elocution  Class,  session  1825-26  a  premium. 

"      1828        i^'  premium. 
Sheridan  Knowles  Do. 


Copies  of  some  letters  sent  to  London  in  i82p  or  brought 
to  America. 

Certificates  ^  h^iYQ  kuowu  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  since  Nov. 

from  Belfast  1 822,  when  he  entered  the  Classical  School  of  the 
College,  1829.  Belfast  Institution,  in  which  he  continued  for  five 
years  and  conducted  himself  with  great  propriety.  His  pro- 
gress was  very  satisfactory  and  he  often  distinguished  himself 
by  his  answering  at  Examinations  when  he  obtained  premiums 
both  for  classical  knowledge  and' for  recitation.  He  afterwards 
entered  the  collegiate  department  of  the  Institution  and  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  progress  in  Logic  and  Moral  phil- 
osophy, Mathematics  and  Classics.  He  also  attended  the 
Hebrew  Class  of  which  I  am  the  Teacher  and  was  one  of  my 
most  promising  pupils.  From  Jall  which  circumstances,  I 
cannot  hesitate  to  speak  of  him  as  a  young  man  of  considerable 
talent  and  with  much  promise  as  a  public  speaker.  Not  having 
any  religious  connection  with  him  I  cannot  speak  of  his  per- 
sonal piety  from  my  own  knowledge  but  I  know  him,  to  have 
been  a  well  conducted  young  man,  during  the  last  six  years 
to  have  been  a  member  of  a  church  here  under  the  care  of  the 
Rev**.  W.  Brown,  and  to  have  on  some  occasions  shown  a 
commendable  zeal  in  the  cause  of  religion,  I  may  add  that'  I 
never  since  that  period  heard  an  insinuation  against  his  religi- 
ous or  moral  character,  and  I  therefore  think  him  entitled  to 
be  considered  as  a  religious  and  virtuous  young  man.  Belfast 
23  Feb.  1829. 

THOS.  D.  HINCKS 

Ins*.  Class.  School  and  Prof.  Heb. 
Belfast  Academ'.   Institu". 

BELFAST  COLLEGE  26*-  Feh\  1829. 
I  have  known  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  for  some  years  as  a  stud- 
ent in  our  College.  He  attended  the  Greek  Class  under  my 
care  during  the  session  which  commenced  Nov^  1826  and 
ended  May  1827,  with  great  diligence  and  success  as  was  evinced 
by  his  obtaining  a  prize  at  the  end  of  the  session;  and  he  fur- 


25 

ther  obtained  a  prize  for  a  voluntary  Summer  Exercise  in 
translating  a  portion  of  the  Periegesis  of  Dinoysius  the  Geog- 
rapher and  subjoining  notes  and  illustrations.  In  this  exercise 
he  showed  great  industry  aijd  research.  I  have  always  found 
him  to  be  very  correct  in  his  deportment  as  far  as  my  own 
knowledge  of  him  extends  and  have  every  reason  to  believe 
that  he  deserves  the  character  which  he  bears  of  being  religi- 
ously disposed  nor  have  I  any  doubt  that  he  will  do  credit  to 
any  seminary  to  which  he  may  belong — 

WM.  BRUCE,  p. 

Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin. 

BELFAST  Feb^  26,  1829— 
DEAR  SIR  :— 

Understanding  that  you  are  intending  to  leave  our  seminary, 
and  to  attach  yourself  to  one  more  immediately  under  the 
superintendence  of  your  religious  connexion ;  I  most  willingly 
add  my  feeble  testimony,  to  the  very  strong  ones  you  have 
already  obtained,  from  those  Professors  and  Teachers  who 
have  longest  known  you,  and  who  were  therefore  best  qualified 
to  give  their  opinion  respecting  your  character  and  progress. 

I  have  only  to  add  to  a  full  concurrence  in  what  they  have 
said,  that  my  attention  had  been  fixed  upon  you,  by  your  suc- 
cessful progress  through  other  classes,  with  a  hope  that  you 
would  yet  have  been  an  ornament  to  my  own,  and  although 
your  having  entered  it  this  year,  only  in  the  preparatory  char- 
acter of  a  Private  Student,  has  debarred  me  from  any  oppor- 
tunity of  knowing,  by  the  daily  Examination  to  which  profes- 
sional students  are  subjected,  your  progress  in  the  studies  of 
the  class  yet  I  need  scarcely  add,  that  your  conduct  has  been 
strictly  decorous  and  proper. 

Wishing  you  every  happiness  and  success  in  the  line  of  life 
which  you  have  chosen,  I  remain  dear  Sir 
Yours  most  sincerely, 

JOHN  STERELLY 

Professor  of  Nat.  Philosophy, 
To  Belfast  College— 

Mr.  Thomas  Smith, 
Student  &c. 

Mr.  Thomas  Smith  has  been  known  to  me  personally  only 
for  a  short  time,  but  I  have  known  him  longer  by  character. 
He  is  also  reported  of  by  those  on  whose  piety  and  discrimina- 
tion I  feel  confidence  in  resting.     And  so  far  as  I  have  had 


26 

Opportunities  of  personal  intercourse  and  acquaintance  I  am 
inclined  to  consider  him  sincerely  pious  and  well  fitted  for  the 
duties  of  the  Christian  Ministry.  In  point  of  classical  and 
scientific  education  he  has  enjoyed  many  advantages,  and  I 
trust  he  has  been  taught  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  that  he  now 
offers  himself  a  candidate  for  entering  The  College  at  High- 
bury from  a  single  eye  to  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer's 
Kingdom  and  the  promotion  of  the  Divine  Glory  through  the 
Convention  of  Sinners — • 

JAMES  morgan; 

Belfast  Presb.  Min. 

25  Feb.  1829. 

BELFAST   INSTITUTION,  28  February. 

Understanding  that  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  of  Belfast  intends 
to  apply  for  admission  to  Highbury  College,  I  have  great 
pleasure  in  recommending  him  to  the  most  favourable  consid- 
eration of  the  directors  as  a  very  eligible  candidate.  He  has 
received  an  extensive  education  both  in  the  Schools  and  Col- 
lege classes  of  this  Institution ;  and  has  a  high  character  as  a 
successful  student.  When  he  attended  the  class  under  my 
care  for  Logic  and  Belles  Lettres,  during  the  session  of  1826- 
27,  he  distinguished  himself  so  much  by  his  diligence  and  pro- 
ficiency as  to  obtain  the  first  premium  by  the  votes  of  his 
fellow  students ;  and  I  know  he  has  distinguished  himself  in 
a  similar  manner  in  other  parts  of  his  College  course.  His 
talents  are  very  promising  combining  acuteness  and  ingenuity, 
with  a  lively  fancy  and  warm  generous  feelings.  His  habits 
are  very  studious ;  he  has  had  opportunities  of  extensive  and 
varied  reading;  and  he  engages  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge 
with  great  ardour.  He  has  also  had  extensive  practice  in 
English  Composition;  and  possesses  a  style  remarkable  for 
copiousness,  fluency  and  liveliness — giving  every  indication  of 
good  capacity  for  public  speaking — His  moral  character  and 
conduct  are  excellent — his  dispositions  are  amiable  and  affec- 
tionate— and  he  shows  on  all  occasions  feelings  of  warm  and 
decided  piety  which  make  him  peculiarly  alive  to  all  the  public 
interests  of  religion.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  thus  recommend- 
ing him  to  the  friends  of  religion  as  a  very  promising  young 
man,  who  is  likely  to  be  a  blessing  and  an  ornament  to  any 
part  of  the  church  with  which  he  may  be  connected. 
WM.  CAIRNS, 
Professor  of  Logic  and  Belle  Lettres. 

"Now  D.  D. 


27 

I  have  known  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  has  highly  distinguished  himself  in  the  classes  of  the 
Belfast  College  for  talent,  literary  attainments  and  exemplary 
diligence,  and  for  piety  of  conduct.  From  his  studious  habits, 
his  extensive  information,  his  amiable  disposition,  and,  more 
than  all  his  unaffected  piety,  I  form  high  hopes  of  his  being 
made  an  instrument  of  extensive  and  permanent  usefulness  in 
the  Christian  Church — 

JOHN  EDGAR, 

Prof,  of  Divinity, 
BELFAST  Belfast  College. 

Feb.  26,  1829. 

The  following  list  is  given  by  Dr.  Smyth  of  Presbyterian 
Ministers  in  the  United  States  who  had  been  at  College  with  him 
in  Belfast. — Editor. 

Rev.  J.  Lewers,^  Albany,  N.  Y. 
"       Alex.   Macklin,   D.   D.,   Scot's   Presbyterian   Church,   Phila- 
delphia. 
"       Wm.    Blackwood,    Philadelphia. 
"       W.  M.  Smyth,  Alabama. 
"       Hamilton,    New    Brunswick. 

PINNERS  HALL,  OLD  BROAD  ST. 
April  23*  1829 
DEAR  SIR, 

His  a    lica-  ^  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  Opening  of  a  new  Chapel  in  North- 

tion  accepted     amptou — the    Towu    whcrc    the    great    Dodridge 
at  Highbury      preached,  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Committee — 
^^^'  But  I  can  inform  you  the  result  of  your  second 

Letter  which  was  then  considered. — They  have  accepted  your 
application — trusting  that  you  will  be  admitted  to  the  Com- 
memoration of  our  Lord's  death — before  you  come  to  High- 
bury College — on  August  24,  25,  26,  or  27" — 'as  best  suits  your 
convenience.  You  will  have  to  meet  a  few  of  the  Committee 
on  Friday  Aug*  28 — when  our  plan  is  to  request  you  to  engage 
in  prayer  &  then  to  give  your  free  thoughts  on  a  passage  of 
Scripture,   which  you   select,   If  the   Committee   are   satisfied 

^James  Lewers  is  mentioned  in  Howe's  "History  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  South  Carolina"  as  being  licensed  by  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  in  1832  and  continuing  his  connec- 
tion with  it  until  1839.  From  the  details  given  this  is  undoubt- 
edly Dr.  Smyth's  college  friend.  Dr.  Hamilton  kept  in  touch 
with  Mr.  Lewers  and  Dr.  Smyth  to  the  end  and  several  letters 
from  Dr.  Blackwood  may  be  found  in  "Papers  relating  to  Seces- 
sion and  the  War." — Ed. 


28 

with  the  interview  the  admission  is  for  3  months  probation  for 
the  Tutors  report. — 

I  am  sorry  in  Belfast  there  is  so  Httle  encouragement  given 
by  ask^  serious  persons  to  engage  in  prayer  meetings  or  to 
join  in  Church  fellowship —  As  you  have  exercised  your  Gift 
in  various  ways  in  speaking — I  think  there  is.  no  need  of  re- 
questing you  to  preach  before  the  Church —  which  is  often 
practiced  in  England. — 

I  beg  to  say  that  we  are  not  what  some  call  Rigid  Inde- 
pendants— tho'  we  are  called  Congregationalists,  we  think 
everything  of  a  disagreeable  or  trivial  nature  should  be  kept 
from  public  discussion  in  a  Church.  That  a  pastor  &  good 
officers  should  always  be  present  to  preserve  order  &  peace — 
Some  Congregations  have  only  Church  Meetings  when  mem- 
bers are  to  be  admitted  or  other  business  transacted — Others 
meet  once  a  month  preceding  the  Lord's  Supper.  We  dis- 
approve of  weekly  Communion — preferring  monthly  celebra- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Supper.^ — - 

We  encourage  pious  youth  to  join  the  Church  say  from  16 
to  21 — we  wish  to  see  our  members  taking  new  converts  by 
the  hand  and  leading  them  forward  to  the  Minister  &  the 
Church —  Hoping  to  see  you  as  above  I  remain  Dear  Sir  with 
kind  regards  to  Mr.  Spear,  Yours  respectfully 

THOS.  WILSON. 

The  Tutors  commence  the  Session  after  the  vacation  on  the 
first  of  Septem^  The  College  is  in  a  very  pleasant  &  healthy 
situation  in  the  parish  of  Islington —  Stages  go  every  Half 
Hour  from  the  back  of  the  Royal  Exchange  London  to  the  top 
of  Highbury  place  which  is  near  the  College —  One  called  the 
Highbury  Barn  Coach  goes  close  to  the  College. — 

Tho'  it  is  useful  (to  improve  Composition)  to  write  out 
Sermons  at  full  length,  yet  we  cannot  recommend  committing 
words  to  memory  for  repeating  Sermons  in  the  pulpit — -  A 
skeleton  is  sufficient  to  a  ready  speaker —  There  must  be  a 
free  animated  address,  with  close  application  to  the  Conscience. 


I  was  in  my  third  collegiate  year  when  my  ap- 

hom  ^^^^^  plication  for  admission  to  Highbury  was  accepted 

and    I    was    required   to   be   in   London    early   in 

Spring.'     I   was  then   studying   Senior   Mathematics   when    I 

^Dr.  Smyth  writes  from  memory.  Reference  to  the  preceding 
letters  will  show  that  he  was  required  to  report  at  the  end  of 
August. — Ed. 


29 

got  the  second  and  third  prize — Elocution  and  Natural  Phil- 
osophy privately,  and  Hebrew  in  review.  I  was  also  appointed 
College  Librarian. — Being  interrupted  in  these  studies  I  did 
not  take  out  my  degree.  Indeed  my  attention  was  so  entirely 
turned  towards  Theology  that  all  other  studies  became  insipid. 
I  rejoiced  therefore  when  I  sailed  for  London,  although  leav- 
ing home  for  the  first  time  in  my  life.  Here  I  spent  nearly  a 
year,  with  a  class  of  noble  companions  who  all  loved  each 
other,  who  were  all  studious,,  and  who  in  addition  to  the  de- 
bating society  in  the  House,  and  all  regular  duties,  formed 
private  plans  for  mutual  improvement.  (1859 — Among  these 
were  the  Rev.  W.  J.  Unwin,  now  Resident  Tutor  or  Principal 
at  Homerton,  and  the  Rev,  John  Stoughton,  now  of  Islington, 
London.  While  enjoying. Classical,  Biblical  and  Theological 
Studies  in  the  College,  the  Students  who  wished  attended,  as 
i  did,  a  course  of  Scientific  Lectures  at  the  London  University.) 
His  desire  to  '^Y  attention  when  I  first  settled  at  Highbury 
go  as  a  Mis-  was  givcn  to  an  inquiry  which  had  often  pressed 
sionary.  upon  me,  viz.  whcthcr  I  ought  to  devote  myself 

to  a  Missionary  life.  At  home  I  had  been  long  engaged  in  a 
Juvenile  Missionary  Society  and  the  subject  became  more  and 
more  interesting.  I  had  frequent  interviews  with  the  students 
at  the  Missionary  College  at  Hoxton  and  finally  concluded, 
that  if  accepted,  I  should  offer  myself  to  the  Directors  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society.  The  state  of  my  health,  however, 
and  my  weak  constitution  were  deemed  providential  hindrances 
jjjg  in  the  way,  and  this  design  I  finally  abandoned. 

engagement  For  the  sakc  of  it,  at  the  desire  of  the  young 
suspended.  lady's  father,  I  submitted  to  a  temporary  suspen- 
sion of  my  engagement,  which  on  altering  my  plans,  I  felt 
under  obligation  to  resume. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Spear  and  my  reply. 

BELFAST.  27  Oct.  1829. 
MR  THOMAS  SMITH. 
Sir, 

I  was  much   surprised   when  I   gathered   from 
Mr.  Spears       ^  passage  in  the  letter  which  I  received  vesterday 

criticism.  10  .  ' .  . 

from  Mr  Miller'  that  you  were  entertaining  seri- 
ous thought  of  engaging  as  a  Missionary  &  I  may  add  much 
mortified  &  I  could  say  indignant,  when  on  questioning  Caro- 
line I  found  that  she  knew  of  it  &  yet  did  not  place  confidence 

'Mr.  James   Miller,   a   student   at   Highbury,      engaged   to    Miss 
Eliza  Spear. — Ed. 


30 

enough  in  her  father  &  I  think  as  sincerely  affectionate  one 
as  ever  Hved — to  acquaint  me  with  it.  But  how  can  I  charac- 
terize the  want  of  confidence  not  to  say  respect  to  me  which 
you  have  manifested — 'you  may  well  recollect  how  the  very 
thought  of  your  following  your  parents  to  the  U.  S.  operated 
on  me  when  first  you  spoke  to  me  about  my  daughter.  I  am 
too  much  grieved  to  be  able  to  say  all  that  I  would  &  might 
be  justified  in  saying  to  you — Caroline  has  received  &  shown 
me  a  very  affectionate  letter  she  received  from  you  this  morn- 
ing &  I  was  wounded  I  confess  to  the  quick  to  read  that  you 
have  long  dwelt  on  the  thought  of  becoming  a  Missionary — 
for  surely  my  treatment  of  you  has  not  merited  the  want  of 
confidence  you  have  manifested — this  want  of  confidence  on 
your  part  however  depriving  me  of  the  right  to  give  you 
advice  &c  but  it  induces  me  to  say  that  not  with  my  consent 
shall  Caroline  correspond  with  you  during  the  period  that  may 
elapse  between  this  &  your  final  departure —  She  is  at  present 
indisposed  to  the  idea  of  becoming  the  wife  of  a  missionary 
and  I  am  sure  she  is  perfectly  unequal  to  the  duties  of  one  & 
I  am  determined  that  the  influence  which  you  may  have  shall 
not  be  exerted  with  my  consent  to  induce  a  change  in  her 
views — if  when  you  have  finished  your  studies  &  preparation 
for  the  work  you  are  contemplating  she  should  be  unmarried 
&  desirous  of  uniting  her  lot  with  yours  I  shall  not  if  living, 
refuse  my  consent — but  in  the  mean  time  I  must  insist  that  you 
make  no  mention  to  Dr  Hindman  &c  of  the  connection  subsist- 
ing hitherto  but  consider  yourself  &  my  daughter  as  free  from 
any  engagement  whatever. 

I  cannot  however  terminate  without  wishing  that  you  may 
be  directed  from  above,  this  is  not  human  suasion,  &  that  the 
great  Shepherd  may  make  you  an  honored  Instrument  in  what- 
ever part  of  the  Vineyard  he  may  judge  best  to  send  you — 
No  one  can  feel  more  interested  about  you  than  I  am  &  ever 
shall  be—  y  truly, 

ARTHUR  SPEAR 

Letter'  while  in  London  in  182Q  to  Mr.  Spear  father  of  my 

"The  two  letters  addressed  to  Arthur  Spear,  Esq.,  one  un- 
signed, appear  to  the  compiler  of  these  MSS.  to  have  been  both 
intended  as  answers  to  the  letter  from  Mr.  Spear.  The  longer 
letter  is  written  under  great  excitement  in  a  very  small  fine  hand 
and,  as  will  be  noted,  largely  without  punctuation,  at  times  being 
almost  inarticulate.  The  shorter,  unsigned  draft  of  a  letter  seems 
to  have  been  written  later  and  is  probably  the  one  which  was 
sent.  They  are  inserted  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  i860,  evidently  without 
rereading. — Ed. 


31 

then  engaged  wife  his  daughter  Caroline,  stating  my  pur- 
poses to  go  as  a  Missionary  &  my  visit  to  the  Missionary 
Academy  or  College  at  Hoxton,  London. 

LONDON,  Say  Oct  or  Sept  1829 
ARTHUR  SPEAR  ESQ^ 

SIR 
First  attempt         ^  wish  to  be  equally  prompt  in  answering  yours 
to  answer  of  the  8'"  ins'.     I  sh*  have  done  so  immed.  on  its 

Mr.  Spear.  receipt  but  that  my  engagement  to  spend  the  day 
at  Hoxton  necessarily  prevented  me.  My  visit  was  delightful. 
The  brethren  are  remarkable  for  their  interesting  appearance, 
deep  sincerity  of  pious  devotedness  and  sympathy.  One  of 
them  rec*  his  appointment  while  I  was  there,  to  Demerara,  & 
two  others  were  on  the  rack  of  anxious  expectation,  but  both 
likely  to  be  sent  to  India.  I  had  much  intimate  converse  with 
them,  and  with  every  kindness  I  was  permitted  to  probe  their 
hearts,  and  examine  their  minutest  feelings.  On  the  whole  I 
ret"  with  a  very  burning  &  ardent  invitation  to  form  one  of 
such  a  holy  brotherhood,  a  devoted  band  of  soldiers  eager  for 
the  commencement  of  a  warfare  in  which  they  expect  nothing 
but  struggling,  victory  &  death. 

Will  you  be  disappoint"^  if  I  say  I  am  still  as  I  was,  I  wait 
Mr  Houston's  advice  with  impatience.  As  it  regards  my  own 
private  feelings  I  am  sure  I  am  willing  to  go  forward  even 
with  the  expectation  of  an  early  grave.  It  is  long  since  life 
lost  its  charms  for  me.  Young  as  I  am,  an  inexper'*  as  I  am, 
I  have  seen  with  Solomon  that  all  is  vanity  &  vex"  of  spirit. 
But  I  do  rejoice  that  I  have  been  able  to  restrain  the  impetu- 
osity, which  w''  drive  me  on  like  the  unthinking  horse  into 
His  health  un-  ^^''^  battle.  My  ardor  is  depressed  by  other  ad- 
fits  him  for  vicc  I  havc  rcc*  as  to  my  constitutional  fitness,  & 
Missionary  j^y  comparative  capacity  for  home  service.  I  am 
not  however  satisfied  nor  do  I  intend  to  be  until 
I  have  taken  the  advice  of  2  regular  physic"'.  If  I  have  been 
able  to  imitate  Martyn  in  the  resignation  of  my  love  I  sh* 
emulate  the  completion  of  the  [parallel]  by  the  sacrifice  of  life 
to  the  cause.  But  I  desire  to  put  myself  in  the  hands  of  God, 
and  his  will  I  must  read  in  the  advice  of  more  suitable  judges. 
As  your  present  letter  is  satisfactory,  in  as  much  as  it  is 
argument,  not  feeling,  I  am  induced  to  put  forth  a  claim  to 
your  advice  given  in  the  spirit  of  impartiality,  with  a  hope  of 
its  reception — Whatever  be  the  result  mv  mind  must  be  satis- 
fied. 

I  shall  now  touch  upon  your  letter — ist  You  think  there  w" 


32 

have  been  propriety  in  consulting  you  since  I  came  here  bef. 
the  thing  came  to  a  determination. 

2nd  The  det"  is  not  made  yet — My  feehngs  lead  to  it  but 
my  mind  has  never  been  supported  in  its  views 

1.2nd  (put  first)  I  assume  as  data  that  your  opinion  is  to 
me  in  every  way  desirable.  I  have  ever  respected  it  and  felt 
confid.  in  it  &  it  has  I  must  say  been  freely  and  candidly  given. 

3  Had  I  been  near  you  I  certainly  sh*^  have  done  so  but  in 
a  letter  it  is  more  difficult  as  the  very  mention  of  a  feeling 
thus  gives  to  it  a  more  def.  aspect  than  it  really  has  &  2  it 
reflects  more  upon  its  author  if  it  proves  the  offspring  of 
thoughtless  moment,  impulse.  And  as  my  feelings  were  liable 
to  such  an  imputa"  one  w"  ind**  you  have  already  put  upon 
them,  therefore  it  seemed  better  to  wait  as  for  a  more  positive 
inclin"  before  proposing  the  sub*  to  you.  Besides  I  had  not 
ever  even  come  to  such  a  det"  as  to  'ignore  the  influence  of 
your  advice.  This  was  always  foreign  to  my  sincerest  design — 
&  though  as  it  ref^  to  missions  I  felt  persuad*  of  the  glory  of 
the  work  yet  the  duty  of  my  engaging  in  it  I  had  ref^  to 
Caroline  and  your  permission 

4.  I  ask  you  candidly,  whether  to  Caroline  in  her  former 
state  of  relationship  to  me  &  in  her  then  anticipated  one,  or 
to  you,  was  I  called  upon  by  duty  as  well  as  policy  to  make 
known  any  thing  that  involved  our  mutual  interests?  You 
have  overlooked  in  both  communica"^  my  feelings  in  ref"  to 
C.  &  which  in  a  letter  w".  I  hope  she  has  now  rec'*  once  more 
are  fully  made  known.  That  had  she  given  me  a  candid 
declar"  of  her  objections  in  love  no  authoritative  decision  w" 
have  been  necessary.  This  w**  have  rend'*  any  intrusion  of 
the  subject  upon  you  unnecessary  &  in  this  view  of  the  subject 
— &  it  is  the  view  I  always  enterf* — I  still  think  I  had  nothing 
upon  which  to  consult  you.  Had  she  been  willing,  then  my 
course  was  immed.  in  its  reference  of  the  whole  matter  for 
your  advice  and  decision.  Is  not  this  fair?  It  appears  to  me 
so.  My  motives  were  most  friendly  to  Caroline  &  to  you.  To 
her  I  looked  for  advice  &  from  you  I  wished  to  keep  any  un- 
necessary anxiety  or  concern. 

Your  whole  reason^  goes  on  the  assumpt"  of  my  perfected 
decision.  I  see  you  have  come  into  possession  of  a  letter  w". 
was  intend**  but  for  Carol.,  &  Mr  Spear,  that  letter  was  I  know 
dictated  as  decid.  as  possible  &  why? — most  certainly  that  it 
might  have  the  Eff.  of  obtain^,  from  Carol,  the  full  declar"  of 
her  feelings  in  regard  to  the  matter  of  it  for  the  purposes 
already  menf*.  I  have  ever  compf  of  this  diffic.  of  know^  her 
mind  &  of  that  ungracious  reserve  &  this  was  the  only  way 


33 

left  me  of  com^  to  that  knowledge.  On  this  letter  written  to 
Caroline  with  a  particular  purpose  you  found  y''  reason^  w". 
cannot  therefore  be  conclusive  as  found**  on  insuff'  premises. 

I  now  come  to  a  more  trying  part  of  the  subj*  as  it  regards 
me  &  that  is  my  charge  of  diminish**  aif°  upon  Caroline.  Your 
very  subtle  &  (were  the  aassumed  data  correct)  conclusive 
reason^  is  unsatisfaci:''. 

I  Your  argument  is  "You  determine,  Caroline  has  an  equal 
right  to  determine — as  you  still  love  her  she  must  still  love 
you." — I  grant  the  proposition  but  question  the  inference;  for 
my  complaint  is  not  that  she  came  to  a  decision  but  that  in 
doing  so  she  did  not  manifest  aff°  &  love.  I  wanted  her  de- 
cision but  I  expected  an  affectionate  one.  To  your  candour  I 
submit  my  grounds,  i.  I  am  willing  to  take  your  own  com- 
parison &  I  will  submit  the  letter  which  you  have  seen  &  was 
the  coldest  one  too  in  comparison  with  Caroline's.  Mine 
occup**  4  pages  I  think  or  three,  hers  one^  mine  evinced  con- 
cern and  anxiety  about  her,  hers  none,  mine  express*  my 
opin"'  of  her,  hers  not  so — jHer  three  last  letters  are  now  before 
me,  in  the  i"  she  says,  That  love  for  the  Missionary  cause  w* 
never  induce  her  to  go  out  as  a  Miss,  (is  this  objection?)  and 
with  telling  this  &  answering  me  that  all  you  had  said  was 
just  what  it  ought  to  be — the  conclusion.  In  the  2"*  she  says 
'T  only  sit  down  to  fiMl  the  promise  I  made  &  to  repeat  that 
I  shall  never  consent  to  accomp.  you  &c"  &  "you  must  remem- . 
ber  not  to  mention  my  name  to  D.  H."  &  this  too  was  in  one 
short  short  page.  In  the  3''*  wh.  was  a  [longer]  one,  in  the 
jst  ^nd  ^rd  ^  ^th  p^g.gg  J  ^^^  further  denials  in  reg"  to  this 

and  other  things —  Now,  whether  is  it  noble  for  a  female  or  a 
man  to  express  themselves,  even  warmly,  &  whether  in  this 
situation  such  a  time,  &  in  such  a  way, — is  this  that  love  I  had 
believed  she  felt? 

2.  You  say  you  did  not  influence  her.  My  wish  to  invent 
an  excuse  led  me  to  think  you  did.  If  not  then  is  not  this 
coldness  her  excuse  as  being  the  free  dictates  of  her  own  love? 

3.  You  speak  of  her  magnanimity  under  it.  You  certainly 
put  me  to  blush  when  you  talk  of  my  [heaviness]  &  I  cannot 
reconcile  Caroline's  Stoicism  with  such  love  as  I  have  felt  & 
which  she  I  so  ardently  hoped  possessed. 

3.  She  did  not  palliate  in  your  letter  accusations  w*".  she 
knew  I  did  not  deserve  &  had  expl"*  to  her. 

4.  She  refused  all  my  desires  to  know  her  reasons  for  her 
decision  &  proclaims  it  with  an  air  of  triumph.  She  talked  of 
many  reasons  but  she  did  not  satisfy  my  mind  by  making  them 

[3] 


84 

known.  I  do  not  ask  whether  this  be  prudence  but  is  it  an  evid. 
of  strong  aff ec.  ? 

5  I  ask  you  is  it  the  nat.  of  true  love  to  take  up  a  det"  more 
in  the  spirit  of  independ.  &  pride  than  in  that  of  feehng  &  to 
refuse  to  its  object  even  the  gratif"  of  know^  on  what  grounds 
it  is  made?  CaroHne  has  not  answered  my  two  last  letters. 
In  them  I  told  her  how  I  felt  resp^  her  love,  but  she  seems  to 
say  "I  shall  not  condescend  to  tell  you  whether  I  love  you  or 
not.  I  have  once  spoken  and  I  cannot  utter,  I.  If  you  do  not 
bel.  all  I  once  said  now  to-be  charact.  of  my  feelings  you  have 
no  more  to  do  than  to  separate."  Ah  is  this  aff "  ?  Had  Caro- 
line respected  my  confidence  sh'^  I  have  dealt  with  her  so  ? 
Oh !  I  have  not  yet  learned  to  make  a  revoking  of  feelings  so 
sacred.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  to  take  asunder  soul 
&  body.  I  loved  her,  3^es  I  love  her  still,  and  you  can  make  no 
gulph  over  which  my  soul  wd.  not  dare  its  passage.  But 
when  I  see  her  stand  on  the  opposite  shore  &  scowl  upon  me, 
my  heart  faints  and  withers  within  me.  Yet  that  love  shall  be 
and  abid^  principle  in  my  heart  tho  it  must  be  repressed  & 
concealed. 

Do  you  think  these  grounds  are  altog.  incap.  of  giving  birth 
to  such  a  suspicion?  What  objection  would  you  have  to 
Caroline's  removing  them  if  so  inclined?  I  wish  to  know  this 
before  I  absolutely  determine  that  our  connexion  may  be 
properly  known.  Nothing  would  please  me  more  than  her 
satisf.  refut"  of  my  arguments  &  on  this  refutation  I  shall 
ground  this  much,  i  shall  be  satisfy  (if  it  sh**  be  my  lot  to 
go  a  Miss.)  that  noth^  but  duty  hindered  her  while  her  aff° 
was  strong  enough  to  have  carried  her.  2  If  I  stay  at  home 
then  I  shall  not  have  in  my  mind  towards  her  any  unpleasant 
feeling.  I  know  I  never  sh'^  be  happy  when  I  doubted  love. 
I  know  I  have  been  miserable  when  anything  seemed  to  throw 
clouds  upon  it.  I  know  too  she  c*  not  be  happy  unless  I  felt 
satisfied  of  this.  She  is  aware  that  in  the  excess  of  aff"  I  have 
even  blamed  her  for  indiff.  She  can  now  more  readily  pardon 
the  imputation  and  remove  it. 

If  she  will  not  consent  to  do  so  then  in  the  name  of  charity, 
let  us  at  once  part  forever,  without  any  contingency  attaching 
itself  to  our  reunion.  I  sh*  rather  have  my  execution  com- 
plete than  remain  as  I  am,  mangled  and  distorted. 

I  do  not  wish  to  say  what  is  the  more  probable  course  I 
shall  steer.  I  want  an  unbiassed  decision  of  her  feelings 
towards  me.  If  unfavorable  then  we  are  better  as  we 
are,  free  and  disunited,  if  not  then  it  w*  aiiford  in  me,  more 
than  satisfaction  to  reunite. 


35 

You  will  therefore  see  the  force  of  my  proposal  &  of  the 
motives  that  lead  to  it.  Let  me  ask  the  favor  of  a  quick  reply 
as  it  is  very  trying  indeed  to  remain  as  I  [am]  at  present 

I  am, 
respectfully  yours, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

ARTHUR  SPEAR  ESQ^ 
SIR, 

Second  effort  Were  I  to  delay  an  answer  until  my  opinion 
to  answer  is   finally   fixed,    I    sh.    not   act   consistently   with 

Mr.  spear.        Caroline's  wishes  or  my  own  feelings  of  respect. 

I  write  merely  in  explanation.  When  in  Ireland,  as  I  stated 
to  Caroline,  any  ideas  on  the  subject  of  becom^  a  Missionary 
were  subdued  primarily  by  a  consciousness  of  my  mental  & 
bodily,  unfitness  for  the  Work,  &  more  especially  by  the  diff- 
erent course,  which  in  my  connexion  with  Caroline,  providence 
seemed  to  have  pointed  out.  Nor  was  it  until  sometime  after 
I  came  here  that  any  such  thoughts  ret*  &  I  only  believ*  them 
worthy  of  notice  about  3  weeks  since,  when  I  ment"  them  to 
Caroline.  By  her  opinion  I  had  intended  my  course  to  be 
principally  guided,  &  therefore  I  sought  a  decided  answer  on 
her  part — an  answer  however,  decided  not  in  the  spirit  of 
authority  &  determinate  separation,  but  in  that  of  affectionate 
love —  Had  her  decision  been  favorable  I  had  then  det*  to 
consult  with  you  otherwise  not  unless  I  sh**  have  been  previously 
advised  to  the  work  by  others. 

A  letter  sh*  have  been  forwarded  to  you  on  the  very  day 
your  letter  arrived  (with  one  to  Mr  Houston,  which  I  sent) 
had  not  the  spirit  of  your  letter,  and  the  still  more  trying 
coldness  of  Caroline  prevented  me — 

I  have  only  to  ask 

I.  Where  w*  have  been  the  propriety  of  my  consulting  with 
you  in  Ireland  when  there  was  nothing  on  which  I  c*  do  so? 

2 — or  when  I  came  here  when  only  a  few  occasional  thoughts 
of  the  subj'  occup*  my  attention  &  where  in  all  this,  is  there 
that  want  of  confidence  &  affection  for  which  you  blame  me  ? — 
On  the  contrary,  have  I  not  always  exceeded  the  bounds  of 
decorum  in  advising  with  you  upon  whatever  oppressed  my 
mind.  I  have  ever  reg*  you  as  one  of  whose  aff"  &  friendship 
I  was  proud  while  I  have  studiously  avoid*  every  appearance 
of  officious  intrusion  upon  your  kindness — 

To  Mr  Miller's  unintentional,  tho'  unfortunate,  allusion  to 
this  subject,  I  trace  all  that  has  resulted.  Caroline  had  noth^ 
on  which  she  c*  consult  you.  Her  opinion  in  the  interim  was 
all  I  sought  &  yours  w*  have  been  by  no  means  neglected. 


I  am  sorry  Caroline's  affection  was  so  easily  repressed.  I 
have  written  to  her  to  know  whether  her  det"  really  partakes 
of  that  absolute  &  unfeeling  nature  which  it  too  evidently  as- 
sumed in  her  two  curt  letters.  I  now  wish  to  repeat  the  ques- 
tion finally,  &  if  she  still  feels  that  she  can  part  with  a  heart 
which  c''  never  have  been  disconnected  from  her,  even  by  the 
prospect  of  danger  &  trial  &  death  were  it  necessary,  then  I 
have  no  hesitation  in  giving  my  full  concurrence  to  your  de- 
cision, that  we  consider  ourselves  as  free  from  every  engage- 
ment into  which  in  the  expectancy  of  their  final  completion, 
we  had  so  solemnly  entered. 

I  have  indeed  poured  out  the  whole  tide  of  my  feelings  and 
it  will  be  hard  to  secure  its  return.  The  last  occurrences  have 
however  communicated  a  repressive  influence,  which  if  neces- 
sary may  secure  its  ebb.  I  am  now  in  the  situation  of  him 
who  in  the  operation  of  phlebotomy  when  the  current  of  the 
blood  is  stopt,  sick,  faint  &  feverish,  from  the  effort  of  its 
unnatural  return — ^ 

VINCENNES  INDIANA  i2**'  December,  1829. 

DEAR  FATHER, 

I  Received  yours  17*"  October  last  and  was 
ad^ce  aTd  ^  niuch  plcascd  to  read  that  you  were  all  in  good 
news  of  the  health  and  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  would 
family  m  admit,   your   letter   found   us   in   good   health   in- 

cluding Sam  who — of  your  four  sons  in  the  West 
— is  the  only  one  now  with  me.  William  hired  himself  last 
spring  as  a  hand  on  a  flat  boat  destined  for  New  Orleans. 
He  was  at  that  time,  Clerk  in  our  distillery,  rather  a  laborious 
task  but  one  which  he  could  fill  very  well.  He  made  the  trip 
in  2  months  and  returned  in  good  health,  his  wages  was  $30, 
•  On  his  arrival  he  told  me  he  wanted  to  go  to  LaFayette  a 
town  on  the  bank  of  the  Wabash  above  us  130  miles,  where 
he  commenced  business  four  years  ago  and  sunk  $700  in  14 
months,  his  object  he  said  was  to  make  some  collections,  I 
told  him  he  should  have  our  horse  so  soon  as  he  wished  to  go. 
Robert  in  the  meantime  hurt  the  horse's  back  and  rendered 
him  unfit  to  travel  with,  which  when  W"  found  out,  he  took 
to  pouting,  made  himself  a  Russia  duck  Knapsack,  put  a  few 
clothes  in  it  and  started  next  morning  before  day  on  foot, 
After  being  absent  a  month  he  wrote  to  Rob*,  remitting  $10 
to  us,  he  gave  a  lamentable  account  of  the  debts  due  him  said 
he  wished  he  was  dead,  and  that  he  could  not  be  happy  living 

^The  letter  ends  thus.— Ed. 


37 

with  us,  he  had  done  so  badly  he  hated  to  see  us.  The  next 
time  I  heard  from  him  he  had  become  Captain  of  a  Keel  Boat 
of  small  size,  had  two  hands  under  him,  had  purchased  a  load 
of  Apples  in  Shakertown,  another  town  on  the  bank  of  the 
Wabash  i8  miles  above  us,  on  a  credit  of  3  months,  and  was 
going  again  to  LaFayette.  Francis  Dickson  was  the  person 
who  gave  me  this  information  and  I  sent  word  to  him  to  come 
down  to  Vincennes,  that  I  wanted  to  see  him.  A  few  days 
after  W™  started,  Sam  went  on  to  Philadelphia.  At  Louis- 
ville falls  of  Ohio,  where  "W""  Kirkwood  lives  who  was  by 
letter  of  Robert  last  week,  in  good  health  and  whose  daughter 
had  been  married  well,  Sam  made  an  arrangement  with 
Mess"  Chambers  &  Garwin,  Commission  Merchants  of  first 
repute  in  that  City  to  take  Robert  as  Clerk,  when  Rob*  re- 
ceived Sam's  letter  he  immediately  left  here  to  enter  upon  his 
new  duties,  he  has  now  been  at  Louisville  5  mo^  has  enjoyed 
good  health  and  has  as  much  business  to  attend  to  as  he 
possibly  can,  of  course  I  was  then  alone.  We  had  sold  out 
the  most  of  our  Goods  and  were  making  preparations  to  start 
the  distillery.  W"  hired  a  horse  at  Shakertown  and  came 
down  agreeable  to  my  message  to  see  me^  I  had  taken  a  walk 
to  the  distillery  which  is  ^  mile  from  our  Store.  It  was 
Sunday  and  on  my  return  I  found  both  the  travellers.  Sam 
from  Louisville  &  W"  from  his  boat.  It  was  unexpected  and 
we  had  a  warm  congratulation.  W"  left  us  next  day  with  a 
promise  to  go  and  dispose  of  his  cargo  boat  and  hands  as  quick 
as  possible,  return,  and  resume  his  labors  as  Clerk  at  the  dis- 
tillery. He  has  now  been  absent  2  months  and  how  much 
longer  he  may  be  'tis  impossible  to  tell.  We  hear  fro^m  him 
occasionally,  he  still  sticks  to  the  boat;  W"'^  disposition  is 
rather  to  be  King  in  hell  than  serve  in  heaven.  I  am  told  he 
does  not  dissipate.  Old  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Dickson  are  alive  and 
were  it  not  for  Rheumatism  that  plagues  the  old  man  he  would 
be  as  hearty  as  ever,  neither  of  the  girls  are  yet  married, 
Francis  is  again  going  to  try  his  luck  as  a  Merchant  in  Mount 
Carmel  a  town  on  the  bank  of  the  Wabash  30  miles  below  us. 
We  have  a  Mr.  James  Harper  Hunter  here,  a  merchant,  he  is 
from  Belfast  is  quite  an  accomplished  handsome  young  man, 
plays  extremely  well  on  the  Irish  Harp  and  violin,  His  harp 
has  not  yet  reached  us  but  is  within  90  miles.  It  cost  $1000. 
He  is  an  ornament  to  any  circle  and  I  hope  will  do  well.  His 
partner  Sam'  N.  Marron  is  the  son  of  an  Irish  lady  a  well 
disposed  agreeable  young  man,  they  have  a  Steam  Grist  and 
Saw  Mill  in  connection  with  their  store  which  will  enable 
them  to  sell  more  goods,  as  the  Farmers  would  rather  pay  in 


38 

Corn  or  Wheat  than  cash,  Mr.  Hunter's  father  hves  I  beheve 
at  the  corner  of  Pipe  Lane,  where  Davis  formerly  kept  Tav- 
ern. If  you  are  acquainted  with  him,  you  might  tell  him  his 
Son  is'  well  and  in  excellent  health.  You  wish  me  to  give  you 
my  opinion  candidly  about  coming  over,  I  would  not  hesitate 
an  instant,  I  would  sell  off  every  article  of  furniture  you  have 
not  reserving  even  beds,  which  I  think  Sam  in  a  letter  he 
wrote  recommended  you  to  keep.  Make  yourselves  comfort- 
able both  for  eating  drinking  and  sleeping  on  the  voyage,  put 
your  funds  into  a  Bill.^  *  *  *  Ng^  York  &  London  * 
*  *  that  port  on  arrival  *  *  *  manage  the  rest  in  any 
way  you  desire.  I  live  in  a  rented  house  which  I  have  leased 
for  3  years.  It  is  large  enough  to  accomodate  you  all,  I  do 
not  think  your  health  would  be  injured  in  the  least  by  the 
change.  Our  climate  is  very  similar  to  yours,  but  I  think 
altogether  preferable.  There  is  but  one  point  in 
James    re  ig-     ^j^j(.]^  ^g  y^[i\  differ.     It  is  a  point  of  Conscience. 

lous    news.  _  _  ^ 

I  am  in  action  an  honest  moral  man  and  my  only 
creed  is  Do  unto  others  as  you  would  be  done  by,  I  believe  in 
God,  I  fear  him  and  love  him.  Notwithstanding  my  early 
education  tended  to  inculcate  a  further  belief  in  mysteries 
beyond  my  comprehension,  I  never  could  and  am  firmly  per- 
suaded I  never  can  believe  them.  I  do  not  believe  the  Bible 
to  be  the  word  of  God,  neither  do  I  want  a  Bible  to  tell  me  of 
a  Superior  Being.^  All  Nature  speaks  it.  Think  not,  dear 
father,  that  with  this  belief  I  am  unhappy.  There  is  nothing 
beyond  the  grave  with  which  I  am  acquainted,  consequently 
have  nothing  to  fear.  If  I  were  to  draw  a  surmise  on  the 
intention  of  God  in  the  formation  of  man,  I  should  think  his 
intention  was  not  completed  in  the  existence  he  allows  us  in 
this  world.  I  hope  I  will  live  hereafter,  always  progressing 
in  happiness.  With  this  Belief  you  will  not  be  surprised  when 
I  tell  you  that  I  teach  my  family  no  creed,  and  that  they  and 
I  are  one.  The  Bible  and  their  own  reason  are  both  in  pos- 
session, in  matters  of  conscience  they  alone  have  a  right  to 
judge,  I  never  have  accomodated  a  Preacher  with  a  meals 
victuals  nor  an  invitation  to  my  house,  nor  have  I  heard  a 
sermon  for  2  years  and  not  a  dozen  since  I  left  you.  Sunday 
and  Saturday  are  alike  to  me,  I  much  like  the  observance  of 
a  day  when  we  are  considered  free  from  labor.     You  have 

written  of  the  Temperance  Societies ;  there  was 
Tem"erance       ^"  attempt  as  you  will  pcrccivc  by  the  paper  I 

send  you  to  form  one  with  the  general  consent 

^The  letter  is  badly  torn. — Ed. 

'His  conversion  took  place  much  later. — Ed. 


39 

here.  A  friend  to  Temperance  (who  is  Sam)  will  shew  you 
the  particulars.  We  have  now  on  hand  a  first  rate  assortment 
of  goods  which  we  are  selling  in  the  proportion  of  ^  credit 
y^  cash  at  the  rate  of  30  per  cent  clear  profit,  our  sales  are 
about  $1000  p.  month.  Our  distillery  is  in  full  operation.  It 
turns  out  80  galls,  of  whiskey  p.  day.  If  we  work  all  night  as 
much  more.  If  we  should  be  fortunate  enough  to  collect  our 
debts  this  year  we  will  do  well,  If  not  we'll  scarcely  struggle 
through;  attention  at  least  shall  not  be  wanting.  At  present 
the  country  from  excessive  rain  is  inundated.  We  are  living 
pretty  much  on  an  Island.  I  am  afraid  it  will  destroy  much 
corn  an  article  altogether  essential  to  Whiskey  making,  of 
which  we  have  as  yet  received  a  very  inadequate  supply.  We 
have  paid  for  loooo  bushels  but  it  is  impossible  for  the  farm- 
ers to  bring  it  to  Town.  Robert  had  mentioned  an  intention 
of  making  a  hand  in  the  Pork  business  but  declined  it.  *  * 
We  are  full  of  expectation  that  you  and  Mother,  Anna  and 
Isabella  will  be  with  us  in  Summer  I  rejoice  to  say.  I  would 
wish  that  Tho^  could  accompany  you  In  this  country  his 
prospects  are  better  or  as  good.  I  will  live  in  hopes  of  seeing 
him  also  although  he  w**  be  no  greater  [comfort]  to  me  than 
y.  May  that  mighty  being  who  rules  over  all  Bless  and 
preserve  you. 

Your  Son, 

JA^  SMITH. 
Dec'  15 

Rob'  arrived  from  Louisville  last  night  about  i  oclock  in 
the  Steam  Boat  Virginia  to  spend  the  Christmas  holidays  with 
us,  and  that  too  much  drinking  should  not  produce  intemper- 
ance he  bro*  a  J^  Barrel  Beer,  he  is  well. 

J.  SMITH. 
Mr.  Samuel  Smith, 
Belfast, 

Ireland. 


My  thirst  for  books,  in  London  became  rapa-. 
^°°London^       cious.      I    ovcrspcnt    my    supplies    in    procuring 
them,  at  the  cheap  repositories  and  left  myself  in 
the  cold  of  Winter  for  two  or  three  months  without  a  cent — 
I  read  the  Higher  Classics  and  roamed  at  will  thro'  the  tomes 
of    learned    antiquity.      My    health    finally    gave    way    and    I 
thought  I  was  threatened  with  what  I  had  always  dreaded,  a 
consumption  of  the  lungs.     (1859 — I  do  not  how- 
ever   believe    it    was    more    than    the    exhaustion 


40 

resulting  to  a  feeble  constitution,  from  my  excessive  habits  of 
intense  study  and  tea  drinking,  and  of  an  enthusiastic  vehem- 
ence and  ardour  which  sought  to  read  every  thing,  study 
every  thing,  and  accomplish  at  all  hazards,  what  I  determined 
to  overtake.) 

At  this  time  my  parents  made  the  determination  to  embark 
for  America.*  Their  children,  from  various  causes,  had  one 
by  one,  preceded  them  there,  leaving  with  them  at  this  time, 
only  myself  and  two  sisters.  My  Mother  yearned  after  them 
and  could  not  be  satisfied  until  re-united  to  them.  My  parents 
were  to  sail  early  in  Summer,  and  a  visit  to  them  was  thought 
advisable  both  for  my  own  health  and  for  their  comfort. 

I  left  Highbury  in  full  favor  with  the  Students 
BdfL™.  °  ^^^  Professors,  full  of  the  anticipation  of  a 
happy  return — and  with  the  prospect  of  perhaps 
settling  for  life  in  some  part  of  England :  I  had  scarcely 
however  arrived  at  home  when  I  received  a  hasty  letter  from 
a  class-mate  informing  me  that  a  brother  student,  also  from 
Bad  news  Belfast,  had  been  brought  up  on  a  charge  of 
from  intoxication,  and  of  visiting  the  theatre  and  im- 

Highbury.  proper  places,   and  that   I   was  implicated  in  his 

doings.  About  the  same  time  a  letter  was  received  giving 
information  of  this  event,  by  the  young  lady  to  whom  I  was 
engaged,  and  whose  sister  was  engaged  to  the  young  gentle- 
man in  question.  Without  hearing  me  in  explanation  of  cir- 
cumstances, or  giving  me  an  opportunity  of  seeing  her,  she 
in  an  altered  form  of  address  denied  me  her  presence  until  the 
whole  matter  should  be  finally  settled.  Now  I  had  acquainted 
her  fully  with  all  the  events  as  they  occurred  which  could  give 
any  possible  colouring  and  accusation  against  me,  and  her 
present  course,  I  could,  on  no  ground,  justify  either  as  con- 
His  engage-  sistcnt  with  honour  or  affection.  I  at  once  there- 
ment  finally  forc  freed  her  from  any  engagement  with  me,  and 
broken.  returned    all    papers     &c.       This    measure    was 

reciprocated,  and  our  connection  terminated  honourably  as 
the  most  impartial  judges  determined,' — to  me  happily,  I 
trust  happily  for  us  both.  (1859 — My  parents  were  especially 
rejoiced.  It  was  for  this  lady  I  had  the  early  portrait  taken, 
now  in  possession  of  my  wife,^  as  a  duplicate  of  one  in  pos- 

^See  early  thoughts  of  America,  vol.  VII,  p.  541,  Smyth's 
Works. — Ed. 

^Though  not  made  a  church  question,  yet  the  leading  members 
of  our  common  church,  including  the  before  mentioned  Mr.  Case- 
ment, conferred  with  me  and  sustained  my  course. 

'This  portrait  was  burned  in  Columbia  at  the  time  of  its  de- 
struction by  Sherman. — Ed. 


41 

session    of    my    Sister,    and    painted    by    Mr.  Hawkesworth, 
afterwards  celebrated  as  a  painter  to  his  Majesty.     I  am  very 
confident  I  paid  for  it  and  left  it  in  her  charge.) 
His  painful  ^^  this   cvcnt  may  possibly  arise  like  a  dark 

experience  at  cloud  upon  my  memory,  I  will  here  simply  state 
Highbury.  |.j^g  facts  in  the  case.     These  facts  were  all  sus- 

tained by  letters  from  my  fellow  students,  which  I  long  re- 
tained. When  in  London  during  my  visits  to  England  I  was 
much  with  them,  and  when  at  Manchester  with  my  wife  and 
sons,  we  dined  with  Rev.  Dr.  Halley,  then  a  Pastor  there, 
(now  filling  the  place  of  Rev.  Dr.  Harris,  author  of  Mammon, 
&c.  in  New  College,  London,)  Afterwards  in  Glasgow  he 
visited  us  and  dined  with  us. 

When  I  first  arrived  in  London,  to  enter  Highbury  College, 
the  gentleman  with  whom  and  under  whose  charge  I  was  put — 
as  young  and  perfectly  inexperienced,  timid  and  as  the  world 
says,  innocent,  took  me  with  him  from  the  ship  to  walk 
through  the  city.  I  was,  of  course,  a  perfect  stranger  and 
altogether  ignorant  of  life.  It  was  in  the  evening.  He  stopped 
at  one  of  the  theatres  (I  forget  which)  and  insisted  on  going 
in.     I  refused.     He  urged  and  finally  decided  to 

IS  visit  to       enter.     I  had  no  alternative,  but  to  go  in  or  re- 

the    theatre.  .  _  _  -"      _  _  ° 

main  alone  in  that  wilderness  city,  with  no  knowl- 
edge of  men,  or  of  my  way,  and  as  yet  without  lodgings  or  a 
home :  I  therefore  went  in.  We  remained  a  short  time,  and 
came  out  and  returned  to  the  vessel.  I  could  not  tell  the 
particular  house  or  the  play,  as  we  saw  only  one  or  two 
scenes  at  most — I  immediately  after  this  repaired  to  the  Col- 
lege and  got  into  its  close  quarters  until  examined. 
The  hanging  Again  after  being  in  the  College  several 
at  the  Old  mouths,  during  the  Winter  vacation,  I  agreed 
Bailey.  with  the  gentleman  in  question  to  accompany  him 

to  witness  an  Execution  at  the  old  Bailey —  This  I  desired, 
/  am  assured,  from  no  other  than  the  best  and  most  worthy 
motives.''  It  was  a  rule  that  no  student  should  sleep  out 
without  leave.  To  carry  out  our  plan  it  was  necessary  to  be 
near  the  place  all  night  as  the  College  was  several  miles  off, 
and  the  hour  of  Execution  was  six  o'clock  A.  M.  The  Resi- 
dent Tutor  was  absent  that  day  and  I  failed  twice  in  getting 
leave  to  be  out,  tho  I  sought  him  for  this  purpose.  As  it  was 
vacation,  we  thought  we  had  done  all  that  was  necessary  or 
that  could  be  done  on  the  occasion  and  proceeded  to  the  city. 

'I  can  still  remember  vividly  my  intense  feelings  and  the  awful 
impressiveness  with  which  I  conceived  death,  and  eternal  misery 
as  the  wages  of  sin. 


42 

We  entered  a  house  to  get  supper,  where  (I  now  beheve 
thro  our  suspiciousness  merely)  we  became  convinced  we  had 
reason  to  think  the  inmates  were  not  of  the  most  reputable 
character.  There  was  nothing  however  positively  wrong.  I 
had  never  before  been  inside  of  a  Coffee  house,  nor  seen 
female  waiters  (so  common  in  London  and  elsewhere)  and 
was  brim  full  of  romantic  and  wild  imaginings  about  the  fear- 
fulness  of  London  iniquity.  Doubtless  this  House  in  Newgate 
St.  was  an  ordinary  and  an  ordinarily  reputable  coffee  house. 
My  companion  too  was  a  man  of  years  and  experience,  and  of 
great  believed  piety,  and  no  doubt,  enjoyed  my  perfect 
greenness  and  gaping  wonderment.  We  left  and  slept  all 
night  at  the  Ludgate  Hill  Cofifee  House  (I  think)  having 
wandered  for  some  time  about  the  awful  gaol.  In  the  morn- 
ing we  witnessed  the  Execution  of  five  men  and  returned  to 
dinner  at  College.  We  hired  the  use  of  an  opposite  window 
in  our  Hotel.  But  when  the  awful  moment  for  pulling  their 
caps  over  their  heads  came,  I  was  obliged,  as  on  a  similar 
occasion  in  Charleston,^  to  look  away  until  the  dreadful  still- 
ness, followed  by  indescribable  groaning,  &c.  told  us  that  all 
was  over,  and  I  turned  and  saw  them  writhing  and  twisting, 
as  some  of  them  did,  in  the  air.  Of  course,  there  was  an 
immense  crowd,  and  barricades,  police,  soldiers,  &c.  • 

This  was  the  only  night  I  was  ever  out  and  the  former 
occasion  the  only  time  while  in  London  I  was  inside  of  a 
theatre,  and  my  family  would  have  considered  me  perfectly 
safe  under  my  friend's  care,  for  he  stood  very  high,  was 
greatly  beloved,  and  was  engaged  to  a  most  charming  lady — 
the  beauty  and  belle  of  the  congregation. 

Implicated  in  This  gentleman  it  appears  had,  unknown  to  me, 
the  exposure  frequently  been  out  at  night  and  had  also  when 
of  his  friend.  ^^^^  prcachiug,  indulged  too  freely  in  drink.  This 
I  never  saw,  altho  I  knew  he  liked  to  live  well.  An  exposure 
was  made  after  my  departure  for  home,  and  both  these  facts 
were  brought  out  during  an  investigation.  He  endeavoured 
most  unjustly  to  implicate  me  thus  and  to  use  my  name  most 
wrongfully. 

I  sent  a  letter  to  the  Directors  of  which  I  have  a  copy,  but 
such  was  the  state  of  feeling  among  them  that  it  was,  I  believe, 
decided  to  be  best  for  the  Institution  that  I  should  not  return. 
I  have  never  received  any  oificial  communication  of  this  fact, 
but  was  informed  of  it  through  my  friend  Unwin,  and  several 
others    of    the    Senior    students.      That    my    class-mates    all 

®See  vol.  VI,  page  117,  Smyth's  Works. 


thought  me  greatly  aggrieved  will  be  made  certain  by  their 
letters,  voluntarily  written  to  me,  and  which  I  still  have. 
That  my  character  did  not  materially  suffer  will  be  apparent 
also  from  a  subsequent  letter  received  from  the 
nin'ur^d'^*^'^  most  influential  Manager  of  the  Institution  and 
also  from  the  Resident  Tutor,  Dr.  Halley,^  who 
executed  an  order  for  books  for  me  since  my  arrival  in 
America,  and  calls  me  "My  Dear  Friend,"  &c.  This  will  also 
be  rendered  indisputable  by  the  Testimonial  in  reference  to 
the  whole  affair  given  me  by  my  then  Pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
son, author  of  a  work  on  the  "Priesthood  of  Christ,"  and  by 
several  clergymen  who  examined  into  the  whole  business.  I 
was  sustained  also  by  my  church  whose  leading  deacon  urged 
my  case  upon  the  Board  in  London  with  great  ardour. 

Thro  him  I  also  understood  that  after  a  temporary  exercise 
of  this  discipline,  I  was  to  be  invited  back  or  at  least  have  the 
way  opened  for  my  return. 

This  undoubtedly  was  the  case.  My  intended  Father-in- 
law,  an  Englishman  of  family  and  influence,  was  doubtless 
led  through  his  elder  daughter  and  her  betrothed,  my  seniour 
and  a  man  of  prominence,  to  at  least  a  temporary  prejudice, 
so  that  in  London  I  was  unheard.  I  acquiesced  in  this  dis- 
pensation of  providence  with  a  most  heavy  heart.  I  had  well 
nigh  sunk  under  it.  I  was  wounded  sore  in  the 
IS  ex  reme      ^y^Q^\^  vital  part.     My  character  which  had  been 

depression.  t-  j 

spotless  before  the  world  (tho'  all-guilty  in  the 
pure  eye  of  omniscient  heaven)  was  stained.  I  at  once  refused 
to  exhort  as  I  had  done,  or  to  assume  any  prerogative  of  my 
station.  I  had  even  preached  for  the  Rev.  Dr.  Phillip's  con- 
gregation— the  author  of  the  Marys  &c. — and  also  in  several 
country  places  in  Ireland  and  for  my  own  church  in  Belfast 
twice.  I  may  say  too  that  the  same  popularity  and  success 
had  followed  me  to  London,  and  wherever  I  officiated.  I 
think  I  stood  very  high  in  the  expectations  and  opinions  of 
professors.  I  gave  myself  to  grief.  My  friend  and  exemplar 
had  betrayed  me,— while  my  own  bosom  companion,  to  whom 
I  had  revealed  every  thing  and  desired  to  love  beyond  all 
others,  and  in  every  situation,  had  forsaken  me —  My  hopes 
and  prospects  were  wholly  blighted.  The  world  to  me  was  a 
blank.  Darkness  covered  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  I 
thought  I  should  never  again  feel  willing  to  live  or  capable  of 
enjoyment. — 

'Dr.  Smyth  with  his  family  dined  with  Dr.  Halley  in   1851,  see 
"Incidents." — ^Ed. 


44 

The  story  is  taken  up  by  a  packet  of  letters  from 
by  Highbury  young  Thomas  Smith's  College  friends.  Most  of 
letters.  them  are  written  by  those  of  whom  he  speaks:  Will- 

iam Jordan  Unwin,  a  courteous  and  gallant  gentleman, 
son  of  Stephen  Unwin  of  Coggeshall,  Essex  (a  descendant  of  the 
Cowper  Unwins,  we  are  told  elsewhere.)  and  John  Stoughton  of 
London,  a,  good  and  loyal  friend:  a  young  Belfast  man  Edward 
K.  Watts,  well-meaning  but  a  blunderer,  William  Tarbotton, 
Slight  and  Galloway  also  write.  Two  come  from  the  young  man 
to  whom  Dr.  Smyth  refers  as  his  former  "friend  and  exemplar," 
James  Miller  of  Belfast,  engaged  to  be  married  to  Eliza  the  elder 
sister  of  Caroline  Spear.  They  are  all  written  in  great  heat  with 
endless  detail  and  they  present  a  vivid  picture  of  the  life  of  the 
Theological  College  of  nearly  a  century  ago,  so  puritanical  in 
many  standards  of  conduct,  so  precisely  like  the  College  life  of 
today  in  the  desperate,  pathetic,  almost  absurd  seriousness  with 
which  the  students  deal  with  the  problems  brought  before  them. 

At  some  time  after  the  IS**"  of  May,  1830,  Thomas  Smith 
departed  for  Ireland.  On  Tuesday  Morning,  the  25*",  at  break- 
fast, "the  Body"  (as  the  letters  term  the  student  body)  was  con- 
sulted by  the  monitor  of  the  i^*  class  as  to  the  propriety  of  his 
reporting  to  Mr.  Robert  Halley,  the  resident  tutor,  the  fact  that 
Mr.  James  Miller  had  been  out  two  nights  without  leave  and  had 
not  made  report  of  it.  The  students  were  concerned  because  it 
had  been  a  repeated  offence:  he  had  slept  at  a  common  public- 
house:  Mr.  Rees,  who  had  been  sent  to  preach  at  Reigate  where 
Miller  had  been  accustomed  to  preach,  brought  back  the  dismal 
story  of  an  old  woman  who  claimed  to  have  bought  for  the  said 
Miller  "one  pint  of  liquor  of  which  he  had  drunk  the  whole,  so 
that  he  was  tipsy:"  and  finally  it  had  been  stated  by  credible 
witnesses  that  Miller  had  shown  the  effects  of  liquor  more  than 
once  at  the  College.  Miller  in  his  own  defence  said  "he  only  gave 
the  woman  a  shilling,  he  did  not  drink  a  pint"  and  that  those 
responsible  for  the  other  story  had  recanted.  At  this  Watts  vig- 
orously replied  that  he  and  Tom  Smith  might  be  sorry  that  they 
had  mentioned  Miller's  weakness,  but  they  did  not  recant. 

The  committee  appointed  by  mutual  consent  found  Miller 
guilty.  The  Body  debated  long,  finally  coming  to  the  decision 
that  if  he  was  to  remain  in  the  Seminary  the  matter  would  not 
be  brought  to  the  authorities;  he  was  to  receive  an  admonition 
after  which  they  would  all  do  what  they  could  to  influence  him 
to  lead  a  better  life.  If  however  he  wished  to  leave  in  June  and 
take  a  church,  the  attention  of  Mr.  Halley  the  resident  tutor 
shoiSld  be  called  to  it  at  once. 

Miller  as  a  subterfuge,  made  to  Mr.  Halley  a  plausible  report 
of  having  been  detained  at  tea  with  the  Rev.  Rowland  Hill.  When 
the  student-body  discovered  this  trick  and  remonstrated.  Miller 
began  to  do  his  worst  against  them  all.  By  means  of  his  support- 
ers, chiefly  by  one  named  Sims,  he  spread  about  the  College  and 


45 

conveyed  through  the  resident  tutor  to  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson,  one 
of  the  Managers,  every  accusation,  real  or  fancied,  that  could  be 
trumped  up  against  his  opponents  until  the  Seminary  buzzed  like 
a  nest  of  angry  wasps  and,  William  Unwin  writes,  "the  confusion 
of  the  house  when  Mr.  Wilson  was  investigating  the  affair  you 
can  conceive   of  better  than   I   can   describe." 

Unfortunate  Thomas  Smith  fell  the  first  victim:  all  that  he 
relates  himself,  was  told,  disingenuously  contorted  and  magnified 
to  the  highest  degree.  Miller  with  an  air  of  perfect  innocence — did 
not  think  Mr.  Smith  had  really  made  a  habit  of  going  to  the 
theatre — Mr.  Smith  had  not  been  drujik  the  night  of  the  Old 
Bailey,  "he  had  used  no  more  than  one  glass  of  beer."  But  these 
denials  were  made  in  such  a  way  as  more  than  to  confirm  the 
accusation,  until  Watts'  turn  came  to  testify,  when  he  stated  that 
Mr.  Smith  never  drank,  being  "on  that  point  a  remarkable  excep- 
tion to  the  generality  of  the  People  in  Belfast." 

His  friends  did  every  thing  they  could  to  defend  the  absent 
Thomas  Smith:  they  described  his  disposition  as,  ardent  and  ex- 
citable, his  principles  above  suspicion  but  his  thoughtlessness  and 
inquisitiveness  great.  It  was  no  use.  The  authorities  had  re- 
ceived the  impression  that  he  had  more  than  once  gone  to  the 
theatre,  that  he  had  in  some  way  been  ungrateful  to  Miller,  that 
he  had  expressed  himself  injudiciously  in  saying  that  he  had  gone 
to  the  coffee  house  "to  see  how  Miller  did."  There  was  never  any 
official  action  taken  in  his  case.  Miller  and  Sims  were  expelled  but 
the  authorities  did  not  communicate  with  Thomas  Smith.  Their 
opinion  seemed  to  be  that  for  fear  of  public  criticism  they  could  not 
encourage  the  return  of  a  student  who  had  been  known  to  be  in  a 
theatre.  For  his  comfort  Unwin  reminds  him  that  "Dr.  Styles 
was  expelled  for  going  but  once  for  the  purpose  of  writing  upon 
the  subject." 

In  the  meantime  Thomas  tried  to  communicate  with  Caroline, 
but  in  vain;  yet  Mr.  Spear  had  been  constantly  at  Highbury,  in 
fact  most  of  the  letters  from  and  to  Thomas  Smith  came  in 
packets  by  his  hand.  He  now  announced  that  both  his  daughters 
had  made  up  their  minds  and  would  have  no  more  to  do  with  the 
two  young  men.  The  two  young  ladies  seem  to  have  been  so  unco' 
gude  as  to  be  scarcely  human,  but  they  had  some  excuse  for  their 
torpor,  a  sister  had  just  died  of  consumption  and  they  were  sus- 
pected  of  being  victims    of  the   same   disease. 

So  Thomas  as  the  result  of  these  two  events  in  his  life  decided 
to  leave  for  America  with  his  parents.  He  exchanged  parting 
gifts  of  books  with  his  friend  Unwin,  who  disposed  of  his  furni- 
ture and  effects.  The  friends  contemplated  but  did  not  send  a 
joint  letter  for  fear  of  seeming  disrespect  to  the  authorities  and 
severally  wrote  or  sent  farewell  messages.  Unwin  collected  and 
packed  Thomas'  beloved  books.  He  had  already  found  "Porteous 
on  the  other  side  of  the  house,"  and  sent  it  with  the  ist  vol.  of 
Stuart,   his   parting  gift,   by   the   accommodating   Mr.   Spear.      Now 


46 

he  and  Stoughton  tried  to  purchase  others,  a  set  of  Owen  and 
Baxter's  books  as  cheaply  as  they  could,  but  as  the  latter  "are  pub- 
lished by  Scotchmen  the  price  will  not  be  lowered." 

A  few  of  the  letters  which  follow  this  were  written  after  Dr. 
Smyth's  establishment  in  America  but  are  needed  here  to  complete 
this   episode. — Editor. 

BENTON  STREET, 

BENTON  CRESCENT,  LONDON. 
July  30.    1830. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

I  received  your  letter  &  have  complied  as  far 
Tchased  ^^  ^  havc  been  able  with  the  requests  contained 

in  it — I  have  purchased  the  Books  you  mentioned, 
except  those  I  was  forbidden  to  purchase  by  Unwin  &  the 
Baxteriana,  of  which  it  seems  a  Copy  could  not  be  obtained 
by  Baynes.  I  was  unable  to  see  to  the  packing  up  myself 
which  Brother  Slight  kindly  undertook — &  the  Box  contain- 
ing the  Books  &c.  &c  were  shipped  last  Tuesday  and  will 
reach  you  I  hope  safe.  I  write  this  by  post  that  you  may  be 
apprized  of  their  being  on  the  way.  I  could  not  ascertain 
from  Thomas  the  name  of  the  vessel  on  which  they  are  em- 
barked. They  had  heard  nothing  last  Wednesday  of  the 
Books  &  the  note  to  Mr.  Browne  which  you  talked  in  your 
letter  to  me  of  sending  &  therefore  it  was  necessary  to  buy  a 
Box  for  the  things.  Before  I  go  any  further  I  will  give  an 
a/c  of  the  manner  in  which  your  money  has  been  disposed  of. 

Baynes  A/c  )   i8.     3.     6 

for  Owen  etc.  ) 

Deduct  for  2  copies  of  ) 

Baxteriana  which  were  not  obt.  )  9 


Add  Dawes'  Bill  for  pens   ) 

carriage  of  Books  from  W"  Unwin  ) 

Tho".  for  care  of  the  former  Box  4/  &  for  this  1/6  ) 


Sum  enclosed 

£9 

I  hope  the  parcel  containing  Samon^  and  some  vols,  of  Ed- 
wards for  Unwin  will  arrive  here  safe,  but  as  I  s*^  before  we 

^Presumably  John  Samon — London,   1663. — Ed. 


7.  14. 

6 

6 

I. 

2 

5- 

6 

8.     7- 

2 

12. 

10 

47 

have  heard  nothing  of  them  yet.  So  much  for  business — 
And  now  I  thank  you  for  the  affectionate  letter  which  you 
sent  &  for  the  offer  it  contains  of  continuing  our  correspond- 
ence after  you  reach  America.  I  should  feel  a  pleasure  in 
hearing  from  my  friend  Smith  in  any  part  of  the  Globe  but 
especially  from  him  while  he  is  in  America,  a  Country  to 
which  every  man  who  takes  an  interest  in  the  progress  of 
Civil  &  religious  liberty  must  often  cast  a  glance  of  admira- 
tion.    *     *     * 

Adieu  and  believe  me  ever, 
Your  affectionate  Friend  &  Christian  Brother, 
JOHN  STOUGHTON. 
Mr.  Sam'.  Smith 

Callender  Street 
Belfast. 
For  Mr.  Tho\  Smith 

to  be  forwarded  to  him  immediately. 

BELFAST  7  Aug.  1830. 
Testimonials  Upwards  of  a  twelve  month  ago,  Mr.  Thomas 

brought  to  Smith  was  admitted  into  the  fellowship  of  the 
America.  Church  uudcr  my  pastoral  care."  He  went  shortly 

after  his  admission  to  Highbury  College,  &  did  not  return  to 
Belfast  till  about  two  months  ago.  I  know  enough  however 
of  his  character  to  place  full  confidence  in  the  genuineness 
of  his  repentance  toward  God  &  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  For  his  age,  &  the  length  of  time  since  he  came  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  his  spiritual  attainments  are  of  a 
pleasing  &  superior  order. 

In  the  prospect  of  Mr.  Smith's  crossing  the  Atlantic,  I 
warmly  recommend  him  to  the  Christian  fellowship  &  broth- 
erly love  of  any  Church  of  the  Redeemer  in  America  with 
whom  he  may  wish  to  sojourn.  They  will,  I  trust  receive  him 
in  the  Lord  with  all  gladness  &  find  him,  young  though  he  is, 
a  helper  of  their  faith  &  joy. 

JOHN  WILSON, 

Pastor  of  the  Indep.  Church. 

Mr.  Thomas  Smith  has  been  my  most  intimate  friend  for 
some  years.  I  have  always  enjoyed  his  christian  society  and 
been  benefited  by  his  christian  sympathy. 

I  knew  him  during  his  residence  at  Highbury  College  and 

"He  had  been  for  six  years  a  member  of  another  church,  and 
joined  this  preparatory  to  his  course  at   Highbury. — Ed. 


48 

am  in  full  possession  of  every  circumstance  connected  with 
his  discontinuance  there. 

It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  he  very  unv^illingly  entered 
the  Theatre  (as  indeed  the  young  man  who  compelled  him  is 
willing  to  attest  upon  oath)  &  from  his  deep  sorrow  and 
regret,  and  his  subsequent  decision  of  character  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe  him,  what  I  always  did — a  sincere  follower 
of  the  Lamb  &  anxious  to  promote  the  glory  of  his  cause  by 
his  ministerial  labours. 

ROBERT  J.  BELL.' 
Belfast  7  August. 

1830. 

I  have  great  pleasure  in  affording  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  an 
opportunity  of  receiving  any  advantage  which  a  certificate  of 
mine  can  afford  him.  My  only  regret  is  that  his  native  coun- 
try is  so  soon  to  lose  such  talents  and  worth.  I  have  known 
him  long  and  intimately ;  and  have  formed  the  highest  estimate 
of  his  character.  Among  his  fellow  students  he  held  a  first 
place.  I  have  reason  to  believe  him  to  be  a  man  of  talent,  of 
persevering  zeal  and  industry,  of  extensive  literary  and  scien- 
tific qualifications  and,  what  is  more  than  all,  a  man  of  God. 

JOHN  EDGAR 

Prof,  of  Divinity, 
Aug.  1830.  Belfast. 

I  have  been  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 
for  a  period  of  nearly  eight  years.  During  that  time  he  has 
maintained  a  character  free  from  any  stain.  His  conduct  has 
been  not  only  blameless,  but  highly  exemplary,  Various  relig- 
ious Institutions  in  Belfast  and  different  parts  of  the  country, 
shared  in  his  active  and  efficient  labors, — I  consider  him  to 
be  a  young  man  possessed  of  unfeigned  piety. — Mr.  Smith 
occupied  my  pulpit  for  some  weeks  with  great  acceptance  to 
my  congregation;  and  I  trust  that  through  the  grace  of  God 
given  him,  and  his  superior  talents  and  acquirements,  he  will 
prove  an  eminently  useful  Minister  of  the  gospel. 
JAMES  HANSON.* 

Pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church 
August  7th.  1830.  Bangor. 

^See  Chap.  "1846."— Ed. 

*Mr.  Hanson  had  received  "an  impartial  account  of  the  occur- 
rences which  led  to  his  discontinuance  at  Highbury." — Ed. 


49 

Belfast,  4  Aug.   1830. 

With  the  bearer,  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  I  have  been  long  in- 
timately acquainted.  He  was  for  some  time  my  pupil  while 
he  was  pursuing  Mathematical  Studies  in  the  Belfast  Institu- 
tion, and  during  the  whole  course  of  his  study  at  that  Seminary 
I  had  every  opportunity  of  knowing  his  general  deportment, 
and  his  diligence  and  proficiency  in  the  various  branches  of 
Science,  Philosophy,  and  Literature  to  which  his  attention  was 
directed.  Endeavoring  for  the  time  to  divest  myself  of  the 
feelings  of  personal  friendship,  I  render  him  simply  an  act 
of  justice  when  I  say  that  I  have  always  considered  him  pos- 
sessed of  natural  abilities  of  a  high  order,  and  that  his  attain- 
ments as  a  scholar  are  highly  respectable.  He  was  a  front 
rank  man  in  almost  every  class  in  which  he  studied. 

Mr.  S.  is  in  my  judgment  possessed  of  qualities  of  a  much 
higher  character  than  any  that  are  connected  with  mere 
scholarship.  I  esteem  him  as  a  Christian  friend  and  have 
reason  to  regard  him  as  an  humble  and  devoted  follower  of 
the  Lord  Jesus.  While  among  us,  he  entered  with  zeal  into 
plans  for  extending  the  Knowledge  of  the  Saviour's  name, 
and  steadily  and  perseveringly  pursued  his  efforts  for  the 
spiritual  amelioration  of  them  that  are  ignorant  and  out  of  the 
way.  I  feel  convinced  that  I  speak  the  sentiments  of  the 
managers  of  various  benevolent  and  Religious  societies,  when 
I  say  that  we  shall  feel  his  loss,  and  that  we  are  consoled  in 
his  departure  to  a  foreign  land,  in  the  assurance  that  if 
spared,  he  will  be  there,  as  he  has  been  among  us,  a  right- 
hearted  man,  doing  whatever  his  hand  found  to  do,  with  all 
his  might,  in  the  Vineyard  of  the  Lord. 

I  feel  it  unnecessary  to  say  more,  lest  the  partiality  of  long 
cherished  friendship  should  in  any  measure  seem  to  influence 
my  judgment. — I  shall  only  add,  that  it  is  my  decided  convic- 
tion that  Mr.  Smith  will  be  found  an  invaluable  acquisition  to 
those  Christian  Ministers  and  people  who  may  cultivate  his 
friendship,  and  a  faithful  and  devoted  Minister  of  the  New 
Testament  in  whatever  field  of  labour  the  Great  Head  of  the 
Church  may  assign  him  his  work. 

Signed,      THOMAS  HOUSTON,' 

Minister  of  the  Reformed  Congregation 
of  Knockbracken. — 

Nozv  D.  D.  and  head  of  the  Theological  School  of  the  Cov- 
enanters. 

^Dr.  Houston  received  his  D.  D.  from  Princeton  on  the  same 
day  as  Dr.  Smyth  and  lived  to  w^rite  a  touching  memorial  at  Dr. 
Smyth's  death. — Ed. 

(41 


50 

BELFAST,  6  August  1830. 

The  bearer  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  has  passed  through  the  Col- 
legiate Course  of  Languages,  Logic,  Moral  and  Natural 
Philosophy,  Mathematics  &c.  with  distinguished  success,  in 
the  College  of  Belfast,  Ireland.  He  has  subsequently  been  a 
student  of  Theology  in  the  Academy  of  Highbury,  England. 
Mr.  Smith  being  now  about  to  emigrate  tc  America  has  re- 
quested me  to  express  my  opinion  of  him — a  request  with 
which  I  do  most  cheerfully  comply. 

I  beHeve  Mr.  Smith  to  be  a  decided  Christian,  of  high  men- 
tal attainments  and  to  be  likely  to  form  a  valuable  Minister  of 
the  Christian  Church,  if  it  should  please  divine  Providence  to 
call  him  to  that  work.  I  do  accordmgl>  most  earnestlv  rec- 
ommend him  to  the  Members  of  the  Holy  Ministry  in  America, 
and  pray  that  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  may  prosper-  in  his 
hands. 

H.  COOKE,  D.  D. 
Presbyterian  Church,  May  Street.  Belfast. — 

Henry  Cooke  D.  D.  &  L.  L.  D.  the  great  leader  of  the  Irish 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Feb.  28,  183 1. 
HIGHBURY  COLLEGE. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

*  *  *  I  was  rather  surprised  at  your  going 
bur^' letters       ^^  Priucctou  Collcgc  and  at  your  statement  that 

the  doctrine  maintained  there  is  the  same  as  we 
believe —  If  it  be  as  you  stated  to  Unwin — the  Creed  you 
pro'fess  must  be  much  higher  than  ours.  We  believe  Christ 
died  for  all  men — that  his  death  has  a  relation  to  all.  That 
all  may  believe  if  they  will — ^nothing  but  their  unwillingness 
hinders  them.  We  think  therefore  on  these  grounds  we  are 
bound  to  invite  all  sinners  to  come  to  Christ  as  being  able,  if 
they  will,  to  believe ;  and  to  tell  them  that  if  they  believe  not 
they  shall  die.  We  indeed  firmly  believe  in  Election — that 
those  only  who  are  ordained  to  live  will  believe. — ^We  believe 
that  such  is  the  depravity  of  the  heart  that  none  ivill  believe 
or  receive  the  gospel  until  they  be  born  again,  until  God  has 
opened  their  eyes.  But  still  the  gospel  is  perfectly  free,  who- 
soever will  let  him  come  and  take  of  the  waters  of  life  freely — 
certainly  Christ  died  for  the  elect — differently  from  what  he 
died  for  all  men —  He  was  offered  we  believe  as  a  sacrifice 
for  all —  The  benefits  of  that  sacrifice  are  applied  only  to  par- 
ticular individuals — the  elect.     This  opinion  is  now  the  prev- 


51 

alent  one  among  Calvinists  in  Englanci.  With  this  agrees 
doctor  Wardlaw  in  his  two  Essays  lately  published.  Have 
you  seen  Hinton  on  the  Spirit?  He  is  a  great  advocate  for 
man's  free  agency. —  Unwin  is  a  great  admirer  of  Hinton — I 
cannot  say  I  can  go  all  the  length  with  Unwin  in  his  admira- 
tion.— •  It  is  in  great  part  a  dispute  about  words —  He  objects 
to  the  word  moral  inability — and  says  man  has  ability  to  be- 
lieve, but  will  not  unless  illuminated  by  the  Spirit. 

I  have  on  the  whole  enjoyed  myself  so  far  this  session. 
Halley  has  been  very  kind.  I  think  he  is  much  improved — • 
He  is  much  liked  by  the  students —  We  do  not  rise  always  at 
six  as  you  may  suppose.  The  house  is  again  rather  lax  in  this 
respect.  We  have  had  a  peaceable  session —  A  good  deal  of 
brotherly  feeling  exists  among  us.  As  a  class  we  are  very 
comfortable  and  united.     *     *     * 

Stoughton  and  Tarbotton  desire  to  be  affectionately  re- 
membered to  you.  They  are  both  well  and  will  write  soon. 
We  are  going  to  send  a  packet  when  Unwin  comes  back.     *     * 

E.  K.  WATTS. 

15  April,  183 1. 
HIGHBURY. 
MY  DEAR  SMITH, 

It  afforded  me  unspeakable  pleasure  to  receive  your  kind 
&  affectionate  communication,  dated  24th  Oct.  last,  &  I  should 
have  answered  it  long  ere  this,  had  I  not  been  waiting  for 
Brother  Un win's  sending  a  parcel  in  which  I  might  enclose 
you  a  few  lines. 

On  taking  up  my  pen  to  address  you  the  most  affecting 
reflections  dart  across  my  mind.     *     *     * 

Our  Senate,  I  suppose  Unwin  has  told  you,  goes  on  very 
well —  We  have  had  several  meetings  this  year.  I  have  been 
Orator  once  &  respondent  once — the  former  on  the  question 
of  Apparitions,  the  latter  on  the  Immortality  of  Brutes —  In 
the  former  I  took  the  Affirmative,  the  latter  the  Negative.  I 
carried  them  both  with  a  good  majority —  We  are  to  have  an 
interesting  subject  for  discussion  next  time —  Whether  the 
Heathen  Oracles  were  under  the  influences  of  Satanic  Agency. 
Button  is  Orator  on  the  Affirmative — Watts  resp*.  Negative — 
I  shall  prepare  a  speech  on  Button's  side —     *     *     * 

Now  my  dear  friend  I  must  bid  you  adieu  for  the  present. 
May  the  God  &  father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  X'  comfort  your 
Soul  &  establish  your  faith  &  guide^you  in  the  way  evei-lasting. 
Pray  write  to  me  at  your  earliest  opportunity — or  I  shall  think 
that  the  waniith  of  my  friendship  meets  no  response  in  your 


53 

bosom — that  I  would  not  believe —  Pardon  the  incoherency  of 
this  Epistle,  'tis  the  rough  unpolished  production  of  strong  love 
&  attachm* — &  'tis  accompanied  by  the  prayers  of 

Your  affectionate  friend, 
JOHN  STOUGHTON. 

HIGHBURY  COLLEGE. 

April  I6*^  1 83 1. 
MY  DEAR  SMITH, 

I  believe  I  am  your  debtor ;  I  am  very  anxious  to  make  you 
mine.  My  only  fear  is,  that  the  present  scrawl  will  not  be 
accepted  by  you  in  full  payment,  but  that  after  all  you  will 
put  our  account,  in  some  such  posture  as  this — "By  Ballance 
due  from  W".  Tarbotton — a  longer  letter."  I  can  only  regret 
that  it  is  not  in  my  power,  at  the  present  time,  to  do  what 
would  afford  me  great  gratification; — and  make  you  the 
solemn  promise,  that  the  next  time  I  write,  (which  I  hope  will 
not  be  long  hence)  you  shall  see,  that  I  will  use  my  best  en- 
deavours to  make  amends. 

It  afforded  me  no  mean  pleasure  to  hear  from  brother 
Unwin  (who  was  so  kind  as  to  read  your  last  letter  to  me) 
that  you  were  so  well  in  body — so  comfortable  in  circum- 
stances and  prospects — and,  I  trust  so  favored  and  happy  in 
your  spiritual  and  best  concerns.  You  are  far  from  us,  but 
my  dear,  dear  friend,  I  have  not  forgotten  you.  I  can  remem- 
ber the  fellowship  we  were  once  permitted  to  enjoy  and  I  can 
still  sympathize  in  your  welfare,  in  your  hopes,  in  your 
prayers.     *     *     * 

You  remember  who  said, — "All  things  work  together  for 
good — to  them  that  love  God, — that  are  the  called  according 
to  his  purpose :"  and  the  truth  of  this  glorious  assertion,  which 
so  many  have  felt,  has  I  trust — •!  doubt  not, — been  also  proved 
by  you.  God's  ways  are  not  oiir  ways — nor  His  thoughts 
our  thoughts.     *     *     * 

Things  go  on  much  as  usual  here — of  which  I  presume 
Brother  Unwin  will  give  you  all  particulars.  There  is  nothing 
particular  to  relate  concerning  myself,  which  would  be  worth 
your  while  hearing — indeed  I  dislike  above  every  thing,  to 
talk  about  myself.  All  I  need  say  is,  that,  I  bless  God,  I  have 
been,  on  the  whole,  pretty  well,  since  I  saw  you — that  I  have 
always  plenty  to  do — that  I  have  been  preaching  nearly  every 
Sunday  for  the  last  6  months — and  that  my  dear  Salome  was 
quite  well  the  other  day  when  I  heard. — 

Stoughton,  Unwin,  &  I,  meet  every  day  for  prayer — when 
we   often   think   of,    and   pray    for   you.      But    I    must    close. 


53 

Unwin  says  the  letter  must  go  now — and  I  have  a  friend  from 
Yorkshire  whom  I  am  obliged  to  go  and  see  in  the  City — so 
that  I  am  obliged  to  content  myself  with  this  short  and  un- 
connected scrawl.     *     *     * 

Write  me  a  very  long  letter  when  you  have  convenience  and 
the  will  so  to  do,  which  I  hope  will  not  be  long  first.  Mean- 
while believe  me  my  dear  Brother — 

Yours  affectionately,  in  the  best  of  bonds — > 
WILLIAM  TARBOTTON. 

Highbury  College, 
Saturday,  i6  April,  1831.. 
My  dear  Christian  Brother, 

Since  I  received  your  kind  letter  I  have  read  it  again  & 
again  with  emotions  too  big  for  utterance  except  by  y"  tearful 
eye.  Even  at  this  moment  the  sight  of  it — &  the  knowledge 
of  its  contents  fill  me  with  joyful  grief. — *     *     * 

Painful  as  is  the  past,  I  must  solemnly  declare  that  the  in- 
formation w""  warranted  the  phrase  in  yours  "in  the  hour  of 
my  shipwrecked  hopes,  you  assisted  in  directing  the  storm 
upon  my  foundering  bark"  is  UTTERLY  FALSE,  That  I 
befriended  Miller  is  true. —  But  this  is  not  by  any  fair  persons, 
or  means,  to  be  considered  synonymous  with  hating  Smith.  * 
*  *  What,  in  such  circumstances,  did  it  become  a  friend  of 
Tom  Smith  to  do?  To  hurry  on  the  matter  to  Mr.  Halley 
when  you  were  absent  &  unable  to  meet  the  foul  asperations 
intended  to  be  made?  or,  if  possible,  by  defending  M.  against 
the  severity  of  the  proceedings,  to  save  a  wanton  impeachment 
of  you?  The  latter  course  I  preferred  &  it  is  because  I  was 
silent  about  you  &  stood  up  singly  for  M.  (all  his  4  friends 
not  consenting  to  be  present)  under  the  full  impression  that, 
if  his  case  could  be  kept  from  Halley  he  would  retire  at  the 
end  of  the  Session,  as  incompetent  to  classical  pursuits  (which 
Halley  had  previously  stated,)  &  thus  save  you  from  disgrace; 
It  is  because  I  acted  thus  &  would  give  no  reasons  for  my 
conduct,  that  I  was  branded  with  inconsistency  &  want  of 
friendship. — •  Now  Smith,  I  ask  you  plainly  to  tell  me  whether 
my  friendship  was  not  exercising  itself  in  the  best  way  rather 
than  yielding  to  treachery  or  base  hypocrisy?     *     *     * 

As  to  y*  charge  of  ingratitude — when  Mr.  H,  had  heard 
Sims  statement  &  judging  from  it  spoke  of  your  ingratitude 
to  Miller,  no  one  replied  to  his  observations  save  myself. — 
My  reply  was  If  Smith  has  done  so  &  so  then  it  is  ingratitude 
in  him. —  Thus  as  far  as  my  situation  permitted  me,  I  expressed 
my  doubts  of  the  truth  of  what  Sims  had  said,  whilst  others 


54 

were  silent  on  the  subject. —  This  course  I  preferred  to  silence, 
inasmuch  as  in  my  estimation  silence  is  assent. — 

To  close  this  gloomy  subject  I  only  add,  that  I  blame  no 
one  for  having  acted  intentionally  for  your  expulsion  besides 
Smts,  &  all  agree  (in  my  class  at  least)  that  if  my  advice  had 
been  followed  you  would  have  been  saved. — *     *     * 

"My  endem'ed  companion"  shared  in  my  feelings  of  sorrow 
on  yoiur  account,  &  still  takes  a  lively  interest  in  anything  I 
say  concerning  you — She  is  well. — • 

My  dear  Smith,  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  hear  from  you  & 
as  a  friend  I  commend  you  to  God  &  to  the  word  of  his  grace, 
assuring  you  that  it  is  with  every  sentiment  of  esteem  I  sub- 
scribe myself 

Your  affectionate  friend 

J.  A.  SAVAGE. 

PINNERS  HALL. 
OLD  BROAD  ST. 

8  April,  183 1. 
DEAR  SIR, 

Your  letter  dated  7  Jan  came  safe  to  hand  and  as  you  wish 
to  receive  a  reply  I  take  this  opportunity  to  assure  you  that  I 
am  pleased  with  the  spirit  &:  temper  you  have  manifested — 
We  read  there  is  forgiveness  with  God,  that  he  may  be  feared 
&  there  should  be  forgiveness  with  man,  when  genuine  con- 
trition appears. —  Perhaps  nothing  short  of  the  discipline  you 
have  experienced  would  have  been  effectual  to  disintangle  you 
from  worldly  compliances — ,  &  to  produce  that  spirituality  of 
mind,  which  is  always  connected  with  life  &  peace. — 

You  will  allow  me  to  say,  that  I  do  not  agree  with  you  when 
you  say  "that  your  going  to  the  Theatre  was  attended  with 
circumstances  unavoidable" — for  we  are  commanded  to  resist 
unto  blood  striving  against  Sin — &  also  if  Sinners  entice  us, 
we  are  not  to  consent.^ 

The  only  security,  surrounded  as  we  are  by  Temptations, 
for  a  pure  motive  &  consistent  conduct,  is  the  possessing  a 
new  Heart  &  a  right  Spirit,  which  is  the  Gift  of  God.  I  trust 
&  hope  you  have  some  evidence  that  this  is  your  experience. 

If  divine  providence  should  open  a  way  for  you  into  the 
Ministry — I  pray  that  you  may  indeed  be  an  Embassador  for 
Christ — while  you  exclaim  with  the  great  Apostle — I  am  less 
than  the  least  of  all  Saints.  Yea  the  chief  of  Sinners.  You 
will  be  glad  to  know  that  our  College  prospers. — ^We  sent  out 
Twelve  last  year  &  this  year  the  number  will  be  the  same. — 


55 

We  have  only  24  Students  beside  6  for  Missionaries.  Great 
care  is  needful  in  the  admissions — we  expect  to  be  full  after 
the  next  vacation. — 

We  are  glad  to  learn  that  there  has  been  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion in  New  York — May  the  Holy  Spirit  be  universally  shed 
forth — then  will  the  wilderness  become  as  the  Garden  of  the 
Lord. — 

I  trust  you  will  be  clothed  with  Humility — &  may  you  be 
stedfast,  immoveable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the 
Lord. — 

With  best  wishes  I  remain  Dear  Sir, 
Yours  faithfully, 

THOMAS  WILSON. 
I  am  glad  that  Temperance  Societies  prevail  in  America. 

HIGHBURY. 

20  November — 1832. 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

Books    ur-  -'-  ^^^^  happy  to  hear  of  your  welfare  &  pros- 

chased  by  Dr.    pccts  in  America  &  I  trust  the  blessing  of  God 
Haiiey  for  Dr.    ^^j[\\   ^^[\\  accompany  you.      I   have   received   two 
™^   ■  sets  of  your  bills  of  exchange  with  your  letters  & 

have  seen  Baynes  upon  the  subject —  I  will  take  care  to  see  the 
books  in  good  condition  &  at  as  low  prices  as  possible —  It  will 
afford  me  much  pleasure  to  execute  such  a  commission  at  any 
time  for  you  &  your  friends  &  to  hear  from  you  especially  as 
I  am  very  anxious  to  obtain  information  from  your  side  the 
Atlantic.  The  postage  of  your  letters  consisting  of  so  many 
pieces  of  paper  is  enormous  &  then  I  have  by  post  to  remit 
the  bills  to  Liverpool  &  receive  them  again.  It  would  have 
been  7  shillings  difference  if  there  had  been  one  bill  instead 
of  three  in  the  first  instance  only,  &  3  more  in  the  recent  set — • 
I  would  write  more  at  length  but  I  am  engaged  in  a  laborious 
correspondence  on  the  Slavery  question,^  previous  to  the  ap- 
proaching general  election.  I  will  write  more  at  length  in 
your  box  of  books.  Baynes  has  one  copy  of  the  Polyglott  & 
expects  to  find  another  in  a  few  days.    One  will  be  about  ig£ 

°We  must  recollect  that  England  abolished  slavery  in  her  do- 
minions immediately  after  this  in  1833.  In  one  of  William  Unwin's 
letters  in  1830  he  speaks  of  going  to  the  Anti-Slavery  Meeting 
"but  was  unable  to  get  in:  the  Meeting  was  so  large  that  hundreds 
who  had  tickets  could  not  gain  admission.  So  numerous  a  meeting 
has  never  been  known  before — I  hope  it  may  lead  to  some  favour- 
able result — Mr.  Brougham,  Dr.  Rushington,  Mr.  Macauley,  Wilbe- 
force  &c.  were  there." — Ed. 


56 

the  other  about  23^.  You  have  not  ordered  Castells'  [  ?] 
Lexicon  which  usually  accompanies  it — so  I  have  not  ordered 
it.    That  will  be  about  seven  guineas  more 

Yours  very  affectionately, 

ROB^.  HALLEY. 

I  shall  be  happy  to  receive  a  letter  more  immediately  re- 
specting yourself — prospects — Carolina — &c — &  especially  in- 
formation about  the  state  of  American  Colleges. 

I  have  just  received  an  order  for  seven  pounds  more  in 
addition  to  the  bill  for  about  40o£  &  will  order  another  copy 
of  Owen. 


REMOVAL  TO  AMERICA 


PRINCETON  —  CHARLESTON 


59 


REMOVAL  TO  AMERICA. 

PRINCETON CHARLESTON. 

Departure  ■"-  ^oon  made  Up  my  mind  to  leave  a  home  now 

for  America,  desolate,  and  scenes  which  only  awakened  sad- 
August,  1830.  ness.  Having  spent  some  weeks  at  a  quiet  country 
village  on  the  sea  shore  with  a  clergyman  of  the  place,  where 
I  weekly  officiated  in  some  religious  exercises,  I  sailed  in 
August  1830  with  Anna,  the  eldest  of  my  two  sisters,  for  New 
York.^  My  parents  were  not  quite  ready  to  leave  and  it  was 
thought  important  I  should  be  out  in  time  to  arrange  my 
plans  before  the  Winter  Season. 

RIDGE  TOP,  Nov.   16,   1911. 
^MY  DEAR  COUSIN 

You  have  been  in  my  thoughts  greatly  for  many  days,  I  have 
been  intending  sending  you  a  little  gown  or  dress  worn  by  Uncle 
Thomas,  his  Mother  brought  it  with  her  to  this  new  Country,  My 
Aunt  kept  it  for  years  then  sent  it  to  my  Mother  and  I  found  it  in 
an  old  chest  where  she  kept  her  treasures  when  she  died;  so  now 
I  send  it  to  you  after  so  long  a  time,  thinking  better  late  than 
never.  Uncle  Joseph  Smyth  and  his  wife  Jane  Carleton  were  the 
first  of  the  family  to  come  to  this  country,  he  it  was  that  insisted 
on  your  Father  being  sent  to  Princeton.  So  Uncle  Thomas  and 
his  little  fifteen  year  old  Sister,  my  Mother,  came  out  from  Ireland 
alone  to  Paterson,  N.  J. — ■  Uncle  Thomas  would  not  come  unless 
his  Sister  Anna  came  with  him;  it  was  the  time  of  the  equinoxial 
storms  and  the  two  youngsters  had  to  be  lashed  to  their  beds  for 
two  days;  dont  you  know  they  were  frightened?  Dont  you  think 
the  pictures  are  aristocratic  looking?  Grandma  looks  every  inch 
a  lady,  and  as  a  servant  of  mine  said  on  looking  at  Grand  Pa's 
picture,  "La  Miss  Belle!  he  looks  like  a  history  man,  he  shore  do, 
was  he  a  gineral?"  I  am  glad  you  like  the  pictures.  These  Por- 
traits were  painted  long  before  they  left  Ireland;  they  have  bog- 
wood  frames  on  them;  our  forebears  were  not  common  emigrants, 
they  brought  handsome  mahogany  furniture,  Piano,  solid  silver, 
that  was  burned  in  the  great  Chicago  fire,  a  magnificent  grand- 
fathers clock,  their  own  servants,  these  portraits  and  others  of 
the  different  sons! 

Please  look  at  the  sewing  on  the  gown  and  observe  the  size 
of  the  neck,  and  size  of  cuffs.  After  all  the  children  came  to  this 
country  the  old  folks  could  not  stand  it  very  long,  so  they  came; 
Grandma  died  soon  after  with  Pneumonia,  Grand  Pa  lived  to  be 
a  very  old  man.     *     *     * 

Sincerely 

BELLE  PLUNKET   CLARK. 


60 

We  arrived  late  in  September  1830.  The  same  day  on 
which  we  reached  N.  York,  I  went  out  to  Paterson  where  my 
eldest  brother,  Joseph,  resides.^  There  I  was  examined  and 
joined  the  Presbyterian  Church,^  of  which  my  brother  was  a 
member.  In  a  week  or  two  Dr.  Fisher,  its  pastor,  introduced 
me  to  the  Newark  Presbytery,  under  whose  care  I  was  re- 
ceived. I  soon  proceeded  to  Princeton  Seminary 
Seminl^.  wherc    I    was    admitted    into    the    Senior    class. 

Here  I  remained  until  Summer  when  at  the 
urgency  of  Dr.  Phillips,*  of  New  York — I  supplied  his  pulpit 
in  the  Wall  St.  Church,  for  six  weeks  during  the  months  of 
August  and  September.  I  then  returned  to  Princeton  and 
delivered  the  address  at  the  close  of  the  Session,  and  also  an 
address  before  the  Education  Society  at  the  College. 

I  united  with  one  or  two  of  the  Students  in  a 
Oniination,        ^^^^   ^^  ^^^^^  ^j^^  Winter  in   Florida  and   Mis- 

sionate  there.  For  this  purpose  I  took  a  Commis- 
sion from  the  Assembly's  Board  of  Missions  to  go  to 
Tallahassee.  In  view  of  this  opening  of  Providence  and  the 
probability  that  I  should  have  opportunities  for  exercising 
the  gifts  of  the  ministry  and  administering  the  ordinances  of 
religion,  I  was  ordained  by  the  Newark  Presbytery  at  their 
fall  Session  in  Orange  in  183 1.  As  this  Presbytery  has  since 
become  notorious  for  the  stand  it  has  taken  in  favour  of  New 
School  principles,  I  may  mention  that  my  theological  exam- 
ination occupied  most  of  a  day  and  became  in  fact  a  discussion^ 
between  myself  and  some  of  the  members  on  some  of  the 
points  which  have  since  divided  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
this  country.  There  was  but  one  old  school  man  present  in 
the  Presbytery,  who  more  than  once  encouraged  me  to  reply, 
saying  to  me  that  I  was  now  engaged  not  in  an  Examination, 
but  in  a  discussion.* 

In  reference  to  the  examination  mentioned  above,  I  would 
say  that  the  topic  of  chief  discussion  was  depraved  nature 
prior  to  sinful  acts  or  exercises.     On  returning  with  Rev.  Dr. 

^Dr.  Smyth  states  that  Joseph  Smith  was  in  a  manufacturing 
business,  having  tv/o  mills  running. — Ed. 

^We  must  remember  that  Dr.  Smyth  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Congregational    Church   while   studying  at    Highbury. — Ed. 

^William  Wirt  Phillips,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  that  church  for  almost 
forty  years:     President  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. — Ed. 

^For  copies  of  certificates  of  Dr.  Smyth's  ordination  see  pp.  69- 
70.  A  vivid  description  of  student  life  of  this  period  at  Princeton 
Seminary  may  be  found  in  "My  Life  and  Times,"  Dr.  J.  B.  Adger, 
PP-  73>  etc. — Ed. 


61 

Fisher  to  Paterson  in  his  vehicle,  we  continued  the  discussion, 
he  regretting  that  I  had  such  obsolete  and  unpopular  views. 
I  charged  home  on  him  the  Sufferings  and  death  of  infants 
as  penal  inflictions  under  a  curse  for  Sin  and  asked  how  he 
could  justify  such  punishment  where  there  was  no  sin  and 
guilt  personally  and  voluntarily  incurred.  He  replied  that  he 
believed  infants  to  be  capable  of  moral  exercises  and  there- 
fore of  sin  and  guilt  in  the  womb,  and  hence,  &c.  I  replied 
that  if  he  went  into  the  womb  I  could  not  follow  him  there 
nor  could  I  remember  any  of  my  exercises  in  that  pre-existent 
state  and  doubted  if  he  or  any  body  else  did.  At  my  ordina- 
tion examination  I  adopted  the  Confession  of  Faith  with  the 
explicit  exception  of  its  teaching  regarding  the  marriage  of 
a  wife's  sister.  I  read  it  all  very  carefully  and  was  very  thor- 
oughly examined. 

Before  leaving  for  Florida,  however,  an  invitation  came  on 
to  Princeton  for  a  young  man  to  supply  on  trial  the  Second 
Charleston,  Prcsbytcrian  Church  in  Charleston,  S.  C,  and 
November  Drs.   Alexander  and   Miller  agreed   upon  myself 

12th,  1831.  ^^^  proposed  to  me  to  go  on.  To  this  I  finally 
acceded,  and  having  in  the  meantime  taken  a  tour  with  my 
brother  and  his  lady,  as  far  as  Montreal,  I  sailed  for  Charles- 
ton and  arrived  there  on  Nov.  12,  183 1. 

Here  I  came  a  perfect  stranger  and  with  no  other  introduc- 
tion than  a  letter  from  the  professors  to  the  President  of  the 
Congregation,  certifying  that  I  was  the  individual  recom- 
mended by  them.  Mr.  Robinson  who  was  at  that  time  Presi- 
dent of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Congregation  in  the  city  of 
Charleston,  and  with  whom  it  was  expected  I  would  either 
stay,  or  be  by  him  provided  with  lodgings,  had  yielded  his 
hospitable  desire  to  entertain  me  to  Mr.  James 
ames  .  ger.  .^j^gj.^  \^ho  as  an  Irishman,  a  Scotch-Irish  Pres- 
byterian, desired  to  receive  into  his  family  a  young  Irishman 
of  the  same  stock,  and  a  stranger.^     On  the  afternoon  of  the 

^James  Adger  was,  like  Thomas  Smyth,  an  Ulster  man,  where 
"need  makes  neighbourly."  He  was  born  in  tne  linen  weaving 
district  north  of  Belfast,  in  the  little  town  of  Moneynick,  near 
Dunean  where  his  father  owned  a  flax-mill  and  bleaching-green. 
Of  the  family  his  children  were  told  by  him  that  their  ancestors 
had  fought  in  the  seige  of  Derry.  Owing  to  an  injudicious  second 
marriage,  the  mother  of  James  Adger  became  impoverished  and 
emigrated  to  America,  her  elder  Adger  sons  having  already  gone 
to  South  Carolina.  Young  James  was  befriended  in  New  York  by 
Mr.  John  Bailey,  a  hardware  merchant  and  when  grown  found 
his  way  to  Charleston  in  charge  of  a  cargo  of  hardware:     On  a 


62 

day  of  my  arrival,  I  therefore  found  myself  an  inmate  of  that 
endeared  family,  of  which  I  am  now  an  adopted  member. 

I  had  met  the  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer'  at  Princeton,  and  was 
introduced  to  him  by  the  Professors,  and  had  been  kindly 
invited  by  him  to  come  on  my  arrival — to  his  house.  This  I 
did,  and  while  there,  during  an  hour  or  two — ^^for  I  dined  at 
Mr.  Adger's — received  a  pleasant  visit  from  Messrs.  Robin- 
son and  Adger  in  company,  and  was  by  them  informed  of  their 
intentions  and  arrangements. 

I   arrived,   say  on   Monday,   and  on  Thursday 
^argare  evening,  or  Sabbath  Evening  I  lectured  for  them 

in  Blackbird  Alley  Lecture  Room.  My  subject 
was  Paul  as  a  Stranger  at  Athens,  my  preparation  small,  my 
notes  nothing,  and  my  daring  never  afterwards  equalled  in 
rash  and  hazardous  imprudence,  yet  it  was  well  received.  I 
came  with  a  white  vest  (if  I  recollect  rightly,  white  panta- 
loons also,)  and  a  gold  chain  with  Key  and  large  Seal  with 
coat  of  amis.^  The  vest,  at  the  family's  suggestion,  I  laid 
aside."     But  on  this  occasion  I  hung  my  chain  and  seals  in- 

visit  to  his  brother  William  in  Winnsboro,  South  Carolina,  he  met 
and  married  Sarah  Ellison  also  of  Scotch-Irish  descent,  but  whose 
people  had  been  in  South  Carolina  since  before  the  revolution. 
They  became  the  parents  of  a  large  family  of  which  Margaret  was 
the  eldest.  James  Adger  had  made  for  himself  a  most  enviable 
position  as  a  merchant  with  important  business  connections  in 
every  large  port  and  his  own  line  of  steamers  to  New  York;  he 
was  ranked  at  one  time  fourth  among  the  rich  men  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  a  genial  and  generous  man,  always  most  hospit- 
able to  his  fellow-countrymen.  If  possible  he  met  them  himself 
on  arrival  and  saw  that  they  were  properly  lodged.  His  own 
house  was  constantly  an  abiding  place  for  young  Irishmen  in  his 
employment  in  the  city  or  country.  See  "Life  and  Times,"  by 
John  B.  Adger.— Ed. 

'The  elder  Dr.  Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer,  pastor  of  the  Circu- 
lar Church  for  many  years. — Ed. 

*This  seal  is  in  the  possession  of  his  grandson  and  is  engraved 
with  the  crest  shown  in  the  plate  with  the  family  arms. — Ed. 

^Owing  to  his  colour-blindness.  Dr.  Smyth's  taste  in  dress  and 
decoration  could  not  be  counted  on.  It  is  told  that  when  visiting 
without  his  wife  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Fleming  in  Philadelphia  on 
his  way  home  from  Europe,  Dr.  Smyth  appeared  dressed  for 
church,  where  he  was  to  preach,  in  a  crimson  velvet  waistcoat, 
one  of  two  made  to  his  order  in  Ireland;  and  that  it  required  much 
argument  to  convince  him  that  the  waistcoat  was  not  black.  Mrs. 
Smyth  confiscated  and  hid  them  when  he  reached  home. 

He  was  most  generous  in  his  presents  to  his  wife  but  at  times 
the    beautiful    materials    he    brought    her    were    of    such    obtrusive 


ATSS>, 


64 

nocently  over  the  cushion  in  the  pulpit,  to  sustain  my  watch 
as  a  guide  while  preaching,  (a  fact  yet  remembered  by  some). 
Miss  Adger  on  our  way  home  gave  me  not  her  first  curtain, 
but  her  first  private  lecture.  And  a  very  satisfactory  and 
seasonable  one'  it  was  and  sufficient  to  lead  me  never  again 
to  allow  my  good  to  be  evil  spoken  of. 

A  week  or  two  previous  to  my  arrival,  the  Congregation 
had  been  supplied  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Varick  Dey  of  New 
York,  who  had  visited  the  city  accompanied  with  very  strong 
recommendations  as  a  man  of  great  eloquence  and  talent.  His 
preaching  had  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  great  ma- 
jority of  the  people  who  were  anxious,  at  once,  to  secure  him 
as  their  Pastor.  He  and  I  alternated  in  preaching  at  the 
Scotch  and  the  2nd  Presbyterian  Churches.  Thro  the  caution 
of  Mr.  Adger's  family,  I  was,  for  some  time,  kept  in  entire 
ignorance  of  the  real  nature  of  Mr.  Dey's  visit  and  of  the 
real  state  of  the  Congregation.  As  soon  as  I  did  learn  the 
facts  in  the  case  I  sent  in  a  letter  declining  any  further  ser- 
vices. By  this  time,  suspicions  had  been  excited  in  the  minds 
of  some  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Congregation  as  to 
Mr.  Dey's  character  and  a  division  in  consequence  took  place. 
Means  were  taken  to  bring  evidence  of  the  true  character  of 
this  unfortunate  person  before  the  people,  and  altho  this  proved 
ultimately  sufficient  to  prevent  his  settlement,  the  breaches 
occasioned  by  this  division  were  in  some  cases  never  healed. 
Several  at  once  left  the  Church,  and  among  them  Gilmore 
Simms,  then  Editor  of  a  paper"  (in  which  he  published  a  witty, 
poetic  jeu  d'esprit  of  four  lines  on  Mr.  Dey  and  my  compara- 
tive, insignificance).     James  Legare  also  left. 

Mr.  Dey  was  actually  elected,  as  was  tho-ught  at  the  time 
and  at  a  meeting  made  constitutionally  full  by  great  and  not 
very  proper  efforts.  But  the  election  was  by  a  fraction — as 
Mr.  Adger  saw — invalid,  as  he  afterwards  convinced  them. 
Mr.  Dey  announced  it  in  the  afternoon,  and  having  dined  with 
Col.  Bryan^  had  very  freely,  I  was  told,  enjoyed  his  hospitality; 
and  preached  with  a  great  deal  of  spirit. 

colours  and  designs  that  they  could  be  used  only  for  dressing- 
gowns.  Mrs.  Smyth  was  also  provided  by  him,  when  she  was  in 
deep  mourning,  with  visiting  cards  on  which  the  finely  engraved 
name  was  surrounded  by  a  wreath  of  leaves  of  equally  beautiful 
engraving — but   green. — Ed. 

"Of  the  Charleston  City  Gazette.  The  verse  referred  to  is 
lost.— Ed. 

*Col.  John  Bryan,  a  prominent  member  of  the  congregation, 
who  had  married  the  sister  of  the  statesman  Hugh  S.  Legare. — Ed. 


65 

In  the  meantime  when  just  about  to  leave  the 
terian  Church    ^^^^^  "'-  received  an  invitation  to  supply  for  three 

months,  the  pulpit  of  the  First  Presbyterian  or 
Scotch  chujrch,  whose  congregation  had  written  for  a  minister 
to  Scotland.  This  invitation  I  was  induced  to  accept  by  the 
request  of  some  leading  members  of  the  Sec.  Pr.  church  who 
were  desirous  to  have  me  called  to  that  church,  and  who 
seemed  to  think  that  when  the  temporary  excitement  had  sub- 
sided I  should  be  very  unanimously  desired  to  take  charge  of 
that  Congregation —  because  also  the  winter  was  ,  now  well 
advanced — and  because  still  further,  I  was  not  without  hope 
that  a  kind  providence  would  here  answer  my  long  continued 
and  earnest  prayers,  by  providing  for  me  a  good  and  suitable 
.wife.  Having  filled  this  engagement  in  great  part  I  was 
allowed  to  accept  an  invitation  to  preach  to  the  vacant  church 

in  Columbia,  S.  C. —  Here  after  preaching  a  few 
chmxh'^  Sabbaths,  I  received  a  call  for  one  year,  according 

to  their  then  usual  custom  of  a  yearly  appointment. 
This  call,  as  intentionally  a  permanent  one,  I  was  much  urged 
by  Judge  DeSaussure,  Dr.  Leland  and  Mr.  Adger's  friends 
Second  ^^^^  ^°   acccpt.     While   in   Columbia   I   also   re- 

Presby terian  ccivcd  a  Call  from  the  Sccottd  Presbyterian 
Church.  Church  in  Charleston  to  become  a  stated  supply 

for  one  year,  with  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  people.  With 
the  call  was  given  the  hope  that  soon  it  might  be  made  per- 
manent. It  was  however  thought  best,  in  the  then  condition 
of  the  church,  to  take  this  preparatory  course.  I  accepted  on 
the  provision  that  should  any  desirable  permanent  situation 
offer  itself,  I  should  be  at  liberty  to  accept  it.  I  entered  on 
my  labours  therefore  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in 
Charleston,  in  April  1832,  where  I  preached  the  Anniversary 
Sermon,^  which  was  published  by  request  of  the  Congregation. 
About  the  same  time  I  presented  my  call  to 
ngagemen .  ]y[igg  Margaret  M.  Adger,  in  the  shape  of  an 
earnest,  affectionate,  and  very  pressing  overture  of  my  heart 
and  hand — with  the  promise  that  as  her  husband  I  should  do 
every  thing  in  my  power  to  promote  her  happiness,  should  she 
feel  willing  to  become  my  wife.^    By  her  consent,  which  after 

""The  Design  and  Duty  of  a  Church,"  vol.  V,  p.  29,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 

^Dr.  John  B.  Adger  states  in  his  volume,  "My  Life  and  Times," 
p.  84,  "My  sister  Margaret  *  *  had  become  very  much  inter- 
ested in  the  subject  of  foreign  missions,  so  much  so  that  she 
fully  intended  entering  on  that  work  with  me.  When  addressed 
subsequently   by   her   future    husband,    she    had    objected   that    her 

[5] 


66 

full  consideration  and  some  delay,  she  kindly  gave,  my  bright- 
est hopes  of  joy  and  happiness  were  fulfilled;  my  dreams  of 
connubial  felicity  realized;  and  my  prospect  of  usefulness 
vastly  enlarged. 

From  the  exalted  estimation  in  which  I  had  ever  held  the 
female  sex,  as  preeminent  above  men  in  all  the  gentler  quali- 
ties that  adorn  human  nature,  and  not  less  in  fortitude,  self 
denial,  endurance,  and  disinterestedness,  I  was  led  to  hope  and 
expect  all  and  every  thing  from  the  holy  influence  of  a 
christian  wife.  I  had  read  the  hallowed  tribute  of  graatude 
and  praise  poured  forth  by  a  Johnson,  a  MacKintosh,  and 
others,  to  the  memory  of  their  wives,  and  while  I  believed  I 
had  found  one  not  less  deserving  of  admiration  and  regard, 
I  knew  that  I  Vv^as  not  less  disposed  to  submit  myself,  in  all 
proper  ways,  to  her  moulding  power.  Nor  can  I  refuse  even 
now  and  here  to  testify  that  to  the  wisdom,  prudence,  and 
faithfulness  of  my  wife,  I  am  indebted  for  much  of  what  I 
now  am,  and  have  been  able  to  accomplish. 

At  my  extreme  urgency,  we  were  married,  in 

fZ''l%z^.     ^^^  church,  by  the  Rev.  Wm.  A.  McDowell,'  at 

Sunset  on  Tuesday  evening,  July  9,    1832.     By 

leave  of  the  Congregation,  I  spent  the  ensuing  Summer  at  the 

North,  returning  to  my  charge  in  the  fall. 

(Note  1859)  I  had  a  great  dislike  for  very  short  and 
hurried  marriage  services,  and  therefore  requested  Dr.  Mc- 
Dowell to  be  long  enough  and  solemn  enough  to  make  me 

intention  was  to  go  on  the  foreign  work  with  her  brother  John, 
he  instantly  replied  "There  will  be  no  difficulty  on  that  point." 
He  added  he  would  gladly  go  along  with  us,  that  before  crossing 
the  Atlantic  he  had  offered  his  services  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  but  it  was  considered  that  his  constitution  was  inadequate 
to  such  a  life.  He  became  and  continued  for  forty  years  pastor 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  If  the  South  Carolina  Synod 
has  been  ever  since  1833  peculiarly  alive  in  some  degree  (but,  oh! 
how  small  that  degree,)  to  the  claims  of  the  foreign  mission  work, 
I  here  record  what  will  be  generally  acknowledged  by  those  who 
know  best,  that  this  has  been  due,  through  Almighty  grace,  in  very 
large  measure  to  the  missionary  zeal  of  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth.  My 
sister  Susan  also  became  very  early  interested  in  the  idea  of  going 
on  a  mission,  but  her  constitution  forbade  the  carrying  out  of 
such  an  idea." 

Margaret  Adger  was  one  of  the  first  teachers  in  the  Sunday 
School  of  the  Charleston  Orphan  House,  which  was  established 
in   1830. — Ed. 

^Pastor  of  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church  for  ten  years;  after- 
wards Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Home   Missions. — Ed. 


67 

feel  that  I  was  really  married.  "Oh,"  said  he,  "do  not  be 
afraid  on  that  score.  I  will  tie  a  knot  with  my  tongue  that 
you  will  never  be  enabled  to  loose  with  your  teeth."  And  so 
it  has  turned  out.  Year  by  year  it  has  tightened  and  every 
new  hour  seemed  to  tie  another  knot  and  to  pull  it  tighter. 

In  my  marriage  ceremony,  for  which  I  have  printed  a  form,^ 
(frequently  much  admired  both  in  form  and  performance),  I 
have  carried  on  the  questions  as  far  as  possible,  pari  passiis, 
so  that  if  left  in  the  lurch,  neither  party  could  have  an  advan- 
tage. Saying  "Do  you  who  now  &c.  take  each  other,  &c., 
you  this  woman,  and  you,  &c.,"  \".  V.,  and  then  making  them 
take  hands  &c. ;  and  I  was  led  to  do  this  by  a  fact  told  me  by 
Dr.  Fisher  of  Paterson,  who  on  one  occasion  had  married  the 
man  to  the  woman,  when  the  woman  took  the  bit  between  her 
teeth  and  would  not  be  married  to  him ;  and  was  not. 

To  prevent  unpleasant  feeling,  though  no  real  marriage  of 
course  took  place,  he  adopted  the  course  which  I  followed. 

And  this  brings  to  mind  a  curious  analogous  case.  I  was 
called  out  of  my  study  one  wet,  dark  and  very  dismal  winter 
night  by  two  men,  whose  breath  was  odoriforous  of  strong 
drink,  and  much  to  my  wife's  annoyance  and  dread,  went 
with  them  to  marry  a  couple.  I  placed  myself  between  them 
and  told  them  they  must  lead  me  as  it  was  as  dark  as  pitch. 
Arriving  at  a  decent  house,  I  found  a  number  of  mechanics — 
decent  persons — round  a  comfortable  fire.  After  conversing 
and  playing  the  agreeable  some  time,  a  lady  came  in — a  quite 
genteel,  middle  aged  matron,'  the  widow  who  kept  the  Board- 
ing house  as  a  support.  Instead  however  of  being  dressed  or 
appearing  as  a  bride  she  approached  me  and  expressed  her 
deep  regret  that  I  should  have  been  brought  out  and  on  such 
a  night,  as  she  had  no  intention  of  marrying  the  man,  who 
had  been  trying  to  over-persuade  her,  and  had  taken  this  bold 
method  of  co-ercing  her.  I  told  her  of  course  not  to  do  it, 
but  that  if  she  should  change  her  mind,  I  should  be  happy  to 
wait  upon  her  at  another  time.  I  then  returned  as  I  came, 
under  the  escort  of  my  two  unknown  guides. 

On  one  of  the  earliest  occasions  of  my  marrjdng,  I  married 
two  couples  at  the  same  time  with  the  same  ceremony — two 
widows  to  two  bachelors. 

Not  very  long  after  my  taking  charge  of  the  church,  a 
mother  of  a  respectable  lady  called  upon  me  to  request  a 
divorce  for  her  daughter.  Dr.  Flinn  had  married  her  and  she 
thought  the  church  ought  now  to  unmarry  her. 

'See  vol.  IX,  p.  531,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


I  consented  to  marry  privately  a  young  man  of  warm,  en- 
thusiastic temperament,  but  an  active,  energetic  professor,  to 
a  young  lady  of  Scotch  parentage,  and  education.  The  mar- 
riage, for  business  reasons  was  not  to  be  known  for  three 
months.  Her  sisters  and  one  or  two  very  respectable  parties 
were  present.  Next  morning  he  left  on  a  business  tour.  But 
lo  and  behold,  before  three  days,  the  marriage  was  published 
in  the  papers  and  his  return  made  necessary.  She  had  no 
idea  of  being  married  to  be  left  next  day,  worse  than  a  grass 
widow. 

One  of  my  first  marriages  was  the  first  marriage  in  the 
family  of  Mrs.  Cunningham,  who  had  been  brought  up  Epis- 
copalian, had  moved  in  the  highest  circles,  and  married  a  very 
wealthy  son  of  one  of  our  first  Elders.  She  told  me  after- 
wards it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  she  and  her  daughter 
could  venture  on  a  Presbyterian  marriage  ceremony,  but  that 
the  large  Assembly  present  &  she  herself  had  been  much 
delighted.'' 

Permanent  ^^  August  of  this  Summer,  I  received  from  the 

call  to  Sec-  Congregation  a  permanent  call  to  become  their 
ond  Church.  Pastor,  instead  of  the  temporary  call  lately  pre- 
sented. This  mark  of  confidence,  giving  equal  evidence  of 
generosity  and  of  kindness,  was  received  with  great  thank- 
fulness. Many  reasons  however,  concurred  in  inducing  me 
to  hesitate  and  to  consider  well  before  I  should  accept  this 
overture  and  bind  myself  to  such  a  sacred  obligation. 

1.  My  youth  and  inexperience,  for  I  knew  well  that  it  was 
a  rare  thing  for  a  man,  entering  while  young,  into  the  charge 
of  a  city  Congregation  to  maintain  his  station  in  continued 
usefulness  and  honour. 

2.  My  Wife  was  already  a  member  of  the  Congregation  in 
which  she  had  been  brought  up,  and  experience  testified  that 
it  was  doubtful  whether  on  this  account  I  might  not  find  it 
advisable  to  change  my  situation. 

3.  The  climate  was  yet  untried  and  I  knew  not  how  it  might 
affect  me. 

4.  The  immense  size  of  the  church  which  made  it  very  dif- 
ficult to  fill  excited  the  most  reasonable  fears  that  by  it  my 
health  might  be  broken  down. 

5.  The  very  high  expectations  of  pastoral  activity,  both  as 
to  extra  services  and  ministerial  visitation,  which  the  people 
had  been  led  to  form  by  the  deserved  celebrity  of  my  pre- 
decessor, the  Rev.  Dr.  Henry,  in  these  respects,  I  well  knew  it 

'"Note  of  1859  ends  here. — Ed. 


was  impossible  for  me  to  realize,  and  of  the  relative  import- 
ance of  these  requirements,  when  viewed  in  connection  with 
diligence  in  preparation  for  the  pulpit,  I  entertained  very 
decided  opinions.  (See  Sermons  on  the  Work  &  Duty  of  the 
Minister'). 

While,  therefore,  I  thanked  my  people  for  this 

Installation.  .  r     .^      •  ,  i  i  ii-i 

.expression  of  their  great  and  undeserved  kind- 
ness, I  retained  their  call  in  my  hands  for  at  least  two  years 
after  my  return,  not  being  installed  before  December  29,  1834.'' 

To  all  to  whom  these  Presents  shall  come. 

GRACE  MERCY  &  PEACE  BE  MULTIPLIED. 

KNOW  YE,  that  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  has  been  a 
Princeton  regular  Student  for  three  Years  in  the  THEO- 

Diploma.  ° 

LOGICAL  SEMINARY  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  at  PRINCETON, 
New  Jersey;  that  he  has  completed  the  course  of  study  pre- 
scribed in  the  Plan  of  the  Seminary;  and  that  he  has  been 
examined  in  the  presence  of  a  Committee  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  on  the  studies  included  in  the  said  course,  in  all 
which  he  has  been  approved. 

Given  under  our  hands,  at  Princeton,  this  twelfth  day  of 
Nov.  A.  D.  183 1. 

ARCHIE   ALEXANDER     1 

SAM^^  MILLER.  \  Professors.' 

C.  HODGE.  J 

At  Bloomfield,  the  28th  day  of  April  1831,  the 
Presbytery   of   Newark  having  received  testimo- 
nials in  favour  of  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  of  having  gone  through 
a  regular  course  of  literature;  of  his  good  moral  character; 

"See  vol.  V,  pp.  161,  etc.,  vol.  VI,  pp.  217,  etc.,  and  Ecclesias- 
tical Republicanism,  vol.  Ill,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

''Dr.  Smyth  was  installed  on  the  evening  of  Dec.  17,  1834.  See 
Howe's  History  o,f  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South  Carolina, 
vol.  II,  p.  762.  For  the  sermon  he  preached  on  the  occasion,  "The 
Mutual  Obligation  of  a  Minister  and  his  People,"  see  vol.  X,  pp. 
731,   etc. — Ed. 

*The  three  great  professors  who,  in  the  words  of  the  Rev. 
Joseph  H.  Dulles,  determined  the  character  of.  Princeton  Semi- 
nary. When  leaving  Ireland,  Thomas  Smith  had  been  told  by 
Dr.  Houston  and  the  other  professors  to  go  where  Dr.  Alexander 
and  Dr.  Miller  were.  Dr.  Hodge  was  also  a  remarkable  man. 
These  three  influenced  Dr.  Smyth's  career  greatly,  as  is  shown  by 
his  many  references. — Ed. 


70 

and  of  his  being  in  the  communion  of  the  Church :  proceeded 
to  take  the  usual  parts  of  trial  for  his  licensure :  and  he  having 
given  satisfaction  as  to  his  accomplishments  in  literature ;  as 
to  his  experimental  acquaintance  with  religion ;  and  as  to  hi$ 
proficiency  in  divinity  and  other  studies ;  the  Presbytery  did, 
and  hereby  do,  express  their  approbation  of  all  these  parts  of 
trial :  and  he  having  adopted  the  Confession  of  faith  of  this 
church,  and  satisfactorily  answered  the  questions  appointed  to 
be  put  to  candidates  to  be  licensed;  the  Presbytery  did,  and 
hereby  do  license  him,  the  said  Thomas  Smith  to  preach  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  as  a  probationer  for  the  holy  ministry,  with- 
in the  bounds  of  this  presbytery,  or  wherever  else  he  shall  be 
orderly  called — • 

A  true  extract  from  the  minutes. 

GIDEON  N.  JUDD,  Stated  Clerk. 

This  certifies  that  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  having 
passed  the  usual  parts  of  trial,  required  by  the 
Book  of  Discipline  of  candidates  for  ordination  in  which  he 
was  approved,  the  Presbytery  of  Newark  did  on  the  6th  day 
of  Oct.  183 1  at  their  Sessions  in  Parsipany,  solemnly  set  him, 
the  said  Thomas  Smith,  apart  to  the  work  of  the  Ministry  as 
an  Evangelist,  by  prayer  and  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of 
the  Presbytery. 

Attest. 
GIDEON  N.  JUDD,  Stated  Clerk. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Robinson  as  President  of  2d.  Church  to 
me  before  I  came,  and  after  he  had  heard  from  Drs.  Alexander 
and  Miller,  directed  to  m,e  at  Paterson. 

CHARLESTON,  13  September,  183 1. 
REV.  SIR: 

Altho'   I   have  not  the  pleasui-e  of  a  personal 
RomJsm'^  acquaintance  with  you,  I  am  pursuaded  you  will 

excuse  the  liberty,  when  you  are  acquainted  with 
the  object,  of  this  communication. 

You  may  not  be  aware  (but  such  is  the  fact)  that  tho'  we 
have  many,  we  are  still  in  want  of  zealous  and  faithful  lab- 
ourers in  the  Lord's  vineyard  in  the  south ;  and  in  this  City 
particularly,  there  are  two  vacant  Churches,  vz.  The  First, 
and  Second  Presbyterian  Churches,  of  the  latter  of  which  I 
am  a  member. 

You  have  been  favourably  spoken  of  as  a  man  who  is  not 
ashamed  of  Christ,  and  ready  and  willing  to  declare  the  great 


71 

truths  contained  in  his  Gospel  "whether  men  will  hear  or  for- 
bear." It  is  from  this  character  given  of  you  that  I  am  in- 
duced to  ask,  if  it  would  be  by  you,  considered  inconsistent 
with  your  views,  to  visit  this  City  as  early  in  the  fall  as  might 
suit  your  convenience,  and  spend  a  few  weeks  with  us.  Altho' 
I  write  on  my  own  responsibility,  yet  I  can  assure  you  of  one 
thing,  and  that  is,  you  will  receive  every  attention  that  it  is  in 
our  power  to  bestow  to  render  your  sOjourn  among  us  agree- 
able and  pleasant,  while  you  will  have  an  opportunity  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  Southern  habits  and  manners,  and 
I  think  I  may  add.  Southern  hospitality,  without  incurring 
any  expense  by  the  visit. 

You  are,  I  understand,  a  native  of  the  North  of  Ireland : — 
a  great  many  residents  of  our  City  and  several  of  our  Congre- 
gation are  from  that  warm  hearted,  generous,  tho'  oppressed 
Country,  and  they,  in  common  with  others  of  the  congrega- 
tion, will  delight  to  make  you  feel  that  you  are  at  home,  tho' 
in  a  strange  land. — 

I  am,  Rev.  Sir 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

JOHN  ROBINSON. 

CHARLESTON,  Tuesday  Dec  12,  1831. 
MR.  KING  ESQ' 
DEAR  SIR, 
Answer  to  ^   havc   taken   into   mature   consideration   your 

First  Presby-  kind  invitatiou,  ac  organ  for  the  First  Presbyte- 
tenan  Church.  ^-^^^  Church,  to  supply  their  pulpit  for  the  ensuing 
three  months.  It  has  appeared  to  me,  after  such  consideration, 
that  it  is  my  duty  to  accept  your  offer,  which  I  therefore  do, 
and  I  do  pray  God  to  grant  his  blessing  upon  my  labours  that 
you  may  be  profited  withal. 

Should  a  call  be  given  to  me,  in  the  course  of  that  time  by 
a  church  to  which  it  would  be  advisable  for  me  to  go,  or  an 
invitation  in  view  of  a  permanent  settlement,  I  hope,  as  the 
present  engagement  is  only  temporary,  that  it  shall  be  per- 
mitted me  to  accept  of  it. 
I  remain 

With  the  greatest  respect 

Your  Servant  in  the  Lord 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

^Judge  Mitchell  King,  Elder  in  the  Scotch  Church,  and  from 
this  time  on  Dr.  Smyth's  intimate  friend.  He  was  one  of  the 
great  men  of  South  Carolina,  a  leader  at  the  Bar,  in  literary  and 
in  social  circles. — Ed. 


72 

CHARLESTON  S.  C.  Dec  12,  183 1 
REV.  JOSHUA  T.  RUSSELL, 

VERY  DEAR  SIR, 
To  the  Board        ^  ^avc  not  sooner  written  to  you  because  I  had 
of  Domestic       nothing  definite  to  communicate.      Since  my  ar- 
Missions.  j-j^^i   YiQre   I   have   had   opportunities   of  hearing 

particularly  of  Tallahassee,  its  condition  and  its  wants.  I  have 
seen  one  clergyman  from  St.  Augustine,  acquainted  with  it, 
who  voluntarily  advised  me,  did  the  opportunity  offer,  to 
labour  for  the  winter  here,  as  a  field  more  promising  and 
suitable.  That  opportunity  has  now  presented  itself,  as  I  am 
invited  to  preach  for  three  months  in  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  this  city,  not  the  one  to  whom  I  was  more  imme- 
diately invited,  but  in  which  I  ofiiciated  only  alternately  with 
this.  That  Church  is  at  present  in  a  very  distracted  state, 
being  divided  in  opinion  about  a  Mr.  Dey  whom  I  found  here 
on  my  arrival.  This  division  is  and  has  been  altogether  un- 
connected with  me,  and  I  have  most  positively  withheld  even 
from  visitation  that  I  might  in  no  way  foster  or  engender 
disaffection. 

I  have  been  induced  to  accept  of  this  invitation  by  the 
advice  of  impartial  friends,  some  of  whom  have  connexions 
in  Tallahassee,  and  yet  in  the  view  of  that  fact  thought  it  more 
advisable  for  me  to  remain  here ;  from  my  present  rawness 
and  necessity  for  that  study,  to  lead  to  which  stimulus  is  nec- 
essary, as  well  as  a  sphere  of  labour  which  will  not  make 
continual  demand  upon  active  out-door  exertion  and  that 
laborious  pioneering,  from  which  as  it  is  nobly  honorable,  if 
called  to  by  a  sense  of  duty,  I  would  in  the  strength  of  my 
God,  by  no  means  shrink,  but  to  effect  which  I  do  not  feel 
altogether  qualified.  In  embracing  the  offer  I  act  too  in  con- 
sistency with  the  advice  of  my  best  friends  at  the  North  as 
you  in  part  know  and  as  you  in  part  anticipated,  and  the 
expectation  of  which  you,  in  your  letter  expressed.  I  started, 
you  know,  with  these  views  and  your  Committee  will  not 
therefore,  I  trust,  regard  my  course  as  vacillating  or  covenant- 
breaking.  I  could  go  on,  tho'  for  a  little,  and  had  determined 
to  do  so  but  for  the  extreme  difficulty  of  the  route  and  its 
heavy  expensiveness,  and  from  a  conviction  that  your  funds 
might  not  be  considered  judiciously  expended  in  such  a  brief 
visit.  Add  to  this  the  fact  of  Mr.  Ball's^  occupancy  of  the 
field. 

^Presumably  the  Rev.  Dyer  Ball  who  went  from  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery  in  1834  as  a  missionary  to  Singapore. — Ed. 


73 

I  do  wish  to  shield  myself  from  any  imputation  of  unen- 
gagedness  or  indifference  in  your  Society  which  is  and  will 
be  dear  to  me.  If  the  field  is  vacant  in  three  months  and  I  am 
free,  I  should  be  anxious  to  take  it  into  consideration,  or 
some  other  tinder  your  supervision.  Will  you  kindly  inform 
the  people  of  my  determination  and  free  it  from  any  thing  like 
disregard  for  them?  I  think  highly  of  them  and  have  had 
very  considerable  difficulty  in  coming  to  my  decision.  Nothing 
short  of  very  peculiar  circumstances  of  an  exceedingly  im- 
portant nature,  additional  to  those  mentioned,  would  have 
altered  my  course.  I  had  a  letter  from  a  Mr.  Perkins,  in 
answer  to  one  I  wrote,  which  gave  me  a  high  idea  of  the 
extent  of  the  field.  They  however  rate  their  demanded  quali- 
fications VERY  HIGH,  and  it  would  require  a  considerable 
share  of  self  confidence  and  crucifixion  of  modest  humility 
to  enable  a  candidate  to  enter  in  among  them.  I  enclose  you 
the  amount  received,  $98.50,  for  which  and  the  kindness  of 
yourself  and  your  Committee  in  the  whole  business,  I  tender 
my  most  grateful  acknowledgment  and  remain.  Dear  Sir 
Very  Sincerely 
Yours  in  the  best  of  bonds 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

Be  so  kind  as  to  direct  to  me  in  the  care  of  James  Adger 
Esq,  Charleston. 

CHARLESTON,  Feb.  1832. 
REV  JOSHUA  T.  RUSSELL, 

VERY  DEAR  SIR, 
T,    ,,  I  have  not  been  able  to  conclude  how  to  answer 

rurther 

reasons  for  your  vcry  kind  communication  as  Secretary  to 
remaining  in  ^j-^g  Board  of  Missious.  I  wish  in  no  degree  to 
trifle  with  your  offer,  or  to  make  your  society  and 
its  claims  subsidiary  to  every  and  any  other  opening.  When 
however  my  term  of  engagement  shall  be  closed  here,  it  will 
be  bordering  upon  Summer.  Now  those  who  have  gone  from 
Charleston  to  Tallahassee  are  afraid  to  venture  the  Summer 
there,  and  I  could  not  commence  summering  there  when  I  am 
enjoined  by  the  Professors  and  others  not  to  attempt  it  here. 
I  would  be  able  to  do  literally  nothing,  supposing  I  had  health, 
as  travelling  about  during  the  day  would  be  impossible,  and  at 
night  it  would  be  the  atmosphere  (to  strangers)  of  deadly 
fever.  Besides  there  is  just  now  gone  on  and  is  arrived,  an 
Episcopalian  minister,  and  a  Methodist  minister  is  appointed 
by  the  late  Conference.     It  is  a  pity  the  field  had  not  been  oc- 


74 

cupied  while  empty  and  ripe  for  the  first  gatherer —  It  is  my 
conclusion  therefore  that  it  would  not  be  wise  in  me  to  go 
there  in  the  Summer  months  and  my  friends  would  positively 
object. 

I  hope  I  have  been  instrumental  in  doing  some  good  here. 
There  are  some  resulting  circumstances  which  would  seem  to 
characterize  my  stay  here  as  providentially  arranged.  A  pres- 
ent permanent  opening  here  is  not  likely.  An  unhappy  state 
of  things  still  exists.  My  desire  is  to  live  and  die  for  Christ. 
The  field  where  I  can  be  most  useful  and  for  which  I  am  best 
qualified  is  the  object  of  my  present  inquiry.  I  trust  the  Lord 
will  guide  me. 

Will  you  write  me  a  letter  to  say  whether  the  $400  you 
mentioned  was  for  a  year  or  half  a  year,  and  whether  there 
would  still  be  a  likelihood  of  raising  a  Church?  I  would  not 
be  boarded  if  I  went  out  married  I  suppose  and  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  getting  a  place  to  live  in — there  being  more  in- 
habitants than  can  be  accomodated  especially  in  the  Winter 
season.  It  is  a  most  expensive  place  to  live  in  in  every  way 
which  must  be  considered  in  estimating  the  possibility  of 
being  supported. 

Are  there  any  good  openings  in  the  West  and  where,  or 
in  the  South? 

It  is  very  possible  I  may  be  on  at  the  North  in  two  or 
three  months  or  less. 

I  was  glad  to  see  the  favourable  feeling  in  the  West  in 
regard  to  your  society.  The  American  Home  Missionary 
Society  is  not  so  luxuriant  as  it  was. 

In  writing  to  Tallahassee  I  hope  you  will  free  me  from  all 
disrespectful  feelings.  Tell  Mr.  Perkins,  if  you  write  to  him, 
I  received  his  kind  communication. 

Should   I   receive  a  call  here  which  is  not  under  present 
circumstances  probable,  I  suppose  I  should  be  inclined  to  ac- 
cept of  it  for  there  is  here  a  field  truly  white  to  the  harvest. 
I  remain  my  Dear  Sir 

With  the  assurance  of  my  respect 
and  regard  for  you  and  your  Society, 
THOMAS  SMITH. 

Extracts  from  letters  of  Mrs.  Smyth  to  her  brother  Dr.  John  B. 
Adger,  then  a   student  at   Princeton   Seminary. — Ed. 

CHARLESTON,  January  18,  183 1. 
Sometimes  when  I  think  on  the  subject  of  what 
James  Adger's    ^^  impulse  would  be  givcu  to  the  cause  of  Christ 

innuence.  '^  ^  ^ 

here,   if   Father   would    rank   himself   among  .its 


75 

lovers,  of  the  influence  he  would  exert  in  the  family  and  in 
society,  if  his  zeal,  his  perseverance  and  industry,  his  weight 
of  character,  were  given  to  the  best  cause — oh  I  feel  that  the 
time  must  soon  come/ 

In  the  family  they  all  look  to  me  for  example  and  direction^ 
and  sometimes  I  feel  the  weight  of  responsibility  so  great,  as 
almost  to  wish  to  be  released  from  it. 

M.  M.  ADGER. 

CHARLESTON,  Oct.  15,  1831. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

*  *  I  am  weaned  much  from  what  I  may 
call  my  vanities,  my  idols,  and  find  myself  more 
willing  and  able  to  live  with  fewer  luxuries.  If  I  am  called 
to  leave  home  &  its  comforts,  it  will  enable  me  to  bear  the 
change  the  better  &  if  I  am  not  called,  it  will  enable  me  to  live 
and  be  more  useful  at  home.  *  *  When  Susan  returns  I 
want  to  try  and  get  up  a  Foreign  Miss.  Society  in  our  Church' 
— I  have  been  sending  lately  some  "selections"  (upon  F.  M., 

^Mr.  James  Adger  was  the  first  person  to  become  connected 
with  the  church  under  Dr.  Smyth's  pastorate  and  said  to  the  ses- 
sion that  he  hoped  he  would  not  bring  dishonour  upon  the  church! 
Dr.  Smyth's  first  communion  service  was  on  July  8,  the  day 
after  Margaret  Adger's  birthday,  and  before  their  wedding-day. 
William  Adger  was  admitted  with  his  father. — Ed. 

'A  pleasant  little  note  on  Margaret  Adger's  early  life  we  have 
from  her  own  lips.  She  and  her  sister  Susan  were  sent  to  the 
boarding  school  of  their  connexion  Mr.  Grimshaw,  in  Philadel- 
phia. Not  long  after  arrived  Sophia  and  Louisa  Cheves  daughters 
of  James  Adger's  friend  Langdon  Cheves,  at  that  time  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  U.  S.  Bank.  These  new  arrivals  were  dressed  in  such 
odd  fashion  with  high-necked  woolen  dresses  and  high  leather 
shoes,  that  the  rest  of  the  pupils,  the  Adgers  included,  looked 
askance  and  were  inclined  to  patronize  them,  until  Mrs.  Cheves 
appeared  one  eventful  day  to  invite  the  Adger"  girls  to  dinner.  A 
beautiful,  golden-haired,  blue-eyed  woman  dressed  in  the  extreme 
of  the  fashion,  a  chinchilla  cap,  a  pelisse  over  a  muslin  frock, 
sandal  slippers  and  looking  like  a  girl,  the  Cheves  girls'  mother 
became  the  idol  0|f  the  school;  while  the  Adgers  felt  themselves 
insignificant,  until  on  a  happy  day  their  father  carried  them  off 
in  a  sailing  ship  to  Europe  bringing  back  with  them  such  wonder- 
ful clothes  that  the  Cheves  girls  remembered  them  all  their  lives. 
— Editor.  • 

^A  period  of  intense  interest  in  missions  had  just  begun,  as  is 
shown  by  the  number  of  missionaries  who  went  out  from  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery  alone.  A  great  revival  of  religion 
was  taking  place  in  South  Carolina. — Ed. 


76 

duties  of  Ministers)   to  the  Observer.     *     *     *     You  would 
smile  to  see  us  at  our  evening  meal;  "Tea"  by 
general  consent  has  been  banished  from  the  table  ; 
we  have  milk  and  pure  water  save  when  we  have  company. 
I  have  not  tasted  tea  but  twice  since  you  left.     So  much  for 
our   Temperance.      *     *     *     You   (will    see   that   the    Union 
party  has  been  again  defeated,  but  you  can  form 
no  idea  of  the  excitement,  the  abuses,  guilt  and 
wickedness  carried  on.     *     *     Our  Father,  our  dear  Father! 
oh  pray  for  him,  for  I  fear  he  does  not  pray  for  himself — 
heart  &  soul,  time  &  influence  &  money,  all,  all  given  to  Poli- 
tics*— every  day  becoming  more  engaged,  every  defeat  but  in- 
creases his  earnestness  and  devotion.     Oh  if  he  was  but  a 
Christian,   how   intelligent,   how   devoted,   how   interested   he 
would  be     *     * 

With  sincerest  affection  I  am  yours, 

M.  M.  A. 

This  is  the  first  letter  in  the  collection  written  after  Margaret 
Adger  had  met  Thomas   Smith. — Ed. 

February  23,  1832 — 
MY  BELOVED  BROTHER, 

Juvenile  *     *     *     'p]^g   jyy_    Miss.    Socicty   was   estab- 

Missionary  lished  last  evening — it  was  Washington's  birth 
Society.  ^g^y  ^  j.gj,g  week — &  above  all,  the  Convention 

met,  so  that  there  was  not  a  full  meeting — it  was  however 
organized—  M^  Smith— D^Leland—&  M^  Mitchell  spoke'— 
they  meet  again  this  eve^ — in  the  Observer  you  will  find  a  list 
of  officers. — Its  prospects  of  success  are  very  fair —  A  num- 
ber of  Collectors  have  taken  Cards  &  some  have  them  already 
filled —  M'.  Smith  desired  me  to  ask  you  to  send  or  bring 
with  you,  as  many  of  those  Reports  or  other  Miss''  papers  as 
you  could  get,  &'  let  them  be  distributed  by  the  Collectors, 
thus  spreading  Miss''  information  through  the  community. 
I  thought  you  knew  we  took  the  Miss''  Herald — I  subscribed 
for  it  when  you  were  at  home  last  I  think. — ■ 

Monday  Morning — 
Thus  far,  when  I  stopped,  hoping  that  by  waiting  a  little  I 
might  have  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  a  letter  from  you 

*James  Adger  had  been  recently  a  men»ber  of  the  State  Legis- 
lature.— Ed. 

^The  Rev.  John  A.  Mitchell,  City  Missionary,  sent  to  China  by 
the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery'  in  1837.  A  fuller  account  of  the 
Juvenile  Miss.   Soc.  may  be  found  on  p.   139. — Ed. 


77 

— but  I  am  disappointed,  but  I  expect  it  is  but  for  a  few  days, 
as  I  think  there  must  be  one  now  on  the  way  for  me. —  On 
Saturday  y\  joint  letter  to  Father  &  Mother  was  received, 
but  we  had  a  large  party  to  dinner,  &  M^  Clark  &  Bones 
staying  with  us — so  that  I  have  heard  no  comments  upon  it — 
The  Races  are  over,'  larsre  sums  of  money  have 

Race    Week  '  o  j 

changed  owners — &  more  has  left  the  State  now, 
than  went  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi — the  town  was 
crowded  with  strangers,  the  hotels  overflowing. — Theatre — 
Balls — Concerts  &  all  kinds  of  dissipation  in  abundance.  I 
have  not  heard  Father  speak  lately  of  your  engaging  in  For- 
eign Missions  but  he  has  frequently  spoken  on  the  general 
subject — canvassing  the  merits  of  this  new  Society  keeps  the 
subject  ever  in  view,  &  he  begins  to  feel  an  interest  in  it. — 
He  has  been  but  once  on  the  Race  ground,  &  then  he  cl"  not 
well  avoid  it  but  the  carriage  &  horses  were  out  every  day — 
but  his  time  of  temptation  is  drawing  nigh  I  fear  these  public 
dinners — Hibernian  Society — &c — &c — O  pray  for  him,  dear 
John ! — he  goes  constantly  to  hear  M''.  Smith  &  continues 
pleased  with  him. —  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  probability 
of  his  getting  our  Church — it  is  now  in  too  distracted  a  state 
for  his  friends  to  make  any  movement  in  his  behalf  &  I  do  not 
know  upon  the  whole  that  it  would  be  well — he  could  not 
preach  3  times  on  the  Sabbath  &  our  people  have  been  ac- 
customed to  this  &  w"*  not  like  less ;  &  there  are  some  other 
points  in  w".  perhaps  he  w^  not  suit  our  people — though  I 
think  he  was  admirably  suited  to  the  Scotch  &  I  sincerely 
wish  they  had  taken  him — ^as  it  is  I  think  it  highly  probable 

"[Before  Margaret  was  weaned  from  her  vanities  she  wrote 
thus  to  her  brother. — Ed.] 

February  27,   1828 

The  Jockey  Club  are  now  holding  their  annual  races,  &  the 
town  is  now  very  full  of  strangers,  all  the  planters  too  are  in  with 
their  families,  and  quite  gay —  I  never  knew  more  public  amuse- 
ments at  one  time  in  the  place:  besides  the  different  balls,  theatre 
&  Circus,  which  we  have  not  attended  this  winter,  there  is  David's 
splendid  Painting  of  the  Coronation  of  Bonaparte  *  *  then 
there  is  for  the  lovers  of  music,  a  treat  in  the  Panharmonican, 
which  we  visited  last  evening,  it  is  a  combination  of  206  wind 
Instruments  of  13  different  kinds  forming  a  complete  Band.*  * 
Then  the  paper  cutting  gallery  of  Master  Hankes,  or  more  learn- 
edly speaking  the  Papyrotomia  is  quite  a  fashionable  resort,  *  * 
the  visitor  may  have  a  likeness  of  his  own  Phiz  *  *  we  have 
been  there.  *  *  Mr.  Black  has  a  sister-in-law  *  *  with  him, 
*  *  they  are  to  have  a  party  there  this  evening  to  which  we  are 
all  going. 


78 

they  may  yet  call  him,  if  they  do  not  like  the  Scotchman.  His 
time  is  nearly  expired  with  them,  whether  they  will  invite 
him  to  remain  longer,  &  he  will  accept  it  or  go  immediately 
to  the  North  I  do  not  know — you  must  not  pay  much  attention 
to  what  I  said  of  him  in  my  last — I  am  almost  sorry  I  men- 
tioned the  subject  to  you — you  will  think  me  a  sad,  capricious, 
fickle-minded  girl — but  it  is  not  so.  'Tis  true  my  attention 
has  been  too  much  turned  from  the  great  subject  of  F.  M. — 
I  have  not  loved  to  think  of  it  as  I  used  to  do,  that  is  of  per- 
sonally engaging  in  it — but  upon  the  whole  I  think  I  enter- 
tain perhaps  better,  &  less  romantic  views  of  such  an  enter- 
prise than  I  formerly  did — &  if  the  way  is  opened  for  me  to 
accompany  you — I  hope  I  will  be  enabled  to  leave  all  &  go. — 

*         ;|c         * 

Will  you  tell  me  if  you  have  decided  upon  any 
particular  field  of  labour,  &  if  you  have  not  will 
you  take  Africa  into  consideration — the  settlement  at  Liberia 
— -There  will  be  a  vessel  to  leave  this  in  the  spring  with  50  to 
100  emigrants  to  Liberia!  !  You  have  seen  the  debate  in  the 
Virginia  Legislature,  the  formation  of  a  Colonization  Society 
at  Augusta,  another  at  New  Orleans — what  do  all  these  things 
betoken,  surely  that  the  day  of  their  redemption  from  a  cruel 
bondage  draweth  nigh. —  We  at  the  South  have  been  longest 
in  retaining  them  in  this  state,  &  we  should  be  foremost  now 
to  step  forward  to  carry  the  gospel  to  injured  Africa. — The 
climate  would  suit  better  our  constitutions  that  it  would  those 
of  Northerners — we  know  &  understand  better  their  disposi- 
tions &  feelings  than  Northerners  would  do — &  oh!  I  would 
love  to  heal  thus  the  wounds  I  have  so  unwittingly  made — it 
would  seem  some  reparation  for  the  injury  I  had  done  that 
race,'  if  I  could  spend  my  life  in  endeavouring  to  teach  them 
"about  Jesus." —  Will  you  think  of  this — '&  tell  me  how  it 
strikes  you — what  would  the  reflex  influence  be?  would  it  not 
induce  many,  many  free  negroes  to  go,  who  now  will  not 
think  of  it — will  it  not  induce  perhaps  many  persons  to  liberate 
&  send  their  slaves — &  colonization  is  the  only  plan — in  our 
country  the  free  negro  never  can  take  that  place  he  is  entitled 
to,  in  Society — in  Africa  he  will  be  on  a  level  with  all  around 
him. — But  I  must  conclude.       *     *     * 

M.  M.  ADGER. 

'The   editor   imag-ines    here   the   influence    of    Dr.    Smyth,    fresh 
from  England  and  her  Emancipation  movement. 


79 

Saturday — Mon.  March,  1832. 
MY  BELOVED  BROTHER, 

*  *  *  Rather  unexpectedly  yesterday  I  rec* 
a  letter  from  Wilson/  he  says  he  sent  me  a  com- 
munication through  you  several  weeks  ago,  but  expecting  we 
w*^  be  up  at  this  wedding" —  he  wished  to  hear  from  me,  before 
I  reached  Columbia.  The  object  of  his  letter  is  I  suppose  the 
substance  of  his  communication  to  you — viz :  assigning  reas- 
ons for  his  coldness  &  reserve  when  in  town,  &  urging  me  to 
reconsider  the  subject — his  reasons  are  so  similar  to  the  ex- 
cuses you  made  for  him,  that  I  am  almost  tempted  to  think 
you  furnished  him  with  them.  He  wishes  me  to  write  him 
soon  not  to  say  I  will  decide  in  the  affirmative  but  simply  that 
I  will  reconsider  it. —  He  leaves  C.  in  3  weeks  to  visit  his 
friends,  if  he  does  not  hear  from  me  before  that,  he  will  con- 
clude that  I  have  decided  against  him.  He  talks  much  of 
Africa  as  a  field  of  labour — it  is  a  singular  coincidence  that  I 
have  been  thinking  lately  so  much  about  that  country,  but  he 
says  if  the  way  is  not  opened  there,  he  will  go  wherever  it  is — 
if  I  will  consent  to  go  with  him — he  w''  of  course  expect  to 
be  wherever  you  w**. — •  Is  this  decided  &  certain?  I  could  not 
think  of  being  separated  from  you,  &  the  Am.  Board — Mr. 
Boggs  tells  me,  zvill  send  out  single  females — do  inquire  again 
about  this — I  wonder  if  there  is  not  a  letter  from  you  on  the 
way  to  me— I  almost  fancy  there  is — you  w*  like,  I  think,  to 
forward  me  his  communication,  not  expecting  he  w*  write  to 
me.  I  think  I  will  wait  a  few  days  &  see,  I  must  write  to  him, 
it  w**  be  unkind,  if  I  did  not — but  what  shall  I  say — I  have  no 
more  reason  to  decide  in  the  affirmative  noiv  than  before. 
There  is,  to  tell  the  truth,  something  wanting  to  engage  af- 
fection— it  is  true  as  you  say  when  I  know  him  better  I  may 
find  him  an  object  to  love,  but  again  I  may  not — affection  in 
such  a  case  is  not  to  be  forced,  &  it  is  a  fearful  risk  to  run, 
the  usefulness,  as  well  as  the  happiness  of  his  future  life  &  my 
ozvn,  may  depend,  indeed  I  may  say  does  depend  upon  it.  You 
must  not  be  weary  of  me  on  this  subject.  I  have  no  one  else 
to  counsel  with.  Ought  I  to  consent  to  marry  a  man,  whom 
I  do  not  love? — w**  it  not  be  doing  him  injustice? — 'W*  you  not 
consider  it  a  poor  compliment  from  any  woman? — but  enough 
of  this.     I  wish  I  could  meet  him  in  Columbia  on  common 

'Dr.  John  Leighton  Wilson  who  spent  most  of  his  li,fe  in  Africa. 
Mrs.  Smyth  had  many  oflfers  of  marriage,  tradition  says  35. — Ed. 

"The  marriage  of  their  widowed  cousin,  Isabella  Adger,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Ellison  of  Fairfield  to  the  Rev.  George  W.  Boggs 
who  was  just  ordained  a  Missionary  to  India. — Ed. 


80 

ground. —  Mr.  Smith  is  yet  here  &  will  probably  remain  till 
you  come  home — the  Scotch  people  have  invited  him  to  re- 
main with  them  all  summer  or  as  long  as  w'^  suit  him — he  has 
not  yet  answered  them. —  They  pay  him  great  attention,  con- 
stant invitations  to  dinner  &  tea — yesterday  he  dined  with 
Geo.  Buist — today  with  M^  Lamb  &c.  It  is  quite  currently 
reported  that  we  are  engaged,  &  I  have  rec*  several  messages 
from  ladies  in  the  Scotch  Church  saying  how  much  pleased 
they  w'^  be  to  have  me  as  their  Pastor's  wife !  do  not  laugh  at 
me  or  think  how  great  is  the  vanity  of  y""  sister.  I  assure  you 
it  makes  no  impression  on  me,  passing  for  just  what  it  is 
worth — i.  e.  nothing.     -^     *     *         believe  me  truly  yours,^ 

M. 

CHARLESTON,  March  20,  1832. 

And  now,  dear  John,  I  have  somewhat  to  say 
Dr.     myt   s      ^^    ^^   ^j^^^  j  know  uot  how  to  commcucc  with. — 

courtship.  -^        \  _  01 

I  mentioned  to  you  something  of  Mr.  S.,  a  week 
since  he  made  proposals  to  me — I  told  him  candidly  that  I  felt 
it  my  duty  to  engage  in  Foreign  Missions  &  had  determined 
to  go  with  you — ^this  did  not  satisfy  him — he  has  examined 
the  subject  in  all  its  bearings  &  concludes  my  influence  with 
him  &  through  him  exerted  at  home  for  the  heathen  would  be 
more  than  I  could  exercise  abroad  alone.  I  have  not  time  now 
as  I  expect  a  call  every  moment  to  dinner — to  tell  you  all. — 
I  have  been  walking  with  him  this  morning  &  discussed  the 
subject  fully — he  has  been  invited  to  Columbia  by  the  Session 
of  the  Church  there — a  movement  is  making  in  his  favour  in 
our  Church — &  the  Scotch  have  asked  him  to  remain  disen- 
gaged until  after  their  Scotchman  comes^ — if  he  gets  either  of 
these  places — he  proposes  to  settle  himself  for  the  two  years 
&  then  if  our  views  of  Foreign  Missions  are  as  now — he  too 
will  go  with  us-^&  the  circumstances  of  his  having  a  Church 
will  do  much  :  he  has  given  himself  to  the  cause  of  the  Heathen 
but  thinks  at  home  he  can  effect  more  for  them — do  write  & 
tell  me  what  I  ought  to  do — ^what  is  my  duty? — &  I  will  pray 
to  be  enabled  to  suppress  every  feeling  that  would  rise  in 
opposition  to  it. —  Speak  to  me  plainly  &  openly — I  wish  it, 
&  expect  it  from  you.    I  look  to  you  for  direction. — 

Yours  most  truly — 


M. 


Mr.  J.  B.  Adger,  Fayetteville,  N.  C. 


^This   letter   was    forwarded   to   Fayetteville   as    Dr.   Adger   had 
started  home. — Ed. 


81 

April  7,  1832. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER 

My  letter  to  Fayetteville,  would  surprise  &  perhaps  dis- 
appoint you,  yet  it  must  not  be  so,  the  matter  is  yet  open  &  I 
"wait  your  council —  Mr.  S.  reluctantly  left  town  without  some 
assurance  of  favour  but  I  repeatedly  told  him  until  I  had 
seen  &  conversed  with  you  I  would  give  him  no  answer  but  a 
negative.  He  has  had  some  slight  conversation  with  Father 
&  I  believe  would  have  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  his  cordial 
approbation — he  has  shown  him  the  greatest  kindness  and  a.':- 
tention,  going  regularly  with  him  to  the  Scotch  Church,  morn- 
ing &  evening  every  Sabbath;  coming  to  ours  only  when  he 
preached  there.  I  told  you  of  his  proposal  to  settle  for  2 
years,  81  then  if  it  appears  his  duty,  to  go  where  you  did  to 
the  Heathen. —  He  has  done  much  for  the  cause  here,  not  only 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Juv.  Soc.  but  in  inducing  the  min- 
isters to  a  monthly  course  of  Miss.  Sermons — the  first  of 
which  he  preached  last  Sabbath  evening  in  the  Scotch  Church 
to  a  crowded  audience — also  in  the  better  conducting  the 
Monthly  Concert  &  in  the  disposal  of  the  collection — on  Mon- 
day evening  in  the  Scotch  Church  was  collected  $47,  more  than 
double  of  what  was  ever  collected  before  in  any  of  our 
churches. — •  He  has  given  himself  to  the  Heathen,  &  if  should 
appear  that  he  could  aid  them  more  by  spending  his  life 
among  them,  than  by  pleading  their  cause  at  home — he  is 
willing  to  spend  his  life  among  them. — &  now  what  think  you  ? 
I  believe  Mr.  S.  is  ardently  attached  to  me,  &  a  refusal  I  have 
no  doubt  he  would  feel  severely — in  such  a  case  he  would  not 
remain  at  the  South — which  I  would  regret,  for  here  I  think 
him  qualified  to  be  extensively  useful. — Our  dispositions  would 
assimilate — &  I  have  had  a  good  opportunity  of  becoming 
acquainted  with  him — yet  I  am  not  blind  to  his  defects,  I  know 
he  has  many — &  some  great  ones,  even  those  you  mentioned, 
&  some  others,  which  I  know  /  ought  to  avoid. — You  see  I 
can  speak  coolly — come  then  &  be  candid  &  tell  me  all  you 
think  about  him — &  it  shall  be  even  as  you  say.  It  is  now 
very  currently  reported  that  I  am  going  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands  with  Mr.  Buist  &  that  it  is  to  attend  the  wedding  you 
are  hastening  home.    *     *     * 

Mr.  J.  B.  Adger,  Georgetozvn,  S.  C. 

A  little  note,  on  one  sheet,  folded  and  twisted  into  a  knot,  is 
all  that  remains  of  any  possible  correspondence  during  the  en- 
gagement of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth.  As  he  continued  to  reside  in 
her  father's  house,  there  were  not  many  reasons  for  writing. — Ed. 

[6] 


82 

DEAREST, 

It  is  impossible  for  me  with  all  my  anxiety  to 

Engagement.  ,  t-  ,  ,  ,  ■  , 

meet  you  now  as  i  cannot  yet  venture  up  without 
sickness.  I  shall  hope  to  meet  you  in  the  afternoon,  which 
on  this  day  has  been  spent  by  us  so  often  in  happiness.  I  en- 
deavour to  improve  my  time  in  meditation.  Our  present  situ- 
ation is  not  forgotten  by  me.  It  ought  not  for  it  is  solemnly 
important.  Oh,  let  us  make  it  much  a  matter  of  prayer !  We 
have  both  deep  and  strong  emotions.  Were  these  altered  in 
their  channel,  with  what  a  flood  of  misery  could  they  roll  over 
us.  Of  this  it  is  wise  to  be  most  constantly  aware.  We  have 
now  an  altar  of  Love  where  we  both  can  worship  in  deep 
devotion  of  soul.  Let  us  determine  then  to  immolate  in  ready 
sacrifice  every  feeling  that  would  disturb  our  happiness. 

It  is  sweet  to  think  that  our  Father  who  is  now  thundering 
in  the  heavens  can  exert  the  same  power  in  our  behalf. 
I  am  Yours  and  therefore  happy, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

CHARLESTON,  ii"^  April,  1832. 

REVD.  THOMAS  SMITH, 
REV.  &  D.  SIR, 

Call  to  Sec-  Annexed  we  hand  you  a  resolution  of  the  Con- 
ond  Church  grcgatiou  of  the  2*  Presbyterian  Church  inviting 
for  a  year.  y^^  ^^  officiate  as  a  Stated  supply  for  one  year, 
also  a  resolution  of  the  "Association  of  the  Church"  authoriz- 
ing a  salary  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

In  communicating  these  resolutions,  it  is  gratifying  to  us  to 
be  able  to  say,  that  the  greatest  unanimity  prevailed  at  the 
meeting,  and  the  only  dissenting  vote  was  one,  put  in  blank. 

We  trust  you  will  give  this  invitation  your  early  and  prayer- 
ful attention,  you  are  aware  of  our  destitute  situation,  and 
how  desirable  it  is,  we  should  have  the  gospel  dispensed  to  us 
regularly. 

We  are  Rev'  &  Dr.  Sir 

Yours  with  Christian  affection, 
STEPHEN  THOMAS,  Sen^  Elder 
7OHN  ROBINSON,  Presd\ 

^Mr.  Robinson  became  a  firm  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth.  Mr.  Thomas 
was  of  Huguenot  descent  and  had  come  to  the  Presbyterian 
Church  on  the  closing  of  the  Huguenot  Church  for  some  years. — 
Ed. 


83 

Extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  congregation  of  the  2^. 
Presbyterian  Church  held  on  Sabbath  afternoon  8*"  April  1832 
and  adjourned  to  Tuesday  Ev^.   10"  April. 

"Resolved  that  an  invitation  be  extended  to  the  Rev*. 
Thomas  Smith  to  officiate  as  a  Stated  Supply  for  this  church 
for  one  year,  and  should  he  accept  the  invitation  that  he  be 
requested  to  take  charge  of  the  pulpit  at  as  early  a  day  as  his 
convenience  will  permit." 

Extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Association  of  the  2^  Pres- 
byterian Church  10*"  April  1832. 

"Resolved,  That  the  Rev*.  Thomas  Smith  be  allowed  a  sal- 
ary of  Fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum  payable  quarterly, 
from  the  time  he  may  take  charge  of  the  Pulpit." 

John  Robinson, 
W.  O.  Dukes,  Presid'. 

Secretary. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Robinson  urging  me  to  accept  the  preced- 
ing call. 

(Directed  to  Columbia) 

Charleston,  April  ii'",  1832. 
Rev*,  and  very  Dear  Sir, 

With  this  communication,  you  will  receive  an  official  one 
from  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  inviting  you  to  take 
charge  of  their  Pulpit,  as  a  stated  supply  for  one  year. 

It  is  most  gratifying  to  me,  and  to  your  friends  generally 
of  the  Church,  that  great  harmony,  unanimity,  and  Christian 
feeling  prevailed  throughout. — When  the  vote  was  taken  there 
was  but  one  Blank,  all  the  rest  were  yeas. — 

A  meeting  of  the  Congregation  was  held  on  last  Sabbath 
afternoon,  and  adjourned  till  tuesday  evening  to  give  an  op- 
portunity to  every  pewholder  time  for  reflection,  as  well  as 
those  who  were  absent  an  opportunity  to  participate. —  A  num- 
ber of  the  former  friends  of  Mr.  Dey  were  present,  who  ap- 
peared to  feel  as  great  anxiety  to  invite  you  as  any  among  us. 

Under  these  circumstances,  may  I  not  urge  you  to  accept 
our  invitation? —  A  refusal  at  this  time  would  be,  in  all  prob- 
ability, attended  with  the  most  serious,  if  not  disastrous  con- 
sequences to  our  Congregation,  in  creating  a  seism,  which 
could  not  be  healed. — 

Under  your  ministry,  with  God's  blessing,  we  do  hope  that 
the  Church  will  be  built  up,  and  the  Congregation  once  more 
united  in  peace,  harmony  and  brotherly  love,  which  in  times 


84 

that  are  past,  was  the  happy  state  in  which  we,  as  a  Church, 
were  peculiarly  blessed. — 

I  do  not  believe,  if  you  take  charge  of  the  Congregation,  we 
shall  lose  a  single  Pewholder,  and  at  most,  no  more  than  one 
or  two! —  I  will  not  say  nothing  will  save  the  Church  but 
your  accepting  the  invitation — but  I  do  say,  that  to  all  human 
view  it  is  necessary  for  to  keep  us  together. 

You  are  aware  that  your  being  invited  for  one  year  is  in 
view  of  a  permanent  call : — But  in  the  distracted  state  the 
Church  has  been  for  some  time  past,  we  feared  that  it  would 
not  have  done  to  urge  any  other  measure  for  the  present. — 
We  wished  to  bring  back  our  brethren  who  had  in  a  measure 
withdrawn  from  us — and  we  have  happily  succeeded,  for 
which  we  have  great  cause  for  gratitude  to  God. 

Should  you  accept  the  invitation,  which  I  cannot  permit  my- 
self to  doubt — (for  I  feel  assured  you  will  see  your  duty  so 
plain  that  you  cannot  mistake  it) — it  is  very  desirable  that  you 
should  be  with  us  at  an  early  day,  if  possible  on  Sabbath  22"*. 
in^* — and  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  on  this  subject, 
for  it  is  one,  I  assure  you,  that  lies  near  my  heart. — 

I  cannot  close  without  again  bringing  to  your  view  the  State 
of  our  Church,  and  the  urgent  call  on  you  to  accept  the  invi- 
tation.— And  I  am  sure  it  will,  it  must  be  gratifying  to  your 
feelings,  both  as  a  man  and  minister  of  the  Gospel,  to  be  the 
instrument  under  divine  Providence  of  Cementing  and  build- 
ing up  a  Congregation  that  has  been  so  long  in  a  widowed  and 
distracted  state. 

I  am  Rev*.  &  Dear  Sir 
With  Christian  friendship  and  affection 
Yours  &c. 
JOHN  ROBINSON. 

Letter  from  Mr.  Robinson  in  reply  to  one  in  which  I  stated 
my  objections  and  fears  as  to  encouraging  a  call  or  accepting 
one,  for  the  reasons  given  in  preceding  both  as  to  general  in- 
expediency and  personal  incapacity  and  youth  and  feebleness. 
It  is  in  Mr.  Dukes'  hand-writing — written  to  me  at  Mr.  Law's 
at  Columbia. 

CHARLESTON,  April,  1832. 
REV.  THOMAS  SMITH, 
REV.  &  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  much  esteemed  letter  under  date  16  inst.  is  before  me, 
and  I  hasten  to  reply,  and  shall  do  so  in  the  same  spirit  of 
candour  in  which  it  is  dictated. 

I  feel  a  confidence  that  the  expectations  of  the  Congregation 


85 

will  not  be  disappointed. —  They  are  aware  of  the  probability 
of  your  unpreparedness  to  give  them  Unished  discourses  on 
every  occasion,  and  full  allowance  will  be  made —  I  can  say 
with  safety,  there  is  no  Congregation  that  will  make,  or  who 
will  desire  to  make  their  pastor  more  allowances  than  that  of 
the  Second  Presbyterian  Church. —  You  need  not  apprehend 
that  opportunity  for  suitable  preparation  will  not  be  afforded 
you;  nor  that  the  Church  or  the  Cause  will  be  injured— every 
opportunity  you  may  require  will  be  afforded  for  study. — I 
write  on  my  own  responsibility,  but  I  know  the  disposition  of 
the  members  of  the  Congregation  too  well  to  think  it  possible 
I  can  be  deceived. 

You  will,  I  trust  find  the  duties  not  so  arduous  as  you  an- 
ticipate— at  least  it  will  not  be  required  of  you  to  be  so  much 
engaged  in  Parochial  visitation  as  you  may  feel  it  your  duty 
and  desire  to  be  at  some  future  period. — 

There  cannot,  nor  v/ill  there  be  any  objections  to  your  re- 
ceiving assistance,  occasionally,  or  even  frequently,  by  inter- 
changes with  your  Clerical  Brethren  of  other  Churches  in  the 
City. —  It  was  frequently  done  by  our  former  Pastors ;  and 
indeed  I  think  it  desirable  that  it  should  be  so,  as  it  manifests, 
and  evidently  tends  to  create  a  friendly  and  Christian  Spirit 
in  the  Churches  toward  each  other. — 

I  cannot  see  any  reason  why  objection  should  be  made  if 
you  were  "less  frequent  than  you  could  wish,  in  attendance  on 
Meetings  additional  to  the  usual  services  of  the  Church." — 

We  delight  always  to  see  our  Pastor — but  we  would  not 
desire  to  impose  on  him  because  we  find  that  he  is  willing  to 
work — it  is  all  important  for  the  good  of  both  Pastor  and 
people  that  he  should  have  every  opportunity  for  improvement 
and  study — and  arduous  duties  in  summer,  we  have  always  felt 
anxious  our  Pastors  should  refrain  from — even  Dr.  Henry, 
whose  character  for  zeal  is  so  well  known,  relaxed,  and  fre- 
quently withdrew  from  all  meetings  except  in  the  Church,  for 
several  months  in  the  summer — and  for  the  same  reasons  we 
should  be  willing  to  make  equal  allowance  to  all  who  come 
after  him. — 

The  Scriptural  Lectures  of  Dr.  Henry  given  in  the  after- 
noon were  very  much  approved  of,  even  tho'  "unwritten  and 
unpolished"  and  I  am  of  opinion  they  were  the  means  of  doing 
good  equally  with  his  more  finished  discourses. 

You  wish  to  know  how  far  your  acceptance  would  be  meas- 
iired  by  an  expected  increase  of  the  Congregation — I  will  ob- 
serve in  reply ;  that  when  we  went  into  the  Election,  and  in- 
deed  for  months  previous,  the  friends  of  the  Church  were 


86 

using  all  their  efforts  to  unite  the  Congregation,  and  to  prevent 
a  separation,  which,  I  hope  under  a  kind  Providence  has  been 
effected. 

We,  consequently  did  not  look  forward  to  your  acceptance 
of  our  invitation  as  the  means  immediately  to  increase  our 
Congregation — if  we  were  able  to  retain  what  we  had  was  all 
that  we  expected  or  hoped  for,  at  present — but  we  find  since 
the  invitation  has  been  extended  to  you,  that  several  families 
have  expressed  a  desire  to  become  hearers  should  you  come 
among  us. 

In  Dr.  Henry's  time,  during  the  heat  of  the  Summer  the 
evening  service  was  dispensed  with  at  the  request  of  the  Con- 
gregation, and  an  afternoon  service  adopted  once  during  the 
week  in  its  place. — ■ 

I  have  shown  your  letter  to  a  few  of  the  Congregation  who 
fully  concur  with  me  in  the  views  I  have  taken  of  it. — 

And  now,  in  conclusion,  I  must,  with  great  earnestness  and 
sincerity,  solicit  your  acceptance  of  the  invitation. — 

When  you  consider  on  the  great  good  that  will  result  to  the 
Congregation  through  your  instrumentality,  with  God's  bless- 
ing on  your  labours,  in  uniting  and  cementing  us  once  more 
together — and  that  should  you  refuse,  it  will  have  the  effect, 
in  all  probability  of  dividing  and  scattering  us,  without  a  hope 
of  our  ever  again  being  united — I  say  when  you  seriously 
consider  these  things,  will  you — can  you  refuse?  Do  you  not 
see  that  it  is  your  duty  to  accept? — I  can  only  add,  as  I  have 
already  stated,  that  every  kindness  and  indulgence  will  be  ex- 
tended to  you — The  time  you  mention  of  returning  will  be 
perfectly  satisfactory.  I  am  Rev.  &  Dear  Sir, 

With  sincere  friendship  and  regards. 
Yours     JOHN  ROBINSON. 

Letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer  to  whom  I  referred  the  same 
difficulties  before  accepting  a  call.  The  letter  was  directed  to 
me  in  Columbia  where  I  had  been  invited  to  preach — the 
church  being  vacant.^ 

CHARLESTON,  April  17.  1832 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Yours  I  received  yesterday,  and  hasten  to  re- 

^dvi  "^^'"^^'^  ^     ply. —  You  throw  upon  me  a  responsibility,  which 

I  feel  unwilling  to  sustain.     In  general  cases,  and 

as  a  general  rule,  I  have  thought  it  seldom  desirable,  that  a 

^Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  Sr.,  whom  Dr.  Smyth  had  met  at  Princeton 
and  to  whose  house  he  had  been  taken  just  after  his  arrival  in 
Charleston. — Ed. 


87 

beginner  in  the  ministry,  with  almost  no  amount  of  mature 
years,  with  not  much  of  either  observation  or  experience  on 
his  side,  and  with  a  small  stock  of  sermons  on  hand,  should 
be  placed  in  a  large  city,  or  become  the  Pastor  of  a  large 
congregation.  *  *  *  jf  ^g  succeeds  to  or  beyond  the  ex- 
pectations of  his  people,  and  his  popularity  increases,  unless 
he  has  a  considerable  ballast  of  natural  steadiness  or  spiritual 
grace,  the  large  well  filled  sail  is  likely  to  overset  the  vessel. 
If  his  stock  of  health  or  strength,  of  natural  talent  or  acquired 
improvement  is  not  of  such  an  amount,  as  to  leave  him  at 
liberty  to  meet  the  innumerable  interruptions  and  invasions 
which  will  be  made  on  his  time  in  a  city,  he  wHl  either  have  to 
neglect  many  things,  many  out-door  attentions  which  his  peo- 
ple may  think  they  have  a  right  to  claim,  or  meeting  these, 
may  be  discouraged  by  the  consequent  bareness  of  his  public 
preparations;  especially,  if,  besides  his  own  consciousness  of 
this  fact,  he  is  under  the  impression,  that  his  hearers  feel  it 
too.  And  he  may  sustain  under  these  circumstances  an  injury 
for  life,  and  throw  to  some  extent  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
his  future  useful  settlement  in  some  other  field,  to  which  he 
may  wish  afterward,  to  remove.     *     *     * 

If  Providence  seems  to  carry  him  into  his  contemplated 
situation,  as  it  were,  on  a  flood-tide,  met  by  scarcely  any 
counteracting  current,  his  path  of  duty  seems  to  be  much  more 
plain,  than  if  he  should  have  to  say  "wo  is  me,  my  mother, 
that  thou  hast  borne  me  a  man  of  strife  and  a  man  of  conten- 
tion to  the  whole  earth."  If  he  is  elected  to  a  place  by  a  small 
majority,  if  those  opposed  to  him  are  respectable  in  the 
amount  of  their  numbers,  especially,  if,  respectable  standing 
and  character,  I  think  he  ought  seriously  to  hesitate. 

But  in  these  particulars  how  different  is  your  case.  Your 
call  I  have  understood  to  be  a  unanimous  one.  A  divided  and 
distracted  congregation  have  united  in  you — and  that,  without, 
so  far  as  I  can  understand,  any  of  that  manoeuvring  or  manag- 
ing, which  has  too  often  occurred  on  such  occasions.  That 
unhappy  congregation,  which  has  been  so  long  destitute,*  and 
so  often  divided,  have  directed  their  concentrated  attention 
to  yourself.  *  *  '''  At  all  events  as  a  year  is  mentioned  as 
a  first  period,  if  you  should  feel  doubtful  as  to  the  desirable- 
ness of  a  permanent  location,  there,  you  might,  if  you  prefer 
it,  specify  a  year  as  the  period  of  experiment  on  your  part  as 
well  as  on  theirs.     Besides  you  have  already  something  of  a 

*The  Second  Presbyterian  Church  had  been  for  three  years 
without  a  Pastor.  The  Rev.  Benjamin  Gildersleeve  had  served  as 
a  supply. — Ed. 


88 

Stock  of  discourses  on  hand  as  the  preparation  you  have  made 
for  the  Scotch  Church,  will  be  a  new  dish  to  the  people  of  the 
Second  Church.  I  have  noi:  had  much  opportunity  of  con- 
sulting the  brethren — indeed  Dr.  McDowell,  you  know  is 
absent,  and  he,  as  one  of  the  Pastors  of  the  city,  would  be 
more  concerned  in  the  result  of  your  decision  than  any  other, 
myself  excepted.     *     *     * 

You  perceive,  my  dear  Sir,  I  have  not  given  a  very  decided 
opinion,  but  left  it  with  yourself  to  determine  what  you  ought 
to  do,  and  have  only  suggested  certain  considerations,  to  which 
you  may  give  as  much  weight  as  they  seem  to  be  entitled. 
As  far  as  I  have  light  to  go  by,  I  can  only  say  were  I  placed 
in  your  circumstances,  I  feel  strongly  confident  I  should  feel 
compliance  a  duty.      very  sincerely  and  respectfully 

Yrs.  in  our  bonds,     b.  M.  PALMER.     ' 

P.  S.     Mr.  Dey,  I  understand  will  soon  embark  for  N.  Y. 

CHARLESTON,  19  April,  1832. 
REV:  THOMAS  SMITH, 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Your  interesting  letter  has  been  received  two 
r.     e  an   s     ^^  three  days.     My  delay  in  answering  it  has  not 

opinion.  _  -'  •'-'__  '-' 

arisen  from  neglect  or  indifference,  but  from 
anxious  hesitation  what  sort  of  answer  to  send. 

On  the  one  hand  an  apprehension  of  misconstruction  and  an 
impression  that  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  you  had  prob- 
ably made  up  your  mind,  months  ago,  as  to  the  course  you 
would  adopt — seemed  to  urge  me  to  give  no  opinion  in  the 
case.  On  the  other  hand,  where  counsel  is  asked,  by  a  young 
Brother,  so  high  in  my  estimation  and  affection,  and  whose 
uncommon  talents  appear  destined  to  accomplish  great  things 
in  the  church,  I  feel  it  ungenerous  and  unchristian  to  decline 
expressing  my  sentiments.  In  fine  I  have  concluded  to  state, 
with  perfect  openness  and  candor,  my  views  and  impressions 
in  relation  to  your  acceptance  or  rejection  of  the  invitation  you 
have  received. 

I  believe  the  congregation  are  generally  united  in  an  anxious 
desire  that  you  should  accept  and  that  your  coming  among 
them  will  do  much  to  restore  harmony,  and  that  the  result  will 
be  your  permanent  settlement.  I  know  that  you  possess  high 
qualifications  for  the  ministry  and  that  no  man  so  early  in 
life  seems  more  likely  to  discharge  usefully  and  efficaciously 
the  duties  of  a  large  city  congregation.  I  can  assure  you  that 
you   will   be   cordially   and   affectionately   welcomed  by   your 


89 

Brethren  in  the  ministry,  and  that  you  cannot  reasonably 
desire  to  stand  higher  in  our  estimation  and  affection  than 
you  really  do.  Nevertheless  I  have  a  few  things  to  suggest 
which  may  or  may  not  be  worthy  of  your  consideration,  if 
they  have  not  already  been  maturely  considered. 

I  know  of  only  three  objections  to  your  acceptance,  and 
you  are  the  best  judge  whether  they  have  any  weight  in  your 
case.  One  of  these  is  suggested  by  the  inquiry  whether  your 
constitution  and  state  of  health  warrant  the  expectation  that 
you  can  sustain  constant  preaching  in  that  large  Church.  It 
seems  to  me  a  very  serious  experiment.  I  have  often  heard 
Dr.  Flinn  say  that  that  church  would  destroy  four  out  of  five 
of  those  who  should  attempt  to  fill  it.  Now  whether  your  form 
and  lungs  are  likely  to  pass  such  an  ordeal  unharmed,  is  a 
serious  question  and  one  which  I  advise  you  to  lay  before  some 
skillful  Physician. 

Another  of  these  objections  is  presented  by  the  melancholy 
fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  european  and  even  northern 
Ministers  who  have  settled  in  Charleston  for  30  years  past, 
have  fallen  victims  to  the  3^ellow- fever.  Now  whether  that 
disease  will  continue  to  prevail  as  heretofore,  or  whether  you 
are  constitutionally  subject  to  its  attack,  I  pretend  not  to  de- 
termine. 

The  third  objection  arises  from  the  general  fact  that  most 
of  those  ministers  who  have  accomplished  great  things  in  the 
church  have  passed  the  early  part  of  their  ministry  in  com- 
paratively obscure  and  retired  situations. 

Now  Brother  Smith  dont  misapprehen4  me.  I  do  not  mean 
to  attempt  to  dissuade  you  from  going  to  the  upper  Church.  I 
shall  rejoice  to  see  you  there,  if  it  prove  advantageous  to 
yourself.  I  'know  you  have  extraordinary  qualifications  for 
any  situation.  I  only  yield  to  the  necessity  which  is  laid  upon 
me  to  give  you  frankly  and  undisguisedly  my  impressions  as 
to  the  possible  disadvantages  which  you  may  encounter  in  such 
a  location. 

I  trust  I  shall  see  you  soon  when  we  will  converse  more  at 
large  upon  the  subject. 

With  affectionate  regards  I  am  yours 
in  the  bond  of  the  Gospel. 

A.  W.  LELAND." 

°The  Rev.  A.  W.  Leland,  D.  D.,  a  professor  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Columbia  and  very  prominent  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  His  anxiety  about  yellow  fever  or  "strangers  fever"  as 
some  called  it  was  caused  by  a  return  of  that  disease  which  had 
not  been  known  in  Charleston  since  1728.  The  records  show  a 
serious  outbreak  in   1828. — Ed. 


90 

The  result  of  my  visit  to  Columbia  in  April  1832  was  the 
following  call  for  a  year,  to  be  made,  as  Judge  DeSaussure 
then  living  there  says,  a  permanent  call — their  custom  making 
this  course  necessary. 

COLUMBIA  30  April  1832. 

Call   from  ^^  ^  meeting  of  the  Pew  holders  and  members 

Columbia  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  held  this  day 

Church.  pursuant  to  notice  given  two  Sabbaths  preceding 

from  the  Pulpit, 

The  following  persons  were  present. 

H.  W.  DeSaussure,  Robert  Henry,  C.  Beck,  Jas.  McFie, 
Andrew  Crawford,  E.  J.  Martin,  W.  F.  DeSaussure,  Jos. 
Ellison,  Anderson,  John  J.  Chappel,  J.  A.  Crawford,  James 
Ewart,  Wm.  Law,  G.  T.  Snowden,  Wm.  Barclay,  James 
Young,  Mathew  Crawford,  Robt.  Waddell,  Sam'l.  Ewart, 
James  Gregg,  Rich.  Glading    *     *     * 

As  this  meeting  was  desired  informal  a  motion  was  offered 
by  Wm.  F.  DeSaussure  to  adjourn  and  that  the  meeting  should 
resolve  itself  into  a  committee  of  conference  for  the  purpose 
of  advising  with  the  session  as  to  the  propriety  of  supplying 
the  pulpit. 

It  was  moved  to  take  the  voice  of  the  meeting  as  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Smith  as  a  supply  until  the  first  of  January  next, 

When  it  appeared  Mr.  S.  had  15  votes  for  and  hue  5  against, 
the  opposition  agreed,  that  should  a  large  majority  be  in  favour 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  S.  they,  the  minority,  would  unite  in  sending 
him  a  call  as  a  supply  and  accordingly  did  so. 

Copy  from  the  minutes 

JO.  A.  CRAWFORD,' 

Sec.  &  Treas. 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C,  April  30,  1832. 
REVEREND  THOMAS  SMITH. 

REVEREND  AND  DEAR  SIR 
We  the  undersigned  Elders  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in 
Columbia,  have  the  pleasure  to  forward  you  the  enclosed  Ex- 
tracts from  the  Minutes  of  our  Congregation ;  by  which  you 
will  learn  that  you  are  unanimously  elected'  as  our  Stated 
preacher  until  the  first  of  January  next.  We  cannot  but  re- 
mark that  sitch  an  election  is  a  proof  of  uncommon  acceptance 
by  our  congregation  at  this  time.     We  hope  you  will  view  it 

®The  Crawfords,  Joseph  Ellison  and  William  Law  were  all  rela- 
tives of  Mrs.  Smyth. — Ed. 

'See  Howe's  Hist,  of  Pres.,  vol.  II,  p.  98.— Ed. 


91 

as  such,  accept  it,  and  signify  your  acceptance  to  us  as  early  as 
convenient.  We  regret  our  present  inability  to  offer  you  more 
than  a  thousand  dollars  a  year  for  your  services,  and  at  that 
rate  for  the  time  you  may  be  with  us,  until  the  end  of  the 
year.  We  have  every  reason  to  hope,  that  should  you  continue 
with  us  after  this  year,  we  shall  be  able  to  give  you  a  salary 
more  proportioned  to  your  deserts.  Hoping  to  receive  an  early 
answer  we  are  yours. 

THOS.  TAYLOR, 
JAMES  EWART, 
G.  T.  SNOWDEN, 
WM.  LAW. 

CHARLESTON,  May  3,  1832. 

STEPHEN  THOMAS  ESO,  ] 
SENIOR  ELDER,     '^    V 
JOHN  ROBINSON  ESQ,       J 

President  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Dear  Sirs, 

Answer   to  ^  ^akc  the  earliest  opportunity  which  the  cir- 

caii  of  Sec-  cumstauccs  in  which  I  have  been  placed  would 
end  Church,  allow,  to  commuuicatc  to  you,  and  thro'  you  to  the 
Second  Congregation  of  this  city  my  views  and  feelings  in 
reference  to  their  invitation  to  become  their  stated  supply  for 
one  year 

I  have  experienced  deep  humility  and  gratitude  in  a  review 
of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  A  sense  of  my  own 
insufficiency  to  meet  the  requirements  of  your  church,  to  satisfy 
its  wants  and  to  enter  with  satisfaction  upon  the  discharge  of 
its  duties — has  rested  heavily  upon  me —  I  have  sought  the 
advise  and  counsel  of  my  ministerial  brethren  as  well  as  of 
those  who  were  most  able  and  willing  to  guide  me  aright.  I 
was  not  insensible  to  the  importance  of  your  church  as  a 
church  nor  to  the  difficulties  upon  which  in  accepting  your 
invitation  I  would  enter,  and  which  are  so  much  increased  by 
that  anxiety  and  that  unsettled  state  of  mind  necessarily  con- 
nected with  such  a  temporary  engagement. 

I  do  sincerely  hope  that  as  I  have  come  to  the  determination 
to  accept  your  invitation,  in  the  view  of  other  claims  urged 
upon  my  attention,  in  acquiescence  with  your  own  expressed 
desires,  and  in  accordance  with  the  advice  of  others,  I  shall 
be  received  by  you  in  that  spirit  of  kindness,  and  with  that 
just  allowance  for  my  youth  and  inexperience  and  with  that 
sympathy  by  which  you  are  so  much  characterized,  to  expect 


93 

which  your  past  and  present  conduct  have  given  me  encour- 
agement. 

I  devote  myself  to  the  interests  of  your  church,  I  am  not 
strong  in  body.  My  desire  is  to  act  upon  this  to  my  ability 
and  duty.  The  explanations  received  thro'  your  President  of 
your  willingness  to  meet  my  circumstances  which  you  so 
kindly  expressed  are  very  satisfactory  and  cheering  to  my 
mind. 

I  have  only  two  requests  now  to  make  to  you,  and  hope  you 
will  have  no  objection,  as  there  would  have  been  none  in  other 
circumstances  in  which  I  might  have  been  placed.  One  is  that 
should  my  state  of  health  or  the  wishes  of  my  friends  require  it 
I  may  have  liberty  to  spend  part  of  the  Summer  at  the  North ; 
the  other,  that  should  a  permanent  and  satisfactory  call  be 
given  me  at  any  time  during  the  year,  I  may  be  at  liberty  to 
accept  it  and  to  act  upon  it. 

If  these  views  are  agreeable  to  the  congregation,  I  shall  be 
willing  and  happy  to  enter  upon  the  attempted  discharge  of  the 
duties  to  which  it  binds  me  and  in  every  case  remain. 
With  greatest  respect, 

Their  Servant  in  the  Lord, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

CHARLESTON,  May  3,  1832. 
To  the  Session  and  Pezvholders  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 

in  Columbia, 
GENTLEMEN, 

Answer  to  call  ^  rcccivcd  duly  the  communicated  extracts  from 
of  Columbia  the  miuutcs  of  your  congregation,  with  the  ac- 
Church.  companying    affectionate    letter  of    your  Session. 

The  purport  of  both  is — you  wish  that  I  should  supply  your 
pulpit  until  the  first  of  January  next  *  *  *  It  is  not  for 
me  to  say  that  there  is  any  failure  in  my  expectations  since  I 
had  no  given  hope  upon  which  to  rest  an  expectation.  It  will 
however  be  evident  to  you  that  your  invitation  terminates  very 
soon  after  Summer,  and  would  of  course  leave  me  disengaged 
just  at  that  season  of  the.  year  when  a  removal  to  the  North 
would  be  most  disadvantageous.  Now  you  may  have  known 
that  I  have  already  felt  it  my  duty  to  refuse  one  engagement 
most  probably  for  the  whole  of  the  Summer  in  an  agreeable 
and  eligible  congregation.  *  *  *  yiy  invitation  in  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Charleston  Church  is  for  a  year,  includ- 
ing next  Winter  and  Spring.     *     *     * 


93 

*  *  *  I  cannot  but  feel  sensible  of  the  kindness  and 
attention  with  which  I  was  received  by  the  people  of  Colum-. 
bia.     *     *     * 

I  remain  Gentlemen,  with  greatest  respect, 
Your  Servant  in  the  Lord, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

Letter  to  Rev.  Dr.  Goulding^  in  relation  to  the  Columbia  Church. 

CHARLESTON,  May  8,  1832. 
RESPECTED  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

I  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  5th  inst.  in  relation  to  my 
answer  to  the  invitation  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Colum- 
bia. 

In  reply  to  your  inquiry  I  will  candidly  state  my  present 
circumstances. —  I  wrote  to  the  Second  Presbyterian  Congre- 
gation in  this  city  last  week  and  signified  my  willingness  to 
accept  of  this  call  for  one  year,  provided  they  gave  me  liberty, 
if  I  thought  it  right,  to  leave  during  the  Summer;  and  also  to 
attend  and  act  upon  any  permanent  call  should  such  be  given 
me.  To  both  of  these  conditions  they  have  agreed.  I  am  now 
therefore  their  supply,  and  of  course  could  not  accept  any 
other  call  for  the  same  time.  The  difficulties  and  the  evils 
which  flow  from  transient  and  temporary  engagements,  as  well 
to  the  congregation  as  to  the  minister,  would  have  deterred 
me  from  an  entrance  upon  this  church  had  they  not  so  kindly 
met  those  wishes  I  have  mentioned,  as  well  as  others  which 
pressed  heavily  upon  my  mind. 

You  will  enter,  my  dear  Sir,  into  my  feelings  and  appreciate 
my  motive  for  acting  as  I  have  done.  My  best  wishes  are  with 
your  church  and  its  kindness  to  me  I  ought  not  to  forget. 

With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Goulding,  the  family  and  the 
Students, 

I  remain.      With  every  respect, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 
Rev.  Dr.  Goulding. 

Letter  from  Chancellor  DeSaussure. 

COLUMBIA.  5  May,  1832. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I  understand  that  you  have  been  apprized  that  our  Church 
in  this  place  is  desirous  to  obtain  you  as  their  pastor.     I  say 

'The  Rev.  Thomas  Goulding,  D.  D.,  professor  in  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  &  Georgia  in 
Columbia,   and  then   supplying  the   First   Pres.    Church. — Ed. 


94 

as  their  pastor,  because  I  am  sure  that  will  be  the  result  of 
your  acceptance  of  our  call  for  a  short  time,  which  we  were 
obliged  in  the  first  instance  to  agree  to.  This  station  my  dear 
Sir,  is  one  of  great  importance.  Hence,  light  and  life,  and 
the  Gospel,  are  diffused  all  over  the  State;  and  an  eminent, 
eloquent  faithful  preacher  is  more  heard,  and  has  more  oppor- 
tunity to  do  good  than  at  almost  any  other  position.  It  is  a 
healthy  place,  clear  of  the  sea  coast  diseases,  yellow  fevers  and 
epidemics. —  Let  me  then  persuade  you  to  consider  maturely 
on  the  subject:  for  a  great  majority  of  the  Congregation  can 
not  consent  to  give  you  up  easily,  having  formed  a  strong  at- 
tachment to  you,  and  a  deep  conviction  that  you  would  be 
eminently  useful  here. 

Our  Church  has  suffered  so  much  from  various  causes,  that 
I  am  really  afraid  we  shall  be  broken  up,  if  you  do  not  come  to 
our  aid — For  tho'  the  will  and  the  purpose  of  God  will  be 
worked  out  at  all  events,  yet  he  chooses  to  work  by  means,  and 
by  none  more  efficaciously  that  by  raising  up  eminent  and 
pious  preachers,  to  lead  and  to  guide  in  his  worship.  I  pray 
you  then  to  consider. — • 

I  am  with  much  esteem. 
Yours  truly, 
:  HENRY  W.  DE  SAUSSURE.' 

I  write  you  after  having  seen  your  letter.  The  Session  and 
most  of  us  desire  a  tivelve  month  which  w*.  lead  to  a  perma- 
nent call. 

Second  Letter  from  Chancellor'  DeSaussure,  part  is  wanting. 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C.  15  May,  1832. 
DEAR  SIR, 

Your  letter  of  the  loth  instant  reached  me  in  safety,  and  I 
regret  that  the  Church  in  Charleston  was  so  urgent  with  you 
as  to  induce  you  to  decide  so  speedily,  to  accept  their  invitation 
for  a  year.  I  regret  it  the  more  as  I  have  good  reason  to 
believe  that  you  would  be  most  acceptable  to  this  people,  and 
unite  our  Congregation.     *     *     * 

®One  of  the  interesting  men  of  South  Carolina;  a  revolutionary 
soldier,  he  had  a,fterwards  become  Director  of  the  Mint  under 
Washington  and  carried  to  the  President  the  first  handful  of  gold 
eagles  ever  coined.  He  was  at  this  date  Chancellor,  and  a  trustee 
of  the  South  Carolina  College  0|f  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders. 
See  Howe's  History  of  Pres.  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  p.  501. — Ed. 


95 

Leave  of  absence  in   18^2  in  view  of  marriage,  zvhich  took 
place  on  July  p. 

WRAGGBOROUGH,  25  June,  1832. 
REV^.  MR.  SMITH, 

REV^^.  &  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  letter  under  date  20*"  inst.  was  laid  before 
hoHday"^  the  Pcw  holdcrs  of  the  Church  on  yesterday;  the 

result  of  the  meeting  you  have  annexed. 
I  am  Rev".  &  Dr.  Sir, 
Y".  resp". 

John  Robinson 

Pres".  2^  P.  C. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Pewholders  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Charleston  S.  C.  held  on  Sabbath  24  June  1832, 
The  President  laid  before  the  meeting  a  communication  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  requesting  leave  of  absence  during  the 
Summer — 

On  motion,  and  seconded,  it  was  "Resolved,  that  the  Rev*. 
Mr.  Smith  have  leave  of  absence  granted  agreeable  to  his 
request,  on  furnishing  a  supply  for  the  pulpit" — 

"Resolved,  that  if  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edw''.  Buist,  can  be  obtained 
as  a  supply,  during  the  absence  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  it  will 
meet  the  views,  and  wishes  of  this  meeting." 

Extract  from  the  minutes 

W.  C.  DUKES, 

Sec*^ 

Permanent  call  from  Sec.  Ch.  directed  to  Philadelphia. 

CHARLESTON,  October  9,  1832. 
Rev.  Thomas  Smith, 

REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

The  Congregation  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Permanent  church  of  this  City,  being  on  sufficient  grounds 
well  satisfied  of  your  ministerial  qualifications, 
and  having  good  hopes  from  our  past  experience  of  your 
labours,  that  your  ministrations  in  the  Gospel  will  be  profitable 
to  our  Spiritual  interests,  do  earnestly  call  and  desire  you  to 
undertake  the  Pastoral  office  in  said  Congregation ;  promising 
you,  in  the  discharge  of  your  duty,  all  proper  support,  encour- 
agement and  obedience  in  the  Lord.  And  that  you  may  be  free 
from  worldly  cares  and  avocations,  we  hereby  promise  and 
oblige  ourselves  to  pay  you  the  sum  of  Fifteen  Hundred  Dol- 


lars  per  annum,  in  regular  quarterly  instalments,  during  the 
time  of  your  being  and  continuing  the  regular  pastor  of  this 
Church. 

In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  respectively  subscribed  our 
names,  this  Ninth  day  of  October  Anno  Domini  1832. 

STEPHEN  THOMAS, 
Senior  Elder  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
Charleston,  So.  Carolina. 
Attest. 

IV.  C.  Dukes  JOHN  ROBINSON, 

Secretary  2d.  P.  C.  Presdt.  Congregation  2d.  P.  Church. 

REV.  THOMAS  SMITH, 

REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 
By  the  Rules  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  this 
City,  it  devolves  on  me,  to  be  the  official  organ  through  which 
the  above  call  is  extended  to  you ;  and  ii;  is  a  source  of  no 
ordinary  gratification  to  myself,  that  I  am  able  to  say  that  you 
had  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  Congregation. 

I  trust  Rev.  Sir,  that  you  will  recognize  in  the  harmony 
and  unanimity  with  which  the  Congregation  have  united  in 
extending  this  invitation  to  you,  to  become  their  Pastor,  the 
hand  of  Him  who  has  promised  ever  to  be  watchful  over  the 
interests  of  his  Zion,  and  who  overrules  all  things  for  the  good 
of  his  people. 

May  the  Lord  direct  you  in  this  matter,  so  that  you  may  find 
it  your  duty  to  take  the  oversight  of  this  branch  of  his  Church. 
I  am.  Rev :  &  Dear  Sir, 

Your  friend  and  Brother  in  Christ, 

STEPHEN  THOMAS. 
CHARLESTON  S.  C.  9  Oct.  1832 

CHARLESTON,  9  October,  1832. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  much  esteemed  favour  under  date  of  the  22nd  August, 
addressed  to  me  as  President  of  the  Congregation,  has  remained 
unanswered  to  this  late  period,  altho  I  have  promised  myself 
from  time  to  time  that  I  would  write  you. 

Your  letter  was  read  to  the  Congregation  from  the  Pulpit. 
by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Buist,  and  has  given  much  satisfaction.    There 
appears,   and   no   doubt   is,   greater   unanimity   and   Christian 
fellowship  at  this  time  in  the  Church,  than  has  been  for  a 
long  time  past. 

The  Congregation  are  well  pleased,  and  think  themselves 
very  fortunate  in  the  supply  which  we  havfe  had  for. the  Pulpit 


97 

during  your  absence ;  still  there  is  an  anxiety  for  your  return ; 
and  I  make  no  doubt,  but  you  will  endeavour  to  be  with  us  at 
as  early  a  day  as  you  can  conveniently  do  so,  as  the  season  is 
so  far  advanced  that  there  can  be  no  risk  in  your  return. — 
Indeed  our  city  has  been  remarkably  healthy  during  the  past 
Summer. 

Mr.  Buist/  I  expect,  would  wish  your  return,  as  it  is  prob- 
able that  he  will  take  charge  of  the  Church  on  James  Island, 
and  he  has  a  wish  to  preach  to  that  Congregation  before  he 
makes  up  his  mind  on  the  subject. 

Accompanying  this,  you  have  a  Call  extended  to  you  by  our 
Congregation,  as  their  permanent  Pastor,  and  it  is  with  much 
satisfaction  that  I  have  to  state  to  you,  that  it  was  with  a 
unanimous  voice,  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  single  member 
of  the  Congregation  who  was  absent,  but  would  have  voted 
for  you  had  they  been  present.  Considering  the  distracted  and 
divided  state  of  the  Congregation  some  months  past,  it  is  a 
matter  of  wonder,  how  such  unanimity  could  have  prevailed — 
But  the  hand  of  the  Lord  has  been  with  us  in  all  our  troubles, 
for  which  we  should  be  thankful. — 

In  the  call,  you  will  see  that  the  Salary  is  fixed 
^  ^^^'  at  Fifteen  Hundred  Dollars  pr  annum. — 

Since  the  death  of  Dr.  Henry,  the  income  of  our  Church  has 
considerably  decreased,  owing  to  the  unsettled  state  in  which 
we  were,  and  which  is  generally  the  case  in  vacant  Churches ; 
and  it  would  be  imprudent  in  any  Church  to  promise  a  higher 

^Mr.  Buist  (now  Dr.)  who  had  relinquished  a  Foreign  Mission, 
occupied  my  pulpit  this  Summer,  and  became  engaged  to  Miss 
Margaret  Robinson.  How  love  improves  the  sight!  She  was  the 
oldest  and  least  handsome,  (Mary  was  very  beautiful.)  of  Mr. 
Robinson's  daughters,  but  every  way  commendable.  Before  leav- 
ing I  twitted  Br.  B.  (a  fellow  student  at  Princeton  and  intimate 
and  loved  friend)  about  her.  "Why  Br.  S."  he  said,  "when  I 
marry  I  want  something  to  please  my  eyes  as  well  as  my  mind," 
The  Rev.  Mr.  (now  Dr.)  Forrest  made  a  precisely  similar  remark 
respecting  his  present  (I  think,  fine  looking  and  lovely  in  every 
way,)  wife,  at  the  same  time  and  yet  he  too  was  engaged  to  her 
before  long. 

On  the  very  a,fternoon  of  the  day  in  which  I  received  a  favour- 
able answer  from  Miss  Adger,  (now  my  wife,)  Br.  Buist  (who 
with  another  clergyman  had  then  also  addressed  my  wife,)  walk- 
ing in  Mr.  Lamb's  piazza  after  dinner,  confidentially  consulted  me 
as  to  her  fitness  for  his  and  a  Missionary's  wife,  when  I  very 
innocently  praised  her  but  recommended  very  highly  her  sister. 
I  enjoyed  the  long  converse  exceedingly,  as  I  had  hope  but  not 
certainty  and  could  not  therefore  relieve  him. 

[71 


98 

Salary  than  the  income  would  warrant — but  we  anticipate  bet- 
ter prospects  and  I  am  directed  to  say,  should  the  income  of 
the  Church  warrant  it,  an  addition  to  your  Salary  may  be  cal- 
culated on. —  It  is  much  more  pleasing  both  to  the  Minister 
,  and  the  Congregation,  to  have  the  Pastor's  salary  advanced 
from  time  to  time,  than  that  they  should  be  compelled  to 
reduce  it. — 

I  am  very  sincerely, 

Your  friend  &c.  &c 
Rev.  Thomas  Smith.  JOHN  ROBINSON. 

From  Mrs.  Smyth  to  her  sister. 

'PATERSON,  July  19—1832. 

Thursday  afternoon. 
MY  DEAR  SUSAN, 

Our  joint  letter  to  Father  &  Mother  written  on 
journry  ^^^  Mouday  &  Tuesday  would  have  informed  you 
of  our  safe  arrival  in  New  York  &  of  our  pleasant 
passage — but  it  could  convey  to  you  no  idea  of  our  dismay  & 
consternation  on  making  the  land  on  Monday,  to  be  told  by  a 
schooner  passing  by  that  there  had  been  70  deaths  by  the 
Cholera  on  the  day  previous — it  was  truly  a  great  shock.  The 
passengers  were  quite  cast  down — &  uncertain  what  to  do;  we 
deliberated  often  &  long,  but  at  length  determined  to  go  on  to 
the  City,  where  we  landed  about  10  o'clock. —  John  immedi- 
ately determined  to  go  with  Samuel  Boyce  on  to  Princeton,  & 
advised  Mr.  S.,  James  &  myself  to  go  up  without  delay  to 
Kinderhook,^  but  I  could  not  consent  to  this. —  I  knew  how 
anxious  Mr.  Smith  was  to  see  his  friends,  &  I  placed  myself 
in  his  situation,  &  soon  acknowledged  that  in  times  of  danger 
no  place  seems  more  secure  than  the  home  of  one's  friends. 
I  knew  that  the  sacrifice  of  feeling  he  would  make  would  be 
great  &  I  thought  uncalled  for,  as  the  Cholera  is  not  in  Pater- 
son,  though  if  it  should  break  out,  it  would  make  dreadful 
ravages  as  it  is  a  thickly  settled  manufacturing  town. —  Mr.  S. 
consented  to  go  to  K — &  had  written  to  his  brother  Joseph  to 
inform  him  we  would  not  then  visit  Paterson  &c.  but  after 

^Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth  went  to  the  North  on  their  wedding  trip — 
John,  James  and  Sarah  were  Mrs.  Smyth's  brothers  and  sister, 
the  latter  eleven  years  old.  E.  K.  S.  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Keith 
Shrewsbury,  engaged  to  be  married  to  John  who,  with  James,  was 
studying  for  the  ministry  at  Princeton. — Ed. 

^To  Mrs.  Smyth's  Aunt,  Margaret  Whiting,  called  in  her  youth 
Peggy  Rogers. — Ed. 


THOMAS  SMYTH. 
From  a   Miniature  painted   on   his   Wedding  Journey. 


100 

Jas.  relinquished  the  idea  of  going  to  K.  &  went  with  John  at 
12  o'clock  to  Princeton,  I  told  Mr.  S.  I  would  be  willing  to  go 
to  P.  he  heard  me  gladly  &  thus  changed  our  route. —  We 
spent  Tuesday  afternoon  in  shopping  a  little  &  in  riding 
through  N.  Y.  in  the  evening  Mr.  Jas.  Brown  called  in  &  sat 
an  hour  with  us ;  he  was  very  kind  indeed,  &  gave  us  great 
encouragement  about  the  Cholera,  told  us  we  would  be  in  no 
danger  to  remain  in  N.  Y.  if  were  careful  in  our  diet,  &  in 
keeping  out  of  the  night  air  &c.  that  it  was  spread  through  all 
the  country,  no  place  was  safe  from  it,  &  that  the  most  retired 
villages  had  not  best  medical  advice — &  that  it  had  not  in  N.  Y, 
attacked  any  but  the  poor  &  intemperate  &c — &c.  I  felt  very 
strangely  on  Tuesday,  particularly  at  dinner  time, — I  then  first 
realized  my  situation  &  that  I  was  indeed  a  married  woman 
who  had  left  her  Father's  house — but  as  yet  I  have  no  cause  tc 
regret.—  On  Wednesday  at  lo  we  left  N.  Y.  crossed  in  the 
Ferry  boat  to  Hoboken,  then  took  the  stage  to  within  5  miles 
of  Paterson ;  then  the  rail  road  brought  us  into  town,  where  we 
found  Mr.  Joseph  Smith  &  Mr.  McKee  with  the  boys  waiting 
for  iis,  &  on  reaching  the  house  Mrs.  Smith,  Anna,  now  Mrs. 
Plunket  &  her  husband  gave  us  a  cordial  welcome — truly  they 
are  a  pleasant  affectionate,  warm  hearted  family,  my  Mr. 
Smith  is  their  idol,  all  he  does  or  says  is  right  &  good  with 
them.  Mr.  Joseph  Smith  I  like  very  much,  he  resembles  much 
his  brother,  but  is  older,  &  rather  graver.  Mrs.  S.  is  some- 
what reserved  at  first,  but  is  kind ;  she  is  a  most  devoted  mother, 
too  indulgent,  she  has  taken  a  great  fancy  to  Sarah  &  has  as- 
sumed altogether  the  charge  of  her,  telling  her  to  consider  her 
as  her  mother. — 'Anna  &  her  husband  have  just  gone  to  house- 
keeping— they  dined  &  spent  the  evening  with  us  the  first  day 
— I  like  her  much.  This  evening  we  are  to  take  tea  there  & 
meet  I  expect  a  large  party.  This  family  live  in  neat  hand- 
some manner,  of  course  we  see  every  thing  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage— their  house  is  small,  but  handsomely  furnished — our 
room  is  gaily  hung  with  fringed  bed  &  window  curtains, 
frilled  pillow  cases  (don't  laugh!)  &  every  thing  quite  neat. 
They  live  well,  keep  a  good  table,  ice-cream  every  day — 
(don't  laugh!)  yesterday  after  dinner  we  took  a  long  walk 
through  the  town,  &  saw  the  Falls  of  the  river — one  of  the 
annuals  at  home  has  one  or  two  views — it  is  a  most  romantic 
spot — 4;he  river  is  low  now,  &  they  tell  us  the  fall  of  water  is 
quite  inconsiderable,  but  I  think  it  very  fine — this  morning 
after  breakfast  we  rode  out  to  the  lower  falls  of  the  same  river 
about  5  miles  &  returned  through  a  wild  &  beautiful  country. 
On  our  way  home  we  were  overtaken  by  a  thunder  shower  at 


MARGARET  MILLIGAN  ADGER  SMYTH. 
From  a  Miniature  painted  on  her  Wedding  Journey. 


102 

the  foot  of  the  mountain,  &  were  obliged  to  remain  for  half  an 
hour  at  a  country  tavern,  but  it  was  a  rich  treat : —  I  am  a  poor 
hand  at  description  &  cannot  picture  to  you  the  effect  of  the 
rain  upon  the  mountain,  the  sublimity  of  the  thunder  as  it 
rolled  over  our  heads  &c.  but  the  clouds  soon  passed  over  & 
we  enjoyed  a  most  delightful  ride  home,  arriving  just  in  time 
for  dinner : — this  afternoon  I  am  engaged  in  writing  to  my 
dear  Sister — &  now  have  I  not  been  very  candid  &  told  you 
all  about  my  new  relations?  I  might  refer  you  to  Sarah,  she 
is  quite  delighted  &  begs  we  will  not  go  away  soon — poor  child 
she  is  unused  to  any  little  attention,  &  her  head  is  almost 
turned.  She  was  wearied  at  sea  &  in  N.  Y.  at  sea  she  had  not 
one  attack  of  spasm— but  as  soon  as  we  arrived,  whilst  going 
to  the  Hotel  she  was  attacked — yesterday  whilst  going  to  the 
Ferry  boat,  again  after  dinner  whilst  in  the  garden  with  Mrs. 
S.  &  again  this  morning  whilst  riding  to  the  Falls — so  that 
every  day  on  shore  she  has  been  sick  &  yesterday  tzvice.  We 
will  not  leave  this  now  I  suppose  until  after  the  Sabbath — Mr. 
S.  will  preach  then  twice : —  next  week  I  suppose  if  nothing 
occurs  we  will  proceed  to  Kinderhook — then  I  will  write  again : 
— now  I  must  stop  as  Mr.  S.  has  just  come  in  to  dress  himself — 
if  you  would  not  laugh  at  me,  I  would  tell  you  how  very  kind 
&  attentive  he  is  to  me,  how  he  consults  my  feelings  &.  what 
he  supposes  would  please  me,  on  every  occasion — &  how 
happy  I  am  with  him — as  happy  as  I  could  be,  away  from  you 
all ;  adieu  now,  when  I  return  I  will  say  more. 

P.  S.  The  mail  I  understand  goes  out  at  eight  tomorrow  & 
though  it  is  late  at  night  I  must  close  my  letter  now  or  miss 
this  opportunity  of  sending  it. —  I  hope  you  will  not  fail  to 
write  to  me  very  often  during  the  Summer,  direct  for  the 
present  to  Kinderhook —  I  shall  write  to  Aunt  Margaret  to- 
morrow, &  tell  her  of  our  expected  visit ;  perhaps  it  would 
not  be  convenient  to  them  to  accommodate  us  for  so  long  a 
time  as  we  shall  likely  stay,  if  we  find  the  place  agreeable  & 
no  Cholera  there.  We  had  a  pleasant  party  this  evening, 
though  not  what  we  would  call  large,  Anna's  house  is  small 
but  neatly  furnished  &  every  thing  was  very  neat. — •  I  have 
not  yet  met  with  any  pious  person  &  religion  is  I  fear  at  9 
low  ebb  here — it  is  unfashionable. —  Dr.  Fisher,  their  clergy- 
man, called  in  to  see  us  yesterday  evening,  but  he  talked  of 
politics  &  every  thing  else,  but  his  Master's  business :  I  think 
often  of  you  all  at  times  of  religious  privileges  now  I  am 
deprived  of  them. — •  I  hope  you  do  not  forget  us  at  a  throne 
of  grace, — I  hope  Brother  Buist  will  please  the  people,  &  that 
he  does  not  forget  us : — do  write  &  tell  me  all. — And  now 


103 

Good  night  my  dear  Sister, — Sarah  will  write  from  Kinder- 
hook — Mr.  Smith  unites  with  me  in  love  to  every  member  of 
the  family. —  This  you  will  see  is  intended  only  for  your  per- 
usal &  dear  Mothers  &  not  by  any  means  for  the  public  eye. 
My  love  to  E.  K.  S.  I  shall  not  forget  my  promise  of  writing 
to  her — but  as  she  knows  how  slow  I  am  with  my  pen  I  wish 
she  would  not  be  formal,  but  would  write  to  me,  tell  her  this 
will  you. —  Kind  regards  to  Henderson,  I  owe  him  for  a  bot- 
tle of  salts,  will  you  pay  it,  &  also  Harriett  McKinny  $i — for 
my  black  frock? —  Love  to  the  servants  &  to  every  body — in 
great  haste. 

Your  truly  attached  Sister, 

MARGARET. 

Dr.  Smyth  to  Miss  Susan  Adger. 

PRINCETON,  Aug.  ^,9,  1832. 
MY  DEAR  SISTER, 

I  have  for  some  time  promised  myself  the  pleasure  of  writ- 
ing a  letter  to  commence  a  correspondence  with  my  new  & 
much  loved  sister.  It  has  given  me  pleasure  to  find  that  you 
have  me  affectionately  in  remembrance,  and  that  you  are  will- 
ing to  recognize  my  claim,  to  an  endearing  intimacy.  It 
required  not  any  connexion  with  you,  to  originate  attachment. 
To  know  you  was  to  love  you.  And  I  can  amply  attest  to 
your  kindness  of  heart.  You  have  smiled  upon  me  in  hours 
of  darkness  &  comforted  me  in  moments  of  sadness.  Be 
assured,  now  that  I  can  sincerely  express  it,  that  I  love  you. 
I  trust  we  shall  yet  enjoy  as  sweet  if  not  sweeter  seasons  than 
those  whose  memory  is  so  dear.  I  have  however  long  thought 
that  it  is  piety — it  is  the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality  &  of 
reunion  when  separated  here — that  gives  to  friendship  its 
sweetest,  dearest  &  purest  enjoyment.  And  are  we  not  trav- 
ellers together  in  the  road  that  leads  to  Zion,  &  shall  we  not 
together  dwell  in  that  city  which  hath  foundations  &  whose 
builder  &  maker  is  God?  Thro'  rich  grace  in  Christ  Jesus  we 
shall  &  shall  together  triumphantly  celebrate  the  praises  of 
Redeeming  Grace. 

But  I  will  interrupt  to  give  you  the  report  of 
the  Board,  of  Health  now  assembled  in  Prince- 
ton. We  have  all  met  &  have  the  pleasure  of  reporting  to  our 
friends  in  Charleston  that  we  are  all  well  as  usual.  Sarah  was 
sick  to  day,  &  yesterday  in  the  Streets  of  N.  York  on  her  way 
to  the  boat,  when  she  was  severely  attacked,  perhaps  more  so 
from  not  having  been  so  for  some  days.  My  Dear  Margaret 
I  must  say  still  has  the  pain  in  her  side  &  often  as  painfully 


104 

as  any  time  in  Charleston — I  wish  her  VERY  MUCH  to 
consult  the  Physician  in  Philadelphia,  but  she  laughs  me  out 
of  the  idea.  This  is  the  truth  &  the  whole  truth.  John  & 
James  are  in  excellent  health  &  look  well.  I  heard  John 
preach  in  the  class  last  night,  when  I  was  much  pleased,  as 
was  also  Dr.  Miller.  We  have  delayed  here  two  days,  in 
great  part  to  have  opportunity  of  advising  with  the  Profes- 
sors. I  have  been  two  hours  &  more  with  Dr.  Alexander  this 
morning,  &  have  obtained  a  great  deal  of  information  &  advice 
relative  to  Pastoral  duties,  arrangements  &c.  I  took  a  long 
list  of  topics  suggested  by  my  experience  in  Charleston  on 
which  we  had  full  conversation.  I  saw  him,  Dr.  Miller,  & 
Prof.  Hodge  also,  yesterday.  I  hope  I  have  mucli  profited. 
I  have  been  reading  also  such  works  as  would  better  qualify, 
me  for  labouring  in  Charleston. 

You  heard  from  dear  Margaret  our  reasons  for  leaving 
Paterson  &  turning  towards  Philad.*  I  do  not  regret  the 
movement.  Philad.  is  comparatively  free  from  Cholera  & 
Sarah  will  be  no  longer  without  medical  advice  tho'  Prof. 
Hodge  says  it  will  not  avail  to  her  present  recovery.  She  is 
still  very  serious.  I  have  frequently  prayed  with  her  &  she 
comes  to  me  to  talk  with  her  when  she  can  find  me  alone.  Let 
her  not  know  this,  by  your  letters.  It  would  injure  her.  If 
it  is  the  work  of  the  Spirit  the  less  excitement  of  any  possibly 
injurious  feelings  the  better.  Talk  to  her  but  as  if  in  igno- 
rance of  this.  She  wished  to  attend  an  anxious  meeting.^ 
She  looks  uncommonly  well  &  is  reading  some  additions  she 
has  made  to  her  Library  with  great  avidity.  My  dear  Mar- 
garet also  looks  better.  We  have  read  together  a  good  deal. 
I  trust  we  shall  go  hand  in  hand,  not  only  in  grace,  but  in 
knowledge. —  She  is  getting  quite  interested  in  my  plans  of 
Study.  You  must  expect  to  find  us  mutual  students,  or  as  in 
Princeton  they  are  called,  Chums.  She  is  very,  very  dear 
to  me. 

We  leave  for  Philad.  to  morrow  morning.  Our  stay  there 
is  uncertain.  If  you  direct  to  my  brother  he  will  forward  to 
us.  Sarah  wishes  Elizabeth"  not  to  be  so  very  dilatory  in  her 
correspondence.  They  are  about  to  send  to  London  for  books 
&  James  &  John  are  anxious  to  send.     We  have  had  great 

*The  tradition  is  that  the  dreaded  Cholera  spread  to  Paterson. 
—Ed. 

^A  meeting  for  those  who  were  anxious  as  to  the  state  of  their 
souls. — Ed. 

^Elizabeth  Ellison,  Sarah's  first  cousin  who  lived  for  a  time 
with  the  Adgers  in   Charleston. — Ed. 


105 

deliberations  &  I  think  they  would  do  well  to  embrace  the 
opportunity.  I  have  written  thro'  Mr.  Robinson  to  the  Con- 
gregation. I  was  obliged  to  you  for  reminding  me  of  its 
necessity.  I  had  not  forgotten,  but  was  perplexed  how  & 
what  to  write.  I  have  had  no  communication  from  them. 
Dr.  Alexander  thinks  in  my  whole  conduct  I  have  acted  right 
&  says,  if  now  they  go  not  forward  it  will  evidence  that  I  had 
better  not  be  with  them.  I  cannot  concentrate  my  feelings 
upon  them  in  my  present  relation  to  them.  Nor  can  I  speak 
of  the  Congregation  as  mine.  Write  me  about  your  Bible 
Class,  &  Sabbath  School.  I  have  written  also  to  Mr.  Buist.' 
The  Session  promised  to  write. —  The  Cholera  rages  in  Balti- 
more or  perhaps  I  should  go  on.  They  have  engaged  Mr. 
Breckenridge's'  Brother  for  their  Pastor. 

Thus  far  the  Lord  hath  helped  us,  &  we  can  praise  &  cele- 
brate his  goodness.  You  are  all  constantly  with  us  at  the 
throne  of  Grace.  Let  it  be  reciprocally  with  you.  Let  us  live 
near  to  God  &  be  prepared  to  meet  him. —  I  was  very  much 
astonished  to  hear  of  Mrs.  Pringle's  death. —  Her  call  was  at 
last  sudden.  Remember  me  to  him.  Give  my  love  to  Mrs. 
Bennoit,  the  Misses  Robinson,  Robertson,  Burney,  &c.  to  your 
Society  in  fact. 

James  &  the  rest  are  waiting  for  my  finish  to  walk —  This 
is  the  only  letter  I  have  crossed  for  some  time —  I  could  have 
wished  to  write  you  at  more  length  but  rather  than  delay  I 
embraced  this  leisure  hour. 

My  Dear  Margaret,  Sarah,  John  &  James  unite  with  me  in 
warmest  love  to  dear  Father,  Mother,  yourself,  Robert,  W". 
Eliz.  Jane  Ann  &  Ellison  &  believe  me  your  very  affectionate 
brother, 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

Sept.  12,  1833. 
To  Dr.  J.  B.  Adger. 

You  have  heard  of  Mr.  Smith's  absence  &  the 
jg  ^^  *  '  cause  of  it —  I  had  a  letter  from  him  this  morning 
from  Asheville — he  intended  leaving  on  Monday 
of  this  week  for  the  Warm  Springs  where  he'  expected  to 
remain  3  or  4  days  &  return  through  Lincoln,  Morgan  &c.  to 
Greenville.  He  complains  much  of  the  pain  in  his  side — 
although  he  thinks  upon  the  whole  he  is  stronger  &  better. 

'Robert  J.  Breckinridge  of  Kentucky  was  ordained  at  this  time 
to  the  Second  Church  of  Baltimore.  He  was  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's 
best-beloved  enemies,  for  they  disagreed  vigorously  on  many 
subjects. — Ed. 


106 

I  fear  not  much  tho' — &  his  pain  will  return  &  increase  as 
soon  as  he  recommences  his  labours  in  our  large  Church;  he 
is  very  desponding  about  his  health  in  connection  with  that 
large  building  &  thinks  it  his  duty  in  every  respect  to  resign 
it;  before  he  left  there  was  some  hope  held  out  of  its  being 
reduced  in  size,  but  I  hear  nothing  of  it,  now  he  is  gone,  so 
true  it  is  "out  of  sight,  out  of  mind" — but  the  fact  is  the 
congregation  are  not  able  to  do  it;  the  burthen  of  the  expense 
would  fall  heavily  upon  one  or  two,  principally  upon  Father, 
&  I  am  not  willing  for  it — he  has  generously  offered  more 
than  once  if  the  congregation  would  alter  the  Church  to  suit 
he  would  bear  one  half  the  expense,  but  neither  Mr.  S.  nor 
myself  would  wish  this — 'We  ought  not  to  be  confined  to  one 
building ;  'tis  true  it  would  be  tearing  my  heart  strings  asunder 
to  leave  home  now,  I  would  feel  it  far  more  severely  trying 
than  if  I  had  gone  at  first — but  I  can  not  expect  to  be  with 
Mother  always — &  if  duty  calls  I  must  go — if  my  husband's 
health,  &  usefulness,  perhaps  his  life  is  to  be  the  sacrifice  I 
would  not  wish  to  stay. —  I  think  it  highly  probable  he  will 
resign  the  church  after  his  return, — &  where  our  lot  will  then 
be  cast  God  only  knows.  Father  proposes  he  should  spend 
the  winter  in  St.  Augustine,  Mother  that  he  should  travel 
about  with  you — but  all  is  yet  unsettled. —  He  would  like  the 
Third  Church — as  that  would  retain  him  in  the  South  &  in  a 
City — but  I  do  not  think  it  would  answer,  more  harm  would 
result,  than  all  the  good  he  would  accomplish  would  atone 
for,  by  a  change  of  congregations.  I  am  sometimes  much 
cast  down  &  depressed  in  view  of  the  future.  And  now  let 
me  be  less  egotistical — what  are  you  doing  &  what  are  your 
present  views — the  question  of  Africa  I  suppose  is  settled? — ■ 
by  the  by  have  you  heard  lately  of  Br.  Pinney — of  his  ad- 
ventures in  Columbia? — really  they  are  too  bad  there — yet  I 
fear  he  has  been  injudicious. —  Columbia  is  the  hotbed  of 
nullification,  infidelity,  8:  every  other  evil — &  old  Dr.  Cooper' 
sits  like  a  spider  in  his  web  watching  &  ready  to  dart,  although 
secretly,  upon  every  one  who  opposes  these.  It  is  supposed 
he  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  this.  I  send  either  by  this  or  to- 
morrow's mail — two  newspapers  giving  accounts  of  the  mat- 
ter;— this  will  render  any  further  attempts  upon  that  subject 
difficult  &  unpleasant — I  fear  you  will  not  find  Father  so  pro- 
pitious to  your  agency^  business  as  heretofore ;  speaking  of 
you  the  other  day  he  asked  Mother  what  you  intended  to  do 

*The  President  of  the  South  Carolina  College,  who  had  recently- 
been  on  trial  for  irreligion  and  misconduct  in  office. — Ed. 
*For  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. — Ed. 


107 

this  Winter — &  v/hen  she  spoke  of  the  Agency  he  said,  if  you 
did  not  take  care,  you' would  get  your  hair  curled. —  A  No.  of 
the  Repertory^  which  came  yesterday  for  Mr.  S.  contains  for 
the  ist  Article  "Hints  on  Colonization  &  Abolition;" — he  was 
quite  displeased  about  it,  &  said  there  would  be  trouble  yet 
among  us — if  we  were  not  more  prudent.  However  this  is  all 
in  relation  to  Africa ;  drop  this  &  perhaps  he  will  be  more 
yielding — tho'  Mother  fears  not.     *     *     * 

M.  M.  A.  Smyth 

CHARLESTON,    Sep.  12,  1835. 
MY  DEAR  SUSAN, 

I  have  thought  that  altho'  exceedingly  pressed 
with  engagements,  by  reason  of  the  many  who 
are  sick  &c.  that  yet  I  would  like  to  write  you  a  few  lines,  that 
— as  a  letter  when  one  is  absent  is  sweet. —  this  may  have  the 
effect  of  strengthening  our  affectionate  regards.  I  am  glad 
Dear  Mother  found  my  letter  comforting.  I  hope  that  now, 
rather  than .  complain  of  what  God  has  done,  she  will  learn 
what  God  would  teach  her  by  this  affliction.*  And  this  certainly 
is  not  that  she  should  have  been  at  home,  since  He  providenti- 
ally led  her  away.  Too  much  grief  on  this  subject  may  there- 
fore be  displeasing  to  Him  to  whom  we  ought  not  even  fret- 
fully to  say  "What  doest  thou"  or  "why  hast  tried  me  thus?" 
If  she  could  willingly  have  resigned  Sarah  had  she  been  with 
her,  the  trial  of  her  faith  would  have  been  but  small.  It  would 
be  when  called  to  give  her  up,  tho'  she  had  not  the  presenta- 
tion, that  if  resigned  it  might  be  said  "O  Woman  great  is  thy 
faith."  I  have  long  thought  that  as  a  family  we  required  some 
admonition.  Prosperity  &  health  &  unembittered  happiness 
have  been  long  our  portion.  And  when  the  Cup  is  thus  full 
&  continues  overflowing  it  is  hard  not  to  forget  or  at  least 
neglect  God.  If  without  the  merciful  affliction  of  a  kind 
father,  we  are  left  to  fear  that  we  may  be  bastards  &  not  sons, 
surely  humility  becomes  us.  And  has  not  the  admonition  been 
most  tenderly  given?  He  first  ripened  the  flower  by  the  dews 
of  affliction  &  the  sweet  sunshine  of  his  grace  &  then  trans- 
planted it  into  his  own  heavenly  garden —  She  who  called 
forth  our  grief  for  her  present,  &  our  gloomy  fears,  for  her 
future  trials,  who  began  to  realize  her  situation,  &  to  feel 
keenly  its  attendant  miseries — is  at  once  removed  from  her 
pain — her  sorrows — &  her  fearful  apprehensions.  Her  night 
was  turned   into   day.     Has   not   God  blessed  while   he  has 

'The  Princeton  Review  or  Biblical  Repertory. — Ed. 
*Sarah  Adger  died  in  August  1835. — Ed. 


108 

cursed — has  he  not  in  the  midst  of  wrath  remembered  mercy 
— &  while  he  has  called  us  to  repentance — spoken  in  the  still 
small  voice  of  mercy?  These  thoughts  will  I  trust  abide  con- 
tinually in  her  mind — 'that  while  she  mourns  she  may  not 
provoke — but  may  be  led  to  rejoice  in  tribulation. 

This  affliction  will  do  us  good.  It  will  draw  us  more  closely 
to  each  other  &  enable  us  to  feel  the  value  of  our  continued 
intercourse  &  our  unnumbered  mercies.  We  will  feel  more 
that  oneness  which  should  characterize  us  as  a  family  &  en- 
deavour to  increase  that  domestic  happiness  of  which  we  have 
hitherto  so  sweetly  participated.  We  feel  this  effect  at  home, 
&  are  like  a  little  brood  into  which  the  vulture  has  made  his 
way  &  from  which  he  has  seized  his  victim.  We  have  run  to 
our  Parent's  bosom  &  there  enjoy  more  of  His  &  of  each  other's 
love.  But  we  feel  lonely  &  it  is  only  by  an  effort  of  imagina- 
tion— &  by  conversing  of  the  absent — that  we  can  fill  up  the 
vacancy.  Yes,  we  have  a  better  refuge,  for  as  we  nightly 
kneel  around  the  altar  of  our  God — we  then  enjoy  your  pres- 
ence in  His. 

We  do  not  however  wish  to  hurry  you  home  especially  as  it 
is  somewhat  sickly  &  unpleasant.  We  are  all  better  I  think 
than  usual  as  we  were  remarking  last  night — &  Father  par- 
ticularly so.  He  &  Sarah  Ann"  sleep  together  &  are  very 
gracious,  &  she  still  talks  of  those  who  are  "gone  over  the- 
water."  When  the  fruit  came  she  thought  you  might  possibly 
return  again. 

The  Bible  Class  is  very  interesting  indeed  &  well  attended 
&  our  Sabbath  Services  quite  as  much  so  as  they  were — I 
have  had  three  or  four  new  inquirers. — 

Miss  Coburn  is  gone — Mary  R.  is  still  living."  As  Ellison 
has  given  you  all  the  news  I  will  close  by  remaining  in  much 
love  to  Mother  &  Robert 

Your  affectionate  Brother 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

Ellison  writes  at  this  time  to  Jane  Ann — he  gives  the  family 
news.  The  white's  are  all  well,  quite  well,  I  only  hope  they 
may  continue  so —  Some  of  the  negroes  are  unwell  but  I  hope 
nothing  serious — poor  Butler,  &  Richard' — oh  that  horrid, 
horrid  liquor !     We  thank  you  for  the  fruit  which  we  safely 

°Dr.  Smyth's  eldest  child,  named  for  her  two  grandmothers. — 
Ed. 

"Members   of  the   congregation. — Ed. 
'Two   of  the   family   servants. — Ed. 


109 

received,  but  why  do  you  not  write  oftener? — you  have  writ- 
ten but  twice — what  are  you  about? — in  much  love  &  great 
haste —  Yours  M. 

Ill  health  ^^  ^^?>Z  "^7  labours  and  the  chmate  brought  on 

Journey  to  a  tendency  of  blood  to  the  head.  I  had  preached 
North  three   times    on    Sabbath   and   once   in   the   week 

besides  funeral  addresses  &c.  I  therefore  left 
home  alone  and  visited  Flat  Rock  &c.  and  learned  for  the  first 
time  the  value — to  me  priceless — of  bathing  the  head  fre- 
quently in  cold — and  if  possible — ice  water. 

WRAGGBORO :  Sabbath  Evg.  28  July,  1833. 
Rev.  &  Dr.  Sir: — 

Annexed  you  have  Resolutions  adopted  by  the  Congrega- 
tion this  afternoon.     Should  you  conclude  to  go,  which  I  think 
advisable,  it  is  desirable  that  a  supply  should  be  got  for  the 
Pulpit  during  your  absence,  and  I  know  of  no  one  that  would 
give  more  general  satisfaction  than  Mr.  Gildersleeve  and  in- 
deed he  is  the  only  one  that  I  know  of.     I  expect  Mr.  Buist 
will  apply  to  him  to  supply  his  Pulpit  during  his  absence,  and 
I  expect  will  see  him  on  the  subject  tomorrow. 
I  am  Rev.  &  Dr.  Sir, 
Yrs.  truly, 
JOHN  ROBINSON,  Pr.  2d.  P.  C. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Pewholders  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  held  on  Sabbath  afternoon  28  July  1833,  the  follow- 
ing Resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted : — 

Resolved,  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  Congregation,  their 
Pastor  requires  a  suspension  from  his  labours  for  a  short 
period,  to  recruit  his  health  and  give  him  more  bodily 
strength — and  they  are  of  opinion  that  a  journey  of  five  or 
six  weeks  to  the  mountains,  or  elsewhere  would  have  the 
desired  effect — and  should  he  deem  it  advisable  to  do  so,  per- 
mission is  hereby  granted  by  this  Congregation. 

Resolved,  that  it  is  recommended  by  us  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Smith,  that  he  should  not  preach  during  his  absence — for 
should  he  continue  his  labours  the  object  of  his  journey  will 
in  a  great  degree  be  prevented,  as  it  cannot  be  expected  that 
he  will  be  benefitted  by  the  journey — 
Extract  from  the  minutes 

W.  C.  DUKES 

Sec. 


THE  BEGINNING  OF 


THE  SMYTH  LIBRARY 


113 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SMYTH  LIBRARY. 

"My  library 
Was  dukedom  large  enough.     *     * 
Knowing  I  loved  my  books,  he  furnish'd  me 
From  mine  own  library  with  volumes  that 
I   prize  above   my   dukedom." 

Tempest,  Act  i.  Scene  2.^ 

In  entering  upon  my  ministry  I  laid  down  for 
Conduct  myself   some   rules,    from   which   I   was   resolved 

that  nothing  should   induce  me  to  swerve — save 
and  except  calls  of  evident  necessity  and  therefore  of  duty. 

1.  I  concluded  that  as  it  was  the  first  great  business  of  a 
minister  to  be  a  good  and  faithful  preacher  of  the  gospel,  it 
was  my  first  and  most  necessary  duty  in  order  to  fit  myself 
for  this  work,  to  be  a  regular,  systematic  and  persevering 
student.  I  therefore  resolved  that  I  would  fix  certain  hours 
for  study — that  I  would  diligently  employ  them  whenever  I 
was  able — and  that  I  would  allow  them  to  be  interrupted  only 
in  case  of  real  necessity. 

2.  For  the  better  ordering  of  my  own  mind  and  the  increase 
of  my  theological  and  general  knowledge,  I  determined  to 
pursue,  as  far  as  possible,  a  regular  progressive  course  of 
reading,  that  the  imaginative  powers  might  be  cultivated  while 
the  intellectual  were  thus  advanced.  I  also  resolved,  in  the 
full  conviction  of  its  importance,  when  properly  directed  and 
restrained,  to  read  every  day,  or  as  often  as  convenient,  some 
portions  of  poetry,  and  to  cultivate  a  taste  for  Literature  gen- 
erally. I  included  classical  poetry  and  therefore  re-perused 
many  ancient  writers  and  all  the  classics.' 

3.  I  further  determined  that  to  prevent  my  mind  from  being 
torn  by  anxious  solicitude,  and  to  secure  myself  against  any 
possible  disappointment,  I  would  endeavour  always  to  have 
on  hand  a  number  of  prepared  Sermons  and  skeletons.  By  so 
doing  time  also  is  secured  on  any  emergency — for  giving 
greater  attention  to  any  required  efifort,  while  a  most  invalu- 

^Entered  in  1838  or  1839  in  Dr.  Smyth's  Common-place  Book 
under  the  head  of  "Library." 

^"His  genius  was  for  books.  His  devotion  to  these  was  well 
known,  and  his  conversation,  before  he  lost  the  power  of  easy 
speech,  was  highly  seasoned,  invariably  with  'Attic  salt.'  " — From 
the  Christian  at  Work. — Ed. 

(81 


114 

able  habit  of  foresight  and  self  command  is  acquired,  and  a 
most  grateful  feeling  of  independence  is  cherished. 

4.  I  resolved  further,  that  I  should  endeavour  to  indoctri- 
nate my  people  in  the  principles  of  divine  truth  by  mingling 
with  occasional  and  miscellaneous  discourses,  courses  of  Ser- 
mons on  some  specific  subject,  and  further — that  I  would,  if 
possible,  bring  them  and  myself  to  relish  the  true  ancient, 
Scriptural,  and  most  profitable  method  of  Expository  preach- 
ing. (1859 — I  adopted  Doddridges^  Prescribed  Course  for  a 
young  preacher,  and  gave  courses  of  sermons,  on  our  Saviour's 
parables^ — miracles — discourses- — life" — person^  and  work.  I 
also  expounded  all  the  Psalms^— the  Epistle  to  the  Romans, 
&c.^) 

5.  I  resolved  with  the  help  of  God,  in  connexion  with  this 
regular  habit  of  study  and  preparation,  to  discharge  as  far  as 
health  and  opportunity  would  permit,  the  duty  of  pastoral 
visitation,^  without  fear  of  or  favour  towards  any  particular 
individual  or  family. 

These  rules  I  have  thus  far  endeavoured  to  maintain  in- 
violable thro'  good  report  and  bad  report,  and  not  withstanding 
many  difficulties,  the  dissuasion  of  many  friends,  and  the  dis- 
content of  many  unreasonable  complainants.  The  first  as  far 
as  I  have  had  health,  I  have  with  some  fidelity  and  persever- 
ance carried  into  execution,  both  when  abroad  and  when  at 
home,  when  better  and  when  worse,  and  often  when  under  the 
pressure  of  very  unfavourable  circumstances  and  physical  con- 
ditions. To  encourage  myself  in  this  work,  and  to  breed 
within  me  a  hearty  love  and  true  desire  for  laborious  pursuits 
of  studious  retirement  and  learned  investigation,  and  to  count- 
erbalance, by  the  pleasures  of  solitude,  the  displeasures  ex- 
perienced in  the  murmurings  of  an  uncandid  and  selfish  world, 
I  was  early  solicitous  to  surround  myself  with  a  comfortable 
studio  and  a  good  library.  Knowing  that  the  reluctations  of 
the  natural  heart,  (to  speak  as  the  old  divines  were  wont  to 

^Mr.  Thomas  Wilson's  letter,  p.  27. — Ed. 

■'See  vol.  VI,  p.  339,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

"See  vol.  IX,  pp.  590  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

*See  vol.  IX,  p.  267;  vol.  IX,  pp.  551-650,  and  vol.  X,  p.  255, 
Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

^See  vol.  VI,  p.  280,  and  vol.  IX,  pp.  515  and  627,  Smyth's 
Works. — Ed. 

'Many  sermons  on  the  above-mentioned  topics  have  been  either 
lost,  or  of  necessity  omitted  from  his  published  works  for  lack  of 
space. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  VIII,  p.  395,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


115 

declare  themselves)  are  from  solitude,  labour,  and  self  denial, 
and  that  its  delectations  are  found  in  society,  in  ease,  in  grati- 
fication— knowing  how  much  easier  it  is  to  visit,  to  talk,  and 
thus  to  hunt  for  popularity,  than  to  dig  deep  in  the  mine  of 
thorough  and  careful  research,  and  thus  to  bring  beaten  oil 
into  the  sanctuary  by  which  our  profiting  might  ultimately, 
tho'  not  immediately  appear  to  all — and  knowing  too  that  "in 
the  multitude  of  Counsellors  there  is  wisdom"  and  that  there 
is  sweetest  society  in  the  delightful  stillness  of  a  well  ordered 
Library,  where  none  intrudes — I  determined  at  every  sacrifice 
to  make  my  Libran.^  the  centre  of  as  many  attractions  as 
possible.  And  knowing  further  how  soon  the  power,  the 
habit,  and  the  relish  for  study  are  weakened,  and  the  ability  to 
use  books,  even  when  possessed,  is  lost,  I  was  all  the  more 
desirous  to  anticipate  the  more  urgent  claims  of  a  family, 
by  at  once  storing  up  the  collected  treasures  of  wisdom. 

In  this  design  I  was  most  happily  assisted  by 
hi^Librar*  ^"  ^^^^  ^^"^  providcncc  which  had  placed  me  in  a 
family  where  it  was  both  convenient  and  desirable 
(as  it  was  desired)  that  I  should  continue  domesticated  as  a 
boarder,  and  had  given  me  in  my  father-in-law  a  kind  and 
liberal  patron.  I  therefore  made  it  my  study  to  search  out 
the  wisest  and  best  authors  on  every  branch  of  necessar}^ 
knowledge,  whose  works  I  ordered  from  time  to  time  from 
London,  until  now,  with  the  foundation^  brought  with  me  from 
the  old  country,  I  have  around  me  (in  those  commodious 
rooms  provided  by  the  above  named  friend)  about  7000  vol- 
umes at  a  cost  of  some  $13,000.^ 

^I  had  much  the  largest  student's  library  at  London  and  at 
Princeton,  including  Owen's  complete  works  in  28  vols.  Howe  in 
8  V.  Calmet's  Dictionary  4to — a  continuation  of  which  was  my 
first  projected  literary  labour  for  which  I  had  accumulated  con- 
siderable materials. — and  many  others  such  as  Wardlaw,  Russell, 
Dr.  Williams.— T.  S. 

For  some  account  of  his  early  purchases  see  letters  from  High- 
bury College,  1830-1832.  One  most  valuable  book  he  probably 
secured  during  his  sojourn  abroad.  It  is  a  bound  manuscript 
History  of  the  Scottish  Assemblies  of  1638  and  1639,  with  a  book- 
plate bearing  the  arms  of  Gordon  of  Earlstoun  whose  name  oc- 
curs in  the  list  of  members  as  Alexander  Gordon  of  Earlstoun, 
Elder  of  the   Presbytery  of  Kirkcudbright. — Ed. 

°This  must  have  been  written  about  1838  or  1839.  Mr.  Adger 
paid  for  a  considerable  number  of  vols,  purchased  in  N.  York  in 
1832  and  for  a  number  imported  for  me  and  his  two  Sons — James 
and  John.  I  also  invested  the  great  portion  of  my  income — one 
year  nearly  $2,000 — on   imported  books.     Indeed   I   imported  con- 


116 

The  enjoyment  that  I  have  had  in  ordering,  collecting  and 
arranging  these  works — the  delight  I  so  constantly  find  in 
being  with  them,  in  admiring  their  neatness  and  order,  in 
familiarizing  myself  with  their  contents,  and  in  skimming 
from  author  to  author,  as  does  the  little  busy  bee  (fond  image 
of  happiness  and  of  industry,)  from  sweet  to  sweeter  flower — 
I  cannot  well  express.  How  congenial  to  every  initiated  grad- 
uate in  the  divine  art,  are  Milton's  oft  repeated  words  "the 
quiet  and  still  air  of  delightful  studies."  Who  that  has  felt 
"the  inspiring  aid  of  books,"  and  revelled  in  their  "ever  wel- 
come company"  but  will  admire  the  truth  and  beauty  of  that 
most  ancient  character  of  a  Library  inscribed  over  the  Egyp- 
tian Library  of  Osymandyas^  "The  treasury  of  remedies  for 
the  Soul." — optimi  consilarii  mortui. 

"Books,"  as  Wordsworth  beautifully  says, 

"Are  ready  comrades  whom  we  cannot  tire, 
Of  whose  Society  the  blameless  man 
Is  never  satiate.     Their  familiar  voices 
Even  to  old  age,  with  unabated  charm 
Beguile  his  leisure  hours;  refresh  his  thoughts; 
Beyond    his    natural    elevation,    raise 
His  introverted   spirit;   and  bestow 
Upon  his  life  an  outward  dignity 
Which   all  acknowledge.     The   dark  winter  night, 

siderably  while  at  Princeton — perhaps  lo  sets  of  Owen.  When  in 
Europe  all  my  aunt  gave  me  went  for  this  purpose — in  short  every 
thing  as  they  say  "I  could  rake  or  scrape,"  until  my  library  num- 
bered 12,000  vols,  at  a  cost  of  some  $30,000,  filling  three  large 
rooms — one  30  feet  long. — T.   S. 

The  rooms  to  which  Dr.  Smyth  refers  were  on  the  third  storey 
of  the  house  in  Spring  Street.  There  were  four  rooms,  two  look- 
ing out  upon  the  street  on  the  north,  while  running  back  from 
the  easternmost  room  were  an  entry  and  two  additional  apart- 
ments. That  on  the  northeast  was  used  as  a  chamber  for  visiting 
ministers,  the  northwest  was  the  study,  in  which  all  active  work 
was  carried  on  and  many  books  kept;  while  in  the  two  back  rooms 
the  rest  of  the  library  was  stored.  South  of  the  study  windows 
was  the  roof  of  a  wide  piazza  which  tdrned  at  a  right  angle  and 
was  continued  to  the  west  of  the  two  rooms  used  for  the  library, 
the  one  at  the  southern  end  being  that  to  which  reference  is  made 
as  added  by  Mr.  Adger,  as  well  as  the  large  northwest  study. 
Reference  to  Mrs.  Smyth's  letter  for  the  Summer  of  1846  will  give 
some  details.  The  children  were  allowed  to  play  in  these  rooms 
unless  they  quarrelled. — Ed. 

^See  Shelley's  poem  and  vol.  X,  p.  529,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


117 

The  stormy  day,  has  each  its  own  resource 
Song  of  the  Muses,  sage  historic  tale, 
Science   severe,   or  word  of  holy  writ 
Announcing  immortality  and  joy 
To  the  assembled  spirits  of  the  just — 
From   imperfection   and   decay    secure — 
Within    these    silent   chambers    treasures    lie 
Reserved  from  age  to  age;   more  precious  far 
Than    that   accumulated   store    of   gold 
And  Orient  gems,  which,  for  a  day  of  need 
The  Sultan  hides  within  ancestral  tombs." 

I  may  here  present  the  beautiful  Hnes  of  Southey. 

MY  LIBRARY. 

"My  days  among  the  dead  are  passed; 
Around  me   I   behold, 
Where'er   these   casual   eyes    are    cast, 
The  mighty  minds  of  old: 
My  never-failing  friends   are   they. 
With  whom  I  converse  night  and  day. 

"With  them  I  take  delight  in  weal, 
And  seek  relief  in  wo: 
And,  while   I  understand  and  feel 
How  much  to  them  I  owe. 
My  cheeks  have  often  been  bedewed 
With   tears   of  thoughtful   gratitude. 

"My  thoughts  are  with  the  dead,  with  them 
I  live  in  long-past  years. 
Their  virtues  love,  their  faults   condemn, 
Partake  their  hopes  and  fears. 
And  from  their  lessons   seek  and  find 
Instruction   with    an   humble    mind. 

"My  hopes  are  with  the  dead,  anon 
My  place  with  them  will  be; 
And   I   with  them  will  travel  on 
Through   all  futurity; 
Yet  leaving  here  a  name,   I  trust, 
Which  will  not  perish  in  the  dust." 

On  this  subject  I  feel  as  if  I  could  "discourse  eloquently." 
The  almost  uninterrupted  experience  however  of  infirm  and 
delicate  health,  with  the  growing-  conviction  that  it  will  be 
necessary  for  me  to  sacrifice  the  ambition,  which  I  have  so 
fondly  nursed,  to  become  learned,  leads  me  feelingly  to  realize 
the  truth  of  what  Lamb   in  his   own   quaint  way  expresses. 


118 

"books  are  good,  and  pictures  are  good,  and  money  to  buy 
them  good,  but  to  buy  time,  in  other  words  Hfe,  and  to  secure 
health,  or  in  other  words  the  abihty  to  use  hfe,  this  is  a  pur- 
chase which  alas !  we  cannot  m.ake  and  without  which  all  other 
purchases  are  vain."* 

By  the  help  of  so  good  a  library  I  have  been  strengthened  in 
my  determination  to  abide  faithfully  by  these  rules,  notwith- 
standing many  opposing  obstacles.  I  have  always  considered 
preaching,  and  what  was  necessary  to  a  right  preparation  for 
preaching,  as  prior  in  its  claims  upon  my  time  and  attention, 
to  visiting  or  any  other  duty.  Not  that  I  think  I  have  under- 
valued the  importance  of  the  latter  and  overvalued  the  neces- 
sity and  preeminent  dignity  of  the  former,  but  I  have  en- 
deavoured according  to  my  ability  and  as  far  as  I  could  attend 
to  both,  to  do  so  in  just  accordance  to  their  relative  import- 
ance. And  I  can  record  it  as  the  result  of  nearly  eight  years 
experience''  that  while  I  have  occasionally  (by  refusing  to 
allow  the  hours  sacred  to  study  to  be  broken  in  upon  by  visi- 
tors,) given  offence  and  often  heard  both  in  my  family  and 
out  of  it,  some  murmuring  desires  for  a  more  frequent  visita- 
tion, I  have  by  persevering  in  this  course  maintained  my 
standing  with  ever  increasing  satisfaction  to  my  people.  I  do 
now  possess  more  of  their  esteem,  confidence,  and  regard  than 
is  perhaps  common  to  ministers — and  can  rejoice  in  the  hope 
of  having  been  instrumental  in  leading  many  to  the  Knowl- 
edge of  Salvation,  in  confirming  many  in  their  attachment  to 
the  faith  and  order  of  our  church ;  while  I  can  point  to  the  list 
of  church  members  and  see  more  than  half  their  names  in- 
cluded in  the  additions  made  to  the  church  during  those  eight 
years. —  In  addition  to  this  I  can  look  forward  to  a  continuance 
of  my  ministry  among  this  same  people — should  my  life  be 
spared  and  my  duty  to  do  so  be  made  plain — without  any 
anxiety  as  to  any  diminished  interest  in  my  pulpit  exercises. 
To  this  testimony  I  can  set  my  Seal  in  all  good  conscience  and 
serenity. 

*When  I  was  in  the  hey  day  of  my  passionate  love  of  and 
desire  for  more  books  a  friend  called.  I  was  in  my  Library  room 
squatted  on  the  floor,  unveiling  by  uncovering  the  carefully 
wrapped  volumes  of  some  splendid  sets,  (Milton,  Cowper,  etc., 
now  in  Library)  and  in  a  rapture  of  enjoyment,  when  he  ex- 
claimed "Oh!  I  am  perfectly  sick  and  tired  of  books  and  except 
now  and  then  when  the  fit  comes  on  me,  I  never  care  to  open  one 
unless  for  light  reading."  I  felt  as  if  an  iceberg  had  risen  up 
between  us. 

°i8S9 — This  was  therefore  written  in  1839. — T.  S. 


119 

In  reference  to  the  2nd  rule  I  can  also  say  that 
sysimatkaiiy-    ^hilc  without  any  boasting  I  can  claim  to  have 

given  as  much  attention  to  the  duties  of  visiting 
&c.  as  is  at  least  usual  among  ministers  who  are  accounted 
faithful,  though  by  no  means  as  much  as  I  could  myself  wish 
— 'that  with  a  daily  plan  of  study — regular  hours — and  sys- 
tematic arrangement  of  the  order  of  each  particular  study — 
by  having  always  something  at  hand  with  which  to  fill  up  the 
interstices  of  time  and  redeem  from  waste  the  vacant  moments 
of  the  day, —  I  have  been  enabled  to  go  thro'  a  course  of 
Periodical,  Literary,  and  classical  reading  in  addition  to^  my 
Theological  and  Critical  Studies,  at  which  I  have  been,  often 
myself  surprised."  As  it  has  been  usual  with  me  to  record  at 
the  end  of  my  Books  the  time  at  which  the  perusal  of  them 
was  finished,  I  could  still  to  a  great  extent  make  out  a  journal 
of  my  progressive  reading.  I  was  led  from  my  own  experience 
of  its  advantages,  to  lay  down  for  myself  a  plan  of  action 
which  I  have  since  found  to  harmonize  very  remarkably  with 
that  laid  down  by  Locke,  Bacon,  Mason,  Grimke,  and  many 
other  writers.  As  parts  of  this  plan  I  may  mention  (especially 
for  the  benefit  of  my  son,  should  he  live  to  man's  estate  and 
become  a  student,)  : 

I.  The  necessity  of  always  reading  with  a  pen- 
Common^^^        cil   in  hand,   so   as  to  mark  those  passages  that 

deserve  either  to  be  often  read  or  to  be  transferred 
to  a  Common  Place  Book. 

2.  This  therefore  is  the  Second  constituent  part  of  a  good 
plan  of  Study,  to  have  a  Book  after  the  plan  of  Locke  (which 
I  think  best  and  easiest,)  in  which  you  can  copy  out  passages 
which  cannot  be  procured  zvith  ease  whenever  required,  or  in 
which  you  can  make  references  to  such  passages,  if  contained 
in  books  within  your  own  Library. 

3.  In  addition  to  such  a  work  I  have  found  it 
Index  of  ^        advantag-eous  to  have  some  one  volume,  or 

subjects.  -^  =■  1  •    1      T 

Port-folio,  on  each  important  topic,  which  I  use 
as  the  Index  volume  to  that  given  subject,  providing  it  with 
a  certain  number  of  blank  sheets  stitched  in  it  or  bound  up 
with  it.  In  these  volumes  I  make  reference  to  other  works  in 
which  the  same  subject  will  be  found  treated  and  in  which  I 
insert  any  valuable  remarks  bearing  upon  that  subject  that 
may  occur  to  me. —  In  the  Port-folio  I  put  also  any  extracts 
from  Newspapers,  &c.  on  the  subjects  to  which  they  are  ap- 
propriated, or  any  lengthened  remarks  I  may  feel  disposed  to 

"See  "Lessons  from  My  Life,"  for  one  Summer's  reading. — Ed. 


120 

draw  up.  This  plan  I  find  to  have  been  very  extensively  pur- 
sued by  Voltaire,  et  fas  est  ah  hoste  doceii. 

4.  Works  of  great  importance  or  utility  such  for  instance 
as  the  Confession  of  Faith,  I  have  inter-leaved  for  the  more 
thorough  prosecution  of  the  same  design. 

5.  I  also  insert  in  such  volumes  a  reference  to  any  account 
I  may  meet  with  in  any  of  my  other  works,  of  their  author, 
their  contents,  their  character  and  their  value.  This  plan  if 
perfected  would  make  any  Library  an  Index  to  itself  and  each 
volume  a'  complete  guide  to  the  history  of  itself. 

Index  of  ^-  ^^  an  iudcx  is  to  a  Student  the  most  neces- 

Bibie  refer-  sary,  though  it  should  not  be  the  most  important 
^^'^^^-  part,  of  the  book,  so  I  have  a  large  Bible  with  a 

large  margin  in  which,  opposite  to  each  verse,  I  refer  to  the 
work  or  works  where  that  verse  is  illustrated  or  explained,  re- 
ferring to  each  additional  note,  (until  the  margin  shall  be 
completely  filled)  by  a  numeral  figure  placed. at  the  beginning 
or  end  of  each  verse. —  When  a  criticism  or  explanation  is  very 
short  I  copy  or  insert  it  on  the  margin.  Such  a  Book  would 
constitute  a  Complete  Index  to  all  the  Biblical  Illustrations, 
criticisms  and  Sermons  in  the  Library  and  place  them  at  your 
immediate  and  constant  command.^  This  work  has  been  done 
with  the  assistance  of  my  helpmeet,  my  wife  who  writes  a  beau- 
tiful hand. 

7.  To  a  Theological  Student  another  desidera- 
Textuai  ^^^^  -^  ^^  know  whcu  any  particular  verse  comes 

under  his  consideration  where  and  in  what  author 
he  may  find  Sermons  or  lengthened  discussions  upon  it.  To 
supply  this  want'  I  have  from  time  to  time,  also  with  my  wife's 
help,  made  a  Textual  Index  in  the  order  of  the  Books  of  the 
Bible  of  each  volume  of  Sermons  or  of  Biblical  Dissertations 
I  possess,  which  I  have  all  together  and  which  I  can  run  over 
in  a  few  minutes  when  examining  any  particular  text —  I  ulti- 
mately design  to  incorporate  these  into  one  Common  Index 
Volume  (after  the  plan,  as  I  have  since  found)  of  Cooke's 
Preacher's  Assistant."  This  plan  not  only  gives  the  student 
ready  access  to  every  Sermon  upon  every  text  as  desired,  but 
what  I  have  found  to  be  a  source  of  the  greatest  profit  and 
delight,  it  leads  him  to  a  perusal  and  to  a  comparison  of  vari- 

'(Note,  1859)  This  vol.  which  cost  originally  $45  and  years  of 
work  and  considerable  of  well-paid  labour,  is  in  the  Smyth  Library. 

'(Note   1859)    Still  a  great  one  notwithstanding  Mr — 

recent  work  in  2  vol.,  imp.,  8vo.   London. 

'(Note  1859)  This  was  perfected  in  two  quarto  vols,  now  in 
Smyth  Library. 


131 

ous  authors  with  whom  he  may  not  otherwise  find  time  to 
become  acquainted,  under  the  enthusiasm  and  interest  excited 
by  his  investigation  of  the  very  subject  therein  discussed  and 
when  therefore  he  will  be  likely  better  to  remember  what  is 
said,  better  to  judge  upon  its  merits,  and  better  to  arrive  at  a 
mature  and  independent  judgment;  for  these  various  authors 
will  be  bound  like  so  many  rays  of  light  to  irradiate  the  sub- 
ject from  so  many  different  quarters,  to  concentrate  their 
effulgence  upon  it,  and  to  cover  it  with  new  and  unperceived 
beauty  and  brilliancy. 

Index  and  ^-  •'■^  ^  Library  is  not  so  large  as  to  make  the 

Catalogue  of  work  Herculeau  or  impossible,  a  complete  Index 
Library.  j^^  ^^^  large  volume  on  the  same  plan,  to  all  the 

subjects  (or  important  subjects,  I  mean,  to  the  individual 
making  it)  contained  in  all  or  in  any  given  number  of  the 
books  comprised  in  the  entire  Library,  would  be  extremely 
useful  in  saving  time,  and  encouraging  to  examination. 

9.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  necessary  a  Complete  Cata- 
logue of  the  Library.  For  this  purpose  I  have  a  Book  in 
which  I  insert  the  number  of  volumes — title — date — place  of 
purchase — cost  and  size — and  under  a  column  of  "Remarks" 
any  important  Bibliographical  notice  of  it — of  each  work  I 
possess. 

Besides  this  I  should  desire  to  complete  as  a  substitute  for 
the  work  mentioned  (under  figure  8  preceding),  a  Classified 
Catalogue  of  my  Library  according  to  its  various  depart- 
ments. 

Suitable  Texts  ^^-  ^  havc  also  made  it  a  practice  to  have  a 
and  Skeleton  Book  in  which  I  iuscrt  Texts  suitable  for  preach- 
Sermons.  -j^g  ^^^  g^  ^^^^  when  at  a  loss  I  might  find  a  text 

readily  suggested. 

II.  I  have  also  been  in  the  habit,  when  any  subject  or  text 
came  to  my  mind  with  impressive  or  great  vividness,  at  once, 
and  wherever  I  might  be,  to  draw  out  a  Skeleton  of  it  which 
I  carefully  laid  by  for  more  or  less  immediate  use. —  This  I 
have  done  at  night — or  even  when  riding  or  walking.^ 

*(Note  1859)  This  self-originated  plan  I  commenced  at  College 
and  have  often  acted  upon  while  walking — on  the  roadside  or  in 
the  fields,  and  have  even  got  out  of  bed  to  write  down  thoughts 
or  plans.  For  this  purpose  I  always  carried  Note  Book  and  pencil 
or  ink.  I  have  destroyed  hundreds  of  such  sketches  without  any 
other  use  than  the  cultivation  of  the  habit  of  turning  every  event 
and  scene  and  association  to  ministerial  purposes  and  sermonizing. 
Locke  urges  the  immediate  record  of  thoughts  as  the  only  security 
against    their    irrecoverable    loss.      (See    "Conduct    of    the    Under- 


122 

12.  I  always  keep  a  number  of  unwritten  folded  and  stitched 
Sermon  papers,  with  Skeletons  O'f  some  subject  within  them, 
at  hand,  so  that  as  soon  as  one  Sermon  is  finished  and 
launched,  another  may  as  it  were  be  put  upon  the  Stocks. — 
In  this  way  much  distress,  anxiety,  labour,  and  time  are  saved. 
Arrangement  ^3-  ^^  ^o  the  arrangement  of  time  I  allow  my- 

of  time  for  Self  freedom  and  latitude  which  I  keep  as  near  as 
reading.  possiblc  to  a  prescribed  plan. —  As  a  rule  I  daily 

converse  with  some  fifteen  or  twenty  different  authors.  Some 
of  them  Critical  Commentators,  some  devotional  Guides,  some 
Theological  professors  in  their  didactic  expositions  of  the 
faith,  some  Religious  Writers,  some  Poets,  Orators,  and 
Periodical  authors. —  I  appoint  certain  periods  of  the  day  in 
which  to  wait  upon  these  several  classes  of  venerable  men, 
and  find  my  mind  relieved  and  freshened  and  strengthened, 
and  my  interest  preserved,  by  turning  from  the  monotonous 
(and  when  it  becomes  so,  the  dull,)  society  of  the  one,  to  the 
fresh  and  inspiring  intercourse  of  the  other— each  in  its  turn 
being  thought  more  lively  and  entertaining  and  profitable  than 
the  other. : —  By  this  plan  the  mind  is  kept  in  activity — its  in- 
terest is  never  permitted  to  flag — its  various  powers  and  tastes 
are  gratified,  nourished,  and  improved — its  knowledge  and 
acquaintance  with  the  great  lights  of  the  world  become  en- 
larged— and  when  at  night  it  would  take  account  of  its  intel- 
lectual progress  and  journalize  in  its  mental  Day-Book  the 
business  of  the  day,  so  as  to  lose  nothing  &  preserve  what  it 
may  have  gained — it  has  only  to  bring  before  it  the  various 
authors  with  whom  it  has  thus  held  Spiritual  intercourse,  and 
they  immediately  suggest  to  it  the  whole  subject  of  their 
specific  converse.  Each  author  is  a  pillar  of  memorial,  mark- 
ing the  various  stages  of  the  day's  journey,  and  the  objects 
then  engaging  the  attention.  Besides,  the  power  of  fixing  the 
attention  upon  any  given  Subject  is  in  this  way  acquired — a 
ready  application  of  the  energy  of  the  Soul  in  any  emergency 
is  facilitated — and  the  all-necessary  habit  of  self-denial  is 
strengthened  in  yielding  to  the  claim  of  order  and  duty,  the 
present  wishes  of  the  heart.     Memory  too  is  each  day  nerved 

standing.")  I  have  still  hundreds  of  unused  sketches  and  have 
acquired  wonderful  facility  in  making  them.  So  that  often  when 
it  has  rained,  or  for  other  reasons,  I  have  changed  my  Subject  on 
Sabbath  morning  or  between  services  and  prepared  sketches  which 
have  often  been  most  acceptable  and  useful.  This  was  the  case 
one  morning  when  Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  Adams  of  N.  Y.  was  to  have 
preached,  but  being  too  unwell  to  do  so  was  yet  present  with 
Rev.   Mr.   Price  and  another  clergyman. 


133 

by  being  obliged  to  take  up  the  thread  of  the  previous  day's 
discourse — while  all  the  powers  receive  harmonious  develop- 
ment. 

14.  In  the  arrangement  of  the  Library  there 
^/T^rar^"^*  may  also  be  found  much  that  may  be  symbolized 
by  those  inventions  of  modern  times  which  save 
ages  of  labour  and  give  innumerable  increase  to  the  power 
of  human  industry  and  skill.  I  gather  round,  and  as  near  to 
me  as  possible,  my  body  guard,  or  my  chosen  and  most  inti- 
mate companions  or  my  most  revered  instructors  and  Guides 
— viz :  all  works  that  are  required  for  immediate  consultation 
and  reference. 

Then  I  arrange  the  others  as  nearly  as  possible  according 
to  the  order  of  their  several  Subjects  so  as  to  be  as  accessible 
as  possible. —  I  thus  draw  up  my  army  in  so  many  separate 
regiments  or  companies,  each  well  accoutred  and  in  the  best 
uniform  I  can  afford  to  give  them.  I  act  in  the  capacity  of  a 
General  (tho'  unworthy  to  occupy  the  place  of  multitudes  of 
my  privates,)  and  endeavour  to  preserve  them  in  a  state  of 
good  discipline  and  order  and  to  bring  their  powers  and  their 
prowess  to  bear  upon  every  call  of  necessity  and  danger. 
Rule  3:  to  ^s  i^  regards  the  3rd  Rule,   I  can   also  bear 

keep  supply  testimony  to  its  value  and  importance.  I  have 
of  sermons.  ncvcr  failed  in  its  observance  having  always  had 
on  hand  (as  now  I  have,)  from  thirty  to  sixty  prepared  dis- 
courses, never  preached.^ 

The  advantages  of  this  plan  are, 

I.  The  opportunity  it  affords  for  adapting  a  discourse  to 

^(Note)  This  was  written  in  1839  and  has  been  true  at  every 
period  since,  and  is  now  true  in  August  1859  when  I  have  a  num- 
ber of  what  I  thought  would  be  my  best  Sermons,  still  undelivered 
and  a  great  many  not  fully  written,  but  ready  for  my  so-called 
extemporaneous  preaching.  Four  such  I  have  prepared  here  at 
this  tirne  and  have  several  ready  to  be  put  in  shape  for  winter 
use,  D.  V. 

When  I  was  ready  to  begin  the  composition  or  publication  of 
any  work  I  gave  myself  to  Sermonizing  and  accumulated  a  large 
number  of  discourses  so  as  to  give  myself — totus  in  illis — to  the 
projected  book.  This  I  have  done  at  times  for  months;  and  in  the 
case  of  the  "Unity  of  Races"  and  its  necessary  studies  for  six 
months;  when  my  mind  was  so  entirely  abstracted,  (and  partially 
so  at  other  times)  as  to  be  frequently  unable  to  recall  the  most 
familiar  household  words  at  table.  On  this  occasion  I  became 
alarmed  and  was  no  doubt  Injured,  being  already  feeble. 

Aug.   1859,  Warm  Springs,  Va. 


134 

the  peculiar  circumstances  of  each  Sabbath,  which  circum- 
stances may  be  essentially  changed  in  the  course  of  the  week, 
or  even  of  the  preceding  day,  as  by  death,  and  when  therefore 
no  special  preparation  nor  change  in  preparation  could  with 
any  convenience  be  made. 

2.  It  keeps  the  mind  in  an  equable  temperament — free  from 
corroding  anxiety. 

3.  It  makes  the  Sabbath  and  its  services  more  of  a  delight 
and  pleasure  in  anticipation,  as  well  as  in  actual  fruition. 

4.  In  case  of  any  occurrence  calling  for  any  discourse,  or 
active  duty  requiring  more  time  for  its  proper  discharge  than 
could  be  ordinarily  given,  this  plan  allows  the  minister,  when- 
ever he  feels  it  to  be  either  necessary  or  desirable,  to  spend 
a  week  or  more  either  in  recreation,  reading,  out-door  business, 
or  upon  some  special  preparations.^ 

Rule  4:  course  ^"  Carrying  out  Rule  4.  I  have  prepared  sev- 
of  sermons  cral  Scrics  of  Discourses  on  various  topics  some 
on  special  Qf  ^hich  havc  not  yet  been  delivered,  while  some 
^"  ^^^  ^'  are  yet  only  in  conception  and  unfinished.*    I  have 

also  at  my  Thursday  evening  Lecture  expounded  the  Book  of 
Psalms  as  far  as  the  60th,  (since  complete,)  and  on  Sabbath 
afternoon  I  have  gone  through  a  similar  exposition  of  the 
parables  of  our  Saviour  and  am  now  engaged  upon  an  Exposi- 

^(Note  1859)  Dr.  Miller  wisely  told  us  occasionally,  say  once 
a  month,  to  preach  an  elaborate  and  argumentative  Sermon  in 
order  that  the  most  educated  and  intellectual  might  be  pleased 
and  assured  of  the  ability  to  preach  in  that  way,  and  thus  con- 
vince them  that  the  faithful,  pungent  preaching  of  the  Gospel  was 
from  a  deep  sense  of  solemn  duty  and  self  renunciation.  "For  I 
determined  not  to  know  any  thing,  &c" — "not  with  the  wisdom 
of  men,  &c,"  "For  it  pleased  God,   &c." 

*(Note)  Nor  yet,  Aug.  1859.  I  have  several  such  as  on  Adam's 
Sin — Satanic  Agency — Complete  in  Christ — Lord's  Prayer — Ten 
Commandments — The  Creed — Various  Sins,  &c.,  and  prepared  for 
on  Recognition  in  the  World  to  Come — Mingled  Condition  of 
Human  Life — The  Aspect  of  Redemption  towards  other  worlds — 
Christian  Freedom — Domestic  Relations  and  Duties  (partly  treated 
of  in  pulpit) — Marriage — Celibacy — Growth  in  Grace — Who  is  the 
Lord    (infidelity   &c.).— T.   S. 

[Of  the  sermons  mentioned  above  very  few  can  now  be  traced 
although  the  subjects  are  frequenty  touched  on.  "Adam's  Sin"  is 
apparently  published  as  "The  Origin  of  Evil,"  vol.  X,  pp.  671,  etc: 
"Marriage"  and  "Domestic  Relations"  are  partially  treated  in  vol. 
IX,  pp.  533,  etc.,  and  vol.  X,  pp.  538,  etc.:  "Celibacy"  is  referred 
to  in  vol.  Ill,  p.  125  and  a  sermon  on  "Forbidding  to  Marry," 
vol.  X,  pp.  708,  etc.:     Smyth's  Works. — Ed.] 


125 

tion  of  our  Lord's  Discourses.  Should  I  be  spared,  it  is  my 
present  purpose  to  follow  this  with  a  Course  of  Expository 
Lectures  on  the  Miracles  of  Christ  and  then  to  take  up  some 
Book  of  Scripture  and  go  through  it  regularly. —  While  this 
is  my  regular  plan,  I  allow  myself  perfect  liberty  to  adapt  my 
discourse  at  any  particular  time  to  what  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  peculiar  necessities  of  my  people.  Indeed  to  prevent  weari- 
ness or  monotony,  especially  in  my  morning  Service,  I  throw 
in  numerous  miscellaneous  discourses  from  time  to  time. 

I  can  truly  affirm  that  in  the  prosecution  of  this  Course,  I 
have  found  the  greatest  benefit  to  my  own  mind  and  the 
greatest  enlargement  of  my  own  Knowledge — -  and  that  from 
unvarying  testimony  of  my  people  I  have  in  this  way  given 
greater  satisfaction  than  would  be  possible  by  any  other  plan. 
From  all  that  I  have  been  able  to  learn  it  would  be  the  most 
general  testimony  of  my  people  that  there  has  been  more  of 
interest,  profit  and  satisfaction  in  my  Expository  discourses 
which  I  deliver  extemporaneously  from  the  use  only  of  a 
Skeleton,"  than  in  my  written  discourses,  upon  which  I  have 
expended  all  my  energies.  I  have  no  doubt  that  were  minis- 
ters generally  to  adopt  this  plan,  their  experience  would  be  a 
ratification  of  my  own  and  tend  inconceivably  to  the  reparation 
of  the  injured  walls  of  Zion,  and  to  the  edification  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  which  can  never  be  firmly  established  but 
when  resting  on  the  pillar  and  foundation  of  the  truth. 

Indeed  to  me,  looking  out  upon  that  troublous 
th^'^  Pui  it  ^^^  upon  which  the  Ship  of  the  church  has  of  late 
been  so  severely  buffetted,  and  her  safety  en- 
dangered, the  character  of  the  preaching  common  in  these  days 
of  superficial  degeneracy,  when  excitement  is  substituted  in 
the  place  of  instruction,  momentary-  impression  in  the  place  of 
permanent  and  abiding  influence,  and  the  awakening  of  the 
feelings  instead  of  the  indoctrination  of  the  understanding  and 
the  cultivation  of  the  heart — 'this,  I  would  say,  has  appeared 
to  be  among  the  chief  sources  of  that  violent  tempest  which 
has  so  endangered  the  safety  of  the  vessel.  The  pulpit  has 
been  transformed — but  in  my  opinion  from  a  giant  into  a 
dwarf. —  In  regard  to  topics,  it  is  characterized  by  exclusive- 
ness,  the  doctrine  of  repentance  and  conversion  being  urged 
to  the  neglect  of  almost  every  other  truth  in  the  Bible. —  In 
regard  to  its  aim  it  is  partial,  having  in  view  apparently  no 
other  objects  than  the  unconverted :  to  the  almost  entire  for- 
getfulness  of  the  truth  that  even  when  sinners  are  converted, 

"See   Letter   Mr.  Thomas   Wilson,  p.  28.— Ed. 


126 

they  are  still  unsanctified — but  babes  in  Christ  and  requiring 
to  be  fed — to  be  nurtured — admonished — reproved— instructed 
and  built  up. —  In  its  end  it  is  earthly,  having  in  view  the  ex- 
citement of  present  emotion — the  accomplishment  of  present 
designs — the  display  of  great  present  effects. —  There  is  in  it 
in  short,  more  of  sense  than  faith — ^more  of  the  human  than 
divine — more  of  the  carnal  than  the  Spiritual — more  of  the 
Sinner  than  the  Saint — and  more  of  philosophy  than  divinity. 
The  pulpit  might  now  be  considered  as  dedicated  to  man,  not 
to  God,  inasmuch  as  it  displays  more  man  than  God  and  seeks 
the  honor  that  cometh  from  man,  more  than  the  honour  that 
Cometh  from  God. —  The  Pulpit  is  now  the  theatre  for  man's 
performance,  the  stage  for  man's  wisdom  and  eloquence  and 
display — the  concentration  of  human  ingenuity  and  device,  in- 
stead of  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  It  is  the  peo- 
ple's desk  and  not  God's  throne.  A  minister  must  now  be 
popular  first,  and  then  Godly.  He  must  please  man  and  gratify 
itching  ears,  and  then  keep  a  good  conscience  and  preach  sound 
doctrine  as  he  can.  The  entire  Code  of  Christian  duty — the 
sublime  moralities  of  the  Gospel — the  universal  aspect  and 
perfection  of  Christianity  as  it  embraces,  not  only  faith  to- 
wards God,  but  honesty,  righteousness  and  holiness  towards 
man — are  now  discarded  as  unevangelical  and  foreign  to  the 
transcendental  spiritualism  of  this  elevated  age.  The  conse- 
quence of  all  this  has  been  that  there  is  as  little  of  this  high- 
toned  morality  to  be  found  out  of  the  pulpit  as  we  hear  from 
it — that  the  untrustworthiness  and  untruthfulness  of  profess- 
ing Christians  have  become  proverbial — that  the  people  are 
the  leaders,  governors,  and  instructors,  and  no  longer  led  for- 
ward or  instructed — that  action  alone  having  any  moral  worth 
is  regarded  as  evidence  and  the  sum  of  piety.  Doctrine  is 
trampled  in  the  dust  and  a  baseless  profession  lifts  its  self 
righteous  head  to  heaven.  Hence  have  come  wars  and  fight- 
ings, controversies  and  strifes,  alienations  and  divisions, 
heresies  and  irregularities  among  us. — ^Hence  has  the  will  of 
man  taken  precedence  of  the  word  of  God,  human  agency  of 
divine  power — man's  devices  of  God's  ordinances — and  the 
traditions  and  babblings  of  the  Elders  (who  are  most  of  them 
juniors )°  of  the  pure,  simple  and  unadulterated  revelation  of 
heaven :  until  the  temple  of  God,  as  in  the  days  of  Christ,  has 
become  possessed  by  money  changers,  buyers,  sellers,  agita- 
tors and  self  inspired  doctors.     I  speak  not  this  of  all — but  to 

°The  term  Seniores  Plebis  is  here  referred  to.  See  "Eldership" 
vol.  IV,  pages  67  and  69.  "Theories  of  Eldership"  vol.  IV,  page 
249,   Smyth's   Works. — Ed. 


127 

me,  thus  considering  that  eventful  crisis,  in  which,  though 
young,  I  have  been  called  to  take  some  little  part,^  it  seems  as 
though  in  a  glass  may  be  seen  by  those  who  have  eyes  to  see, 
the  remote  beginnings  of  that  leaven  of  evil  which  has  of  late 
become  apparent  in  its  bitter  fermentation. 

I  am  firmly  convinced  that  for  the  future  bene- 
s;^gested^^'^*^  ^^  '^^  ^^^  church  and  her  preservation  against  a 
recurrence  of  past  misfortunes,  it  should  be 
adopted  as  a  Canon  binding  sacredly  upon  every  one  of  her 
ministers,  that  a  portion  of  each  Lord's  day  should  be  occu- 
pied in  a  regular  and  systematic  Exposition  of  God's  truth 
and  of  the  Confession  of  the  church's  faith. 

2nd.  That  the  Scriptures,  which  are  our  only  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  should  be  regularly  read  every  Sabbath  morning 
and  afternoon  in  some  appointed  order  f —  3rd.  that  the  chil- 
dren, in  addition  to  all  Sabbath  School  instruction,  should  be 
regularly  catechized  or  preached  to  by  their  Pastor  and  thus 
indoctrinated  in  the  Church's  Creed;'  4thly,  that  of  these 
things,  and  of  the  manner  of  their  discharge,  every  minister 
should  regularly  be  made  to  give  account  to  his  particular 
presbytery ;  and  5thly,  to  break  the  prevailing  temper  of  in- 
subordination among  ministers,  to  free  the  church 
Ministers  from  the  scaudal  of  juvenile  agitators,  leaders  and 

revolutionists — and  to  save  her  people  from  the 
misdirection  and  the  rash,  head-strong  and  erroneous  teach- 
ings of  novices  in  the  faith — no  young  minister  be  allowed  to 
take  charge  of  any  important  church,  until  he  shall  have  for 
some  time  laboured  as  an  assistant  under  some  Senior  and 
approved  minister,^  or  acceptably  as  an  Evangelist  in  some 
destitute  neighborhood. 

This  last  suggestion  is  not  less  important,  when  considered 
in  reference  to  ministerial  health  and  usefulness.  I  am  sure 
that  every  one  who  has  entered  the  ministry  very  young  and 
at  once  assumed  the  oversight  of  some  large  or  flourishing  or 
laborious  charge,  will  concur  with  me  in  this  opinion.  Such 
a  demand  upon  the  physical — the  intellectual — the  moral,  and 
not  less  upon  the  spiritual  strength  is,  I  am  confident,  alto- 
gether disproportioned  to  the  ability  of  any  young  and  inex- 
perienced man,  in  which  ever  of  these  particulars  we  consider 
him.     His  piety,  his  moral  principles,  his  intellectual  progress 

'The  conflict  between  the  Old  School  and  the  New  School 
Presbyterians. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  VI,  page  215,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

*See  vol.  V,  page  627,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

^See  "Eldership,"  vol.  IV,  p.  41,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


138 

and  his  bodily  vigor  are  all  thrown  upon  a  fearful  hazard  in 
such  an  encounter.  Such  an  abrupt  transition  into  the  full 
exercise  of  all  the  weighty  functions  of  the  ministry  is  as 
though  the  fabled  hero  were  to  attempt  to  carry  the  full  grown 
Bull  before  he  has  accustomed  himself  to  the  burden  of  the 
growing  Calf.  It  is  unnatural.  It  is  contrary  to  all  analogy 
and  it  is  unexampled  in  any  other  profession. 

I  may  here  quote  the  strikingly  corroborative  language  of  a 
writer  too  little  known  in  this  country,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Hinds, 
the  friend  and  favourite  of  Archbishop  Whateley  (and  now 
Bishop  of  Hertford^).  "The  young  clergyman  is  generally 
called  on  to  commence  a  full  course  of  ministerial  duty  with- 
out that  gradual  practical  training  by  which  men  of  all  other 
professions  are  initiated  into  business.  Clients  are  slow  in 
trusting  the  inexperienced  barrister  and  the  young  physician's 
practice  is  limited  for  many  years  to  a  small  number  of  pati- 
ents ;  but  the  young  minister  of  the  Gospel  is  for  the  most  part 
summoned  from  the  abstract  speculations  of  a  college  life  to 
enter  at  once  on  the  new  and  untried  routine  of  parochial 
business  and  of  religious  instruction."  See  "The  Catechist's 
Manual"  p.  V  &  VI.  If  this  disadvantage  can  be  so  deeply 
felt  when  the  young  minister  is  required  to  enter  upon  the 
limited  and  subordinate  sphere  of  an  assistant  or  a  Curate, 
how  much  more  must  it  be  experienced  in  a  church  where 
there  are  no  such  incipient  or  preparatory  stages,  but  where 
the  youngest  minister  is  called  upon  to  sustain  an  equal  amount 
of  responsibility  and  of  labour  with  the  oldest  and  most  ex- 
perienced.^ 

For  if  a  young  man  is  destined  to  the  Law,  or  to  the  prac- 
tice of  Medicine,  or  to  any  other  profession  or  business,  he  is 
first  obliged  to  pass  thro'  all  the  noviciatory  processes  before 
he  is  inducted  into  office  and  entrusted  with  the  toga  virilis 
of  his  calling.  Be  it  also  remembered  that  even  when  he  is 
thus  clothed  with  the  insignia  of  full  orbed  professional  char- 
acter and  has  been  thrown  upon  his  own  personal  and  inde- 
pendent efforts,  he  is  again  required  by  the  very  necessities  of 
the  case  to  go  thro'  another  seasoning  in  the  gradual  increase 
of  his  business,  before  he  is  called  upon  to  strain  every 
nerve  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty.  During  all  this  time  he  is 
gradually  conforming  himself  in  all  the  respects  mentioned,  to 
the  habitudes  made  necessary  by  a  large  and  respectable  busi- 
ness— 'SO  that  when  that  pressure  rests  upon  him,  he  is  well 

^See    "1846:"     also   "Eldership,"    vol.    IV,    pp.    17,    95    and    279, 
together  with  "Duties  of  Deacons,"  vol.  IV,  p.  366. — Ed. 
^The  preceding  paragraph  was  written  in   1859. — Ed. 


129 

able  (if  indeed  he  ever  could  be,)  to  sustain  it  uninjured.  But 
how  different  it  is  with  him  who  is  while  a  young  and  inex- 
perienced man  (at  least  in  all  the  practical  details  of  his  pro- 
fession,) inducted  into  the  office  of  the  ministry,  let  every  one 
who  has  felt  the  onerous  weight  of  the  burden  bear  testimony. 
At  once — without  any  possible  preparation  or  breaking  in,  if 
I  may  use  the  term — 'without  any  opportunity  for  becoming 
familiar  with  each  separate  branch  of  duty — he  is  at  once 
called  upon  to  exercise  the  greatest  practical  wisdom  and 
foresight ; — to  maintain  the  most  arduous  and  laborious  study ; 
— to  perform  the  most  difficult  and  fatiguing  services ; — to 
watch  over  the  interests  of  the  church  generally  and  the  church 
individually ; — to  meet  all  the  claims  of  all  its  component  mem- 
bers and  of  all  the  varied  interests  of  benevolence ; — to  hold 
intercourse  with  men  of  every  character,  opinion  and  habit, 
and  in  a  way  affecting  his  own  standing  and  the  interests  of 
piety; — and  to  do  all  this  hourly,  daily — from  week  to  week 
and  without  any  interruption  or  relaxation.  No  one  who  has 
not  been  placed  in  such  a  situation  can  have  a  conception  of 
its  dangerous  hazard.*  It  is  a  voyage  past  Scylla  and 
Charybdis,  made  too  by  a  young,  unpractised  and  then  far 
unskilled  mariner. —  Is  it  any  wonder  that  so  many  break 
down  in  health ; — that  so  many  cannot  sustain  their  intellectual 
promise ; — that  so  many  become  the  victims  of  flattery  and 
pride ; — that  so  many  are  led  to  forget  their  own  souls  in  the 
all  absorbing  claims  made  upon  their  time  and  attention ! 
Rather  should  we  not  wonder  that  so  many  are  preserved  from 
shipwreck  and  ruin  and  that  so  few — comparatively — stand  out 
as  beacon  warnings  of  the  fatality  of  such  a  course ! 

With  myself — encompassed  by  such  a  body  of 
f^'/iifr"^^'^  death  and  harassed  by  so  many  infirmities — 
the  struggle  for  life  has  been  a  hard  one.  (1859 — 
My  eldest  brother  just  gave  me  ten  years  to  be  used  up.)  I 
have  often  been  beaten  down,  tho'  thro'  the  goodness  of  God, 
not  destroyed.  In  all  the  particulars  mentioned  I  have  endured 
much  and  that  I  have  not  been  utterly  destroyed  is  altogether 
of  grace. — To  God  be  all  the  praise  and  the  glory.' — 

^See  vol.  IV,  p.  41,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

"(Note  1859)  How  many  able,  healthy  and  popular  preachers 
have  commenced  their  ministry  in  city  churches  since  I  did,  who 
are  now — where? — and  why?  And  how  many  are  there  in  the  U. 
S.  who  commenced  their  ministry  in  city  churches  and  have  per- 
manently remained  or  closed  a  long  service,  in  them?  I  know  of 
very,  very  few. 


[9] 


130 

In   the  present   state   of  our  churches   such   a 

Need  of  lay  . 

workers.  mcasurc  is  very  necessary.     The  lay  members  of 

the  church  are  generally  so  engrossed  with  busi- 
ness and  either  so  unfit  or  unwilling  to  cooperate  in  all  the 
active  labours  of  a  Christian's  calling,  that  a  minister  can  find 
few  or  none  willing  to  assume  the  office  of  a  Ruling  Elder  and 
fewer  still  who  are  willing  to  attempt  a  proper  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  that  office  when  assumed.  The  minister  is  there- 
fore almost  alone,  unaided  and  unrelieved;  and  is  required  to 
attempt  the  discharge  of  all  the  duties  which,  in  the  reforming 
period  of  our  church,  were  distributed  among  the  Doctor — ^the 
Teacher — and  the  Elders.  This  last  office  has  come  to  be  per- 
fectly nominal  and  a  mere  sinecure,  its  duties  being  comprised 
in  attendance  upon  the  Session  meeting  and  in  serving  of 
tables,  a  duty  not  properly  attached  to  that  office  at  all,  but 
belonging  rather  to  deacons.* 

Now  under  these  circumstances,  great  assistance  could  be 
rendered  by  the  supplementary  services  of  a  Junior  minister 
or  licentiate,  who  should  in  all  cases  be  subject  to  the  direction 
of  the  Pastor  and  Elders. —  Such  an  individual  would  in  this 
way  learn  experience  the  most  valuable  to  him — he  would 
become  gradually  initiated  into  the  mysteries,  the  duties,  and 
the  trials  of  his  office — and  have  time  to  provide  himself  with 

"(Note  1859)  See  Purdovan's  "Collections"  and  early  "Stand- 
ards of  Reformed  Churches."  Vostius  Pol.  Ed.  &c.  Justin  Martyr, 
the  earliest  and  best  authority  for  Apostolic  and  primitive  cus- 
toms, speaks  (Apol.  II,  p.  27)  of  the  distribution  of  the  bread  and 
wine  as  belonging  to  the  Deacon's  office  and  in  "The  Apostolical 
Constitutions"  the  direction  is  that  the  bread  be  given  by  the 
minister  and  the  wine  by  the  Deacon.  (Lib.  VIII.  c  13.)  It  is  a 
very  curious  illustration  of  the  power  of  custom  to  transform  our 
associations,  that  now^  in  our  church  Elders,  whose  office  and 
dignity  it  is  to  represent  the  people  in  the  Rule  and  Government 
of  the  church,  and  concerning  whom  it  is  not  meet  that  they 
should  serve  tables,  should  "serve  tables"  and  exclude  and  refuse 
to  allow  (as  mine  have  several  times  done,)  Deacons  who  were 
appointed  for  the  specific  purpose  of  "serving  tables,"  of  which 
"The  Lord's  Table"  is  one,  to  serve  at  all — to  consider  that  an 
honour  and  a  prerogative  which  is  really  the  duty  of  an  inferior 
office;  and  to  appropriate  to  themselves  exclusively  what  really  in 
the  beginning  and  for  ages  probably,  did  not  constitute  their 
business  at  all.  [See  "Ruling  Elders,"  vol.  IV,  page  13;  also 
Acts  6:2.  "Duties  of  Deacons,"  vol.  IV,  p.  373,  Smyth's  Works. — 
Ed.] 


131 

a  store  of  maturely  prepared  discourses.' —  I  may  mention  here 
that  for  my  general  improvement  and  for  the  gratification  of 
a  long  cherished  taste  for  the  Sciences  I  attended  lectures  at 
the  Medical  College  in  Charleston  for  two  seasons  and  pursued 
the  study  privately.  I  read  also  Blackstone  and  some  other 
law  books.  I  continued  a  course  of  classical  reading  and  gen- 
eral science.  In  the  Literary  Club  of  which  I  early  by  invita- 
tion became  a  member,  I  had  the  delightful  opportunity  of 
widening  the  circle  of  study  and  the  resources  of  knowledge. 
I  also  commenced  a  translation  and  reading  of  the  earliest 
Fathers  in  which  I  made  some  progress. 

(August  1859.) 
I  have  for  the  first  time  read  over  this  record.     I  have  been 
very  careless  in  preserving  letters,  but  as  I  have  some  bearing 
on   the   preceding   notes,   and   some    curious,    (to   my    family 
alone,  however,)  I  will  here  append  some  of  them. 


Common- 
place  book, 


A  cursory  examination  of  a  common-place  book 
begun  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  March  1830,  while  at  High- 
bury College  and  continued  to  about  1840  shows 
quotations  from  many  distinctly  religious  writers  and  publications 
but  in  addition  quotations,  chiefly  of  course  under  heads  for  use 
in  his  sermons,  from  the  following  authors: 


Continental. 
Dante. 

Chateaubriant. 
Rousseau, 
de  Stael. 
Bossuet. 
St.   Pierre. 
Bourdaloue. 
Montesquieu. 
Pascal. 
Ouderdonk. 
Claude  of  Turin. 


English.  Greek  &  Latin.  Continental.  American. 

Southey.  Sophocles.  Dante.  Irving. 

Wordsworth.         Julian.  Chateaubriant.       Hawthorne. 

Byron.  Euripides.  Rousseau.  Garrison. 

Lamb.  Homer. 

Herbert.  Longinus. 

Bacon.  Solon. 

Hazlett.  Democritus. 

Sheridan.  Plutarch. 

Scott.  Pindar. 

Cowper. 
Coleridge.    . 
Milton. 
Thomson. 
Raleigh. 
Dryden. 
Crabbe. 

Brougham,  Pope,  Addison,   Goldsmith,  Shakespeare, 
Newton,   Locke,   Boyle,   Rollins. 

'Here  the  manuscript  of  1839  ends,  and  the  text  to  follow  dates 
almost  entirely  from  1859.  Portions  were  added  in  the  Summer 
of  i860  and  a  few  anecdotes  as  late  as  1862.  Dr.  Smyth's  state- 
ment of  August  1859  accounts  for  the  scarcity  of  early  letters 
and  of  family  letters  of  any  period. — Ed. 


LIFE  AND  PROBLEMS 

IN  THE 

SECOND 

PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH 


1^5 


LIFE  AND  PROBLEMS 
IN  THE  SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 


Chartered  in  December  1809 — iBy  Laws  adopted  at  a  meeting 
on  July  I,  181 1.'' 


The 

BY-LAWS 

of  the 

SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH 

in  the 

City  and  Suburbs  of  Charleston. 


CHARLESTON    S.    C. 
From  the  press  of  J.  Hoff,  No.  6,  Broad-Street. 


I8II 

The  Charter  begins  as  follows: 

"AN  ACT 

To  incorporate  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Parish  of  St. 
Philip's  and  State  of  South  Carolina. 

Whereas,  Benjamin  Boyd,  President,  John  Cunningham, 
John  Brownlee,  Alexander  Henry,  William  Porter,  and  Sam- 
uel Robertson  *  *  *  have  petitioned  the  Legislature.  *  *  *" 

And  is   signed: 

"SAMUEL  WARREN 
President  of  the  Senate, 
JOSEPH  ALSTON 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives." 

^Title  page  and  extract  from  an  old  copy  of  the  by-laws  of 
the  Church.  The  pamphlet  in  full  may  be  found  in  the  original 
MS.— Ed. 


136 


Some  early  papers  connected  with  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  received  from  Mr.  John  Robinson's  papers  thro' 
James  Robinson,  Esq. 


Lottery. 


Scheme   of   a   Lottery'   designed   to   aid  in   its 
erection,  but  never  completed. 
Scheme  4,000  Tickets  at  9  is  $36,000  " 
disc'  15  P  Cent       5,400 


$30,6oc 
I  prize  of  $10,000  is  $10,000 


2 

do  " 

1,000  " 

2,000 

2 

do  " 

500  " 

1 ,000 

10 

do  " 

100  " 

1,000 

10 

do  " 

50" 

500 

25 

do 

20 

500 

250 

do 

10 

2,500 

3,700 

do 
Tickets 

5 

18,500 

4,000 

$36,000 

No 

Blanks. 

Manner  of  drawing. 
4,000  no\  to  be  placed  in 
One  Wheel,  &  all  the  prizes 
(300)  of  $10  and  upwards 
in  another  Wheel  a  prize 
&  a  number  to  be  drawn 
until  the  300  prizes  are 
drawn  &  the  remaining 
3,700  nos.  to  be  entittl"  to 
$5  each. 


To  be  drawn  in  one  day. 


Gent. 

Above  you  have  a  Scheme  &  plan  of  drawing  one  Class  of 
a  Lottery  Am*  $36,000  which  I  have  made  out  for  y''  inspec- 
tion at  the  request  of  one  of  y''  Body — for  three  Classes,  of 
this  Am*.  I  offer  to  pay  you  $4,000  as  follows  for  the  i'* 
$1,000  for  the  2"'^  $1,500  for  the  3'"*  $1,500,  to  be  secur'^  and 
managed  as  follows.     Managers  to  be  appointed  by  you,  to 

sign  the  Tickets  and  deposit  them  in  the  hands  of 

to  be  deliver''  to  me  in  such  quantities  as  I 

apply  for,  or  the  Scheme  price  being  deposited  in  his  hands  in 
Cash,  satisfactorily  endors"  Notes,  or  Stocks  of  the  Bank,  in 
this  City  at  their  Current  Value  untill  such  deposit  shall  be 
sufficient  to  meet  all  the  demands  arising  out  of  said  Lottery 
and  the  several  Bonus^  All  Am*  in  the  hands  of  the  ]\Ian- 
agers  to  pay  Tickets  debarr*  by  limitation,  to  be  given  to  me 
at  the  time  express"  on  the  face  of  the  Ticket. 

"Advertized  in  the   Charleston  "Courier"  in   the   Spring  of   1814 
and   i8i!^. — Ed. 


137 

I  wish  it  to  be  understood  that  the  Managers  shall  be  put 
to  no  expense  whatever  by  the  Lottery  but  that  the  said  sums 
shall  be  clear  of  every  charge. 

The  first  class  I  think  may  be  drawn  in  Jan''  the  2"*  in  Ap'' 
and  the  3"*  about  i"  July  next. 

Very  Respectfully 

Y^  ob\  S\ 
Charleston  5*"  Nov  1825.  Jn°.  Fox. 


10 

CO 


SOUTH— CAROLINA. 
No.  5135     Second  Presbyterian  Church  Lottery. 

THE  Holder  of  this  Ticket,  is  entitled  to  such 
PRIZE,  as  may  be  drawn  against  its  Number,  in  a 
LOTTERY  authorised,  by  an  Act  of  the  Legislature, 
passed  the   19th  day  of  December,   1809.     Subject  to 


12;       a  deduction  of  15  per  cent 


} 


COMMISSIONER. 


Scheme  for   extinguishing   the   heavy   debt   of  some  $26,000 
in  182^,  zvhich  zvas  effected. 

The  Special  Committee  appointed  by  the  Corporation  of  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church  to  whom  was  referred  the  report 
of  the  joint  Committee  for  devising  some  method  to  extricate 
the  Church  from  her  difficulties,  beg  leave  to  submit  the  fol- 
lowing report. 

That  they  have  taken  the  same  into  their  serious  considera- 
tion, and  have  viewed  the  subject  in  every  aspect  in  which  it 
presented  itself  and  find  difficulties  in  every  plan  that  can  be 
devised,  but  the  one  with  amendments  recommended  by  the 
joint  Committee,  which,  they  conceive  will  be  the  best  adapted 
to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  they  therefore  beg  leave  to 
submit  the  following  Resolutions,  and  fondly  anticipate  the 
most  happy  results. 

Resolved.  That  an  association  be  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  a  fund  for  paying  or  extricating  the  Corporation  from 
the  debt  now  due  by  the  Church — 

Resolved.  That  the  Corporation  shall  transfer  all  the  right 
title  and  interest  to  the  said  Company  or  Association,  when 
they  have   made   the   necessary   arrangements   for   extricating 


138 

the  Corporation  from  the  debt :  Still  reserving  the  right  to  all 
Pew  holders,  who  have  paid  the  original  assessment,  and  who 
shall  pay  to  this  Association  an  amount  equal  to  the  assess- 
ment of  1817.  [Note  by  Dr.  Smyth:  "and  become  stockholders 
to  that  amount."]  And  the  Pewholders  paying  that  sum  shall 
not  be  liable  to  any  future  assessment  by  the  present  Corpora- 
tion or  the  Association  to  be  formed,  for  the  payment  of  the 
debt  now  due  by  the  Church. 

Resolved.  That  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  Church,  viz :  such 
as  fixing  salaries  pew  rents  &c,  shall  be  under  the  exclusive 
controul  and  management  of  the  Association  who  shall  make 
such  bye  laws  as  they  may  deem  suitable  for  the  interest  of 
the  Church  and  in  all  the  Elections  of  the  Proprietors  they 
shall  be  entitled  to  vote  on  the  following  plan  viz : 
Each  member  who  has  paid 

100  Dollars  to     200,  One       vote 
"      400,  Two  " 

"  800,  Three  " 
"  1400,  Four  " 
"    2000.  Five  " 

"    3000,  Six  " 

"  5000,  Seven  " 
D°  and  Upwards,  Eight  " 
Provided  Nevertheless,  that  in  the  Elections  of  Pastor  & 
Clerk,  and  in  all  the  spiritual  affairs  of  the  Church  that  the 
holder  of  a  pew  shall  have  One  vote,  and  in  such  Elections  the 
proprietors  shall  have  only  one  vote  each.  But  no  person  who 
has  not  been  a  Pew  holder  for  one  year  previous  to  the 
Election  or  is  [Note  by  Dr.  Smyth:  "not  exceeding"]  Six 
Months  in  arrears  for  rent,  can  debate,  or  vote,  'till  his  arrears 
are  paid  up,  except  within  the  first  year  when  Six  Months 
rent  will  be  required  in  advance,  before  any  such  Pewholder 
will  be  entitled  to  vote. 

Resolved.  That  the  said  Association  shall  guarantee,  that 
the  Doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  according  to  the 
Confession  of  Faith,  as  established  by  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  shall  be  the 
rule  of  Government  for  the  Church. 

All  of  which  is  respectfully  submitted  by 

John  Robinson, 
Charleston,  31  July,  1823,  Chairman. 


200 

D° 

400 

D" 

800 

D° 

1400 

D" 

2000 

D" 

3000 

D'* 

5000 

D" 

139 

MISSIONARY  PAPER' 
No  II 


CHARLESTON 

JUVENILE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

JUNE  1833 


CHARLESTON 
Observer  Office  Press 


1833 


CONSTITUTION 

of  the 

CHARLESTON 

JUVENILE  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

As  Amended  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  in  March  last. 

Article  /—This  Society  shall  be  called  The  Charleston  Juve- 
nile Missionary  Society. 

Article  II — Its  object  shall  be  to  advance  the  cause  of  For- 
eign Missions. 

Article  III — The  funds  of  this  Society,  shall  be  given  to 
promote  the  objects  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions. 

Article  IV — A  subscription  to  any  amount  shall  constitute 
Membership  so  long  as  the  subscription  is  continued,  and  the 
amount  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  Society. 

Article  V — The  affairs  of  the  Society  shall  be  conducted 
by  a  Board,  consisting  of  the  President,  Secretary,  Treasurer 
and  twelve  managers.     The  Board  shall  meet  once  a  month 

^Title    page    of    the    Missionary    Magcizine    published    by    Dr. 
Smyth. — Ed. 


140 

for  the  transaction  of  business.  Five  shall  constitute  a  quo- 
rum. It  shall  also  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  to  procure  Col- 
lectors, whom  they  shall  visit  once  a  month  and  furnish  with 
Missionary  papers.  The  Board  shall  have  power  to  fill  its  own 
vacancies. 

Article  VI — A  meeting  of  the  Society,  shall  be  held  every 
three  months,  when  Missionary  information  shall  be  read,  and 
addresses  given,  and  when  Collectors  shall  bring  in  the  amount 
of  their  collections. 

Article  VII — Any  Foreign  Missionary  Society  or  Associa- 
tion, transmitting  its  funds  through  the  Treasury  of  this  So- 
ciety, and  sending  in  an  Annual  report  of  its  transactions, 
shall  be  considered  an  Auxiliary. 

Article  VIII — An  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Society,  shall  be 
held  for  the  election  of  Officers,  when  a  statement  shall  be 
made  of  its  proceedings  and  funds ;  and  when  any  alteration 
may  be  made  in  this  Constitution  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members  present. 

Article  IX — The  Society  may,  at  the  Annual  Meeting,  elect 
any  persons  they  deem  expedient  as  honorary  members  of  the 
Board. 


The  regular  Quarterly  Meeting  *  *  *  was  held  in  the 
Depository,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  the  i^'  instant  *  *  * 
Mr.  J.  B.  Adger,  delivered  an  address  *  =;=  *  in  reference 
to  China  *  ^^  *  Mr.  Mitchell  *  *  *  in  reference  to 
the  same  field.  Mr.  Smith  *  *  *  proposed  that  the  col- 
lections of  the  next  Quarter  be  appropriated  to  India.'  The 
avails  of  the  last  Quarter,  amounting  to  three  hundred  twenty- 
seven  and  a  half  dollars,  were  directed  *  *  to  the  pro- 
motion of  Missions  in  China  *  *  except  *  *  expenses 
of  printing. 

^An  appeal  for  continued  subscriptions  ends  with  the  recklessly- 
mangled   quotation: 

"The   quality  of  mercy  is  twice  blessed, — 
It   blesses    him    that    gives    and   him    that    takes." 

—Ed. 


141 


Dr. 


Treasurer's  Account. 

Charleston  Juvenile  Missionary  Society 

in  account  with  Treasurer. 


Cr. 


Cash  paid  for  printing 
Missionary    Paper 
No.  I,  700  copies. $22.00 
Book  for  Treasurer,        .50 
For     printing     Mis- 
sionary Paper  No. 
2    22.00 


$44.50 


By  cash  received  from 
the  Monthly  Concert 
of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church   .  .  .$  31.56)4 

By  amount  received 
from  Gentlemens' 
Missionary  Associa- 
tion of  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church,  to 
constitute  as  Life 
Members  of  Amer- 
ican Board  Commis- 
sioners Foreign  Mis- 
sions, the  Rev  W"". 
Jay,  of  Bath  and  the 
Rev  W™.  Halley,  res- 
ident Professor  of 
Highbury  College, 
London    108.00 

By  cash  received  from 
Collectors  at  Quart- 
erly meetg  in  May.  .    187.93% 


327.50 
44-50 


Leaving  as  a  balance.  .   283.00 

Which  by  votes  of  the  Society 
was  given  for  the  Missions  in 
China. 


Second   call  Several  of  my  friends  still  wished  me  to  go  to 

to   Columbia,     Columbia   and   as   my   health    was   threatened    in 
'^^^'  Charleston,  they  now  renewed   their  efforts. 

Dr.  Thomas  Wells  writes  under  date  of  Nov.  4,  1833/  desiring 
to  know  the  condition  of  Dr.  Smyth's  health,  as  to  which  dis- 
quieting rumors  had  reached  Columbia,  and  offering  again  the 
position  of  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Columbia  which  was  still 
vacant. — Editor. 


'Howe's  History  of  Pres.  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  p.  499. 


142 

CHARLESTON  Febr.  i8,  1834. 
REVEREND  SIR, 

At   a    recent   meeting   of   "The   Young   Men's 
emperance.       Temperance    Society,"    the    following   resolution, 
was  unanimously  adopted. — 

Resolved,  "That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be  returned,  to 
the  Reverend  Messrs.  Smith,  and  Barnwell  for  their  interest- 
ing, and  efficient  addresses." — 

Feeling  happy,  that  this  grateful  duty,  has  developed  upon 
me,  I  now,  in  behalf  of  the  Society,  tender  you,  their  sincere 
thanks,  for  your  efforts,  to  further  the  cause  in  which  they 
are  engaged. 

Respectfully 
Sir, 
Your  obedient 
Servant 

A.  O.  ANDREWS. 
Secy.  Y.  M.  T.  S. 

This  was  the  original  Temperance  Society  against  the  habit- 
ual use  of  ardent  Spirits,  to  which  I  gave  my  example  and 
advocacy.  I  never  however,  went  further,  and  suffered  con- 
siderable opposition  rather  than  sanction  or  cooperate  with  the 
Tee  Total  Enterprise,  or  any  of  its  Secret  Associations.  While 
at  Princeton  this  became  the  rage,  and  I  was  much  misrep- 
resented by  Rev.  Mr.  Boggs  and  others  then  fanatical  on  the 
Subject.  I  consulted  old  Dr.  Alexander  who  told  me  I  was 
right,  that  he  perfectly  agreed  with  me  and  would  not  sanc- 
tion the  ultra  views  and  fanatical  and  censorious  spirit  of  the 
Enterprise.^  These  brethren  and  Mr.  Miles,'  who  afterwards 
went  in  "Search  of  the  Church,"  spent  much  of  the  time  they 
ought  to  have  been  studying  in  going  about  to  Prayer  Meet- 
ings &c.  through  the  neighbourhood,  mistaking,  as  I  told 
them,  their  present  duty  and  calling;  since  either  they  ought 
to  be  preaching,  or  becoming  qualified  for  preaching  by  "giv- 
ing themselves  to  reading"  and  Seminary  duties,  except  within 
proper  and  consistent  measure.  They  doubted  whether  I  was 
converted    (Dr.   Alexander   told   me   his    piety   was    also    on 

*See  vol.  VI,  pp.  -357-379  Smyth's  Works  and  "Life  and  Times" 
by  Dr.  John  B.  Adger,  p.  75.  Mrs.  Smyth's  letter,  p.  76,  also. 
—Ed. 

^The  Rev.  James  Miles  differed  from  Dr.  Smyth  in  some  points 
especially  in  the  discussion  as  to  the  Unity  of  the  Races.  Dr. 
Miles  was  considered  rather  unorthodox  by  some  of  his  own 
Church  and  was  much  censured  because  he  wore  a  beard! — Ed. 


143 

similar  grounds  questioned,)  and  I  doubted  their  prudence, 
humility  and  charity,  and  reminded  them  that  a  laborious 
spring  must  precede  an  abundant  harvest. 

This  cause — Tee-totalism — largely  interested  and 
engaged  my  people,  including  Mr.  William  Adger 
&  Mrs.  Adger,  my  mother-in-law,  who  were  in  themselves  a 
host.  Dr.  Bachman,  Dr.  Oilman  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Barnweir 
gave  all  their  energies  to  it,  and  finally  carried  it  to  a  most 
uncharitable  extreme.  In  Charleston  and  Columbia,  Tee-To- 
talism  took  precedence  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church  as  a 
reforming  Institute,  and  the  use  of  wine  became  intemperance 
and  sin,  and  the  users  of  it  drunkards,  measured  by  the  glass 
or  half  glass.  The  Bible  was  made  to  conform,  or  to  abandon 
its  inspiration,  on  this  topic  at  least.     Temporarily  reformed 

drunkards^  such  as  Mr ,  denounced  wine  drinking 

ministers  and  christians  as  traitors  to  humanity,  and  Christi- 
anity as  a  failure.  In  a  discussion  with  Drs.  Oilman  and 
Bachman  in  our  Literary  Club,  Dr.  O.  replied  to  unanswerable 
Scripture  proof  that  "he  had  no  idea  a  book  written  1800 
years  ago  was  intended  as  a  directory  in  the  present  advanced 
and  advancing  sentiment  of  mankind." 

I  wrote,  therefore  and  preached,  and  printed  in  our  paper 
my  discourses  on  Bible  Temperance,  which  I  preached  against 
the  personal  request  of  Mrs.  Adger  and  of  Mr.  William  Adger 
also,  and  against  much  feeling  in  the  congregation. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hunt,  its  great  advocate,  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  is  a  failure,  utterly  impotent  to  reform,  and 
that  a  new  heart  is  the  only  real  remedy. 

In  1833  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
Foreign  Mis-  joined  with  the  Synod  of  Tennessee  in  the  establish- 
sionaries  or-  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  Southern  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
darned   in  .  ,     ,  ,  ,  •  i         t->       r-        ^i 

Second  Church    ^"*^  **  "^^^  probably  at  the  same  time  that  Dr.  Smyth 
was    appointed    the    chairman    of    the    Synod's    Com- 
mittee of  Foreign   Missions,  a  position  he  held  for  26  years. 

'Dr.  John  Bachman  of  the  Lutheran  Church  known  also  as  a 
naturalist:  the  associate  of  J.  J.  Audubon,  see  Unity  of  the  Races, 
vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works.  Dr.  Samuel  Oilman,  a  New  Eng- 
lander,  was  the  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Barnwell  an  Episcopalian. — Ed. 

'Quotation  under  the  head  of  "Temperance"  in  Dr.  Smyth's 
common-place    book,    entered   at   about   this    time: 

"I'll  ne'er  be  drunk  whilst  I  live  again  but  in  honest,  civil, 
godly  company.  *  *  I'll  be  drunk  with  those  that  have  the 
fear  of  God,  and  not  with   drunken  knaves." 

Merry  Wives,  Act   i,  Scene   i.  — Ed. 


U4 

In  May  1833,  the  Rev.  John  Francis  Lanneau  was  ordained  as 
a  missionary  to  Palestine;  the  service,  according  to  his  family's 
recollection,  took  place  at  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
is  the  first  ordination  in  this  Church. 

The  second  was  on  April  16,  1834,  and  was  of  great  importance 
to  Dr.  Smyth,  for  one  of  the  two  young  men  ordained  that  day 
was  his  brother-in-law  and  fellow  stud-ent  at  Princeton,  John 
Bailey  Adger,  who  was  to  go  as  a  missionary  to  Smyrna,  to  the 
Armenians.  The  other  was  James  L.  Merrick  of  Amherst,  Massa- 
chusetts, a  graduate  of  the  Columbia  Theological  Seminary  who 
began  soon  after  his  work  as  a  missionary  to  the  Mohammedons 
at  Tabreez,  Persia.  They  were  ordained  by  the  Charleston  Union 
Presbytery,  and  an  immence  audience  was  gathered  to  witness  the 
ceremony.     Dr.   Smyth  preached  the   sermon. 

He  had  assisted  in  1832  in  the  ordination  of  another  member 
of  the  family,  George  W.  Boggs,  who  went  with  his  wife,  Isabella 
Ellison  Adger,  as  missionaries  to  Ahmednugger,  India,  but  this 
ceremony  was  held  at  the  Circular  Church  as  were  also  the 
services  connected  with  the  departure  for  Singapore  and  China 
of  the  Revs.  Dyer  Ball  and  John  A.  Mitchell,  when  Dr.  Smyth 
also   officiated.' — Editor. 

,       ,  I  retained  my  call  in  hands  without  acceptance 

Accepts     per-  -'  _  ^ 

manent  call  for  two  years,  I,  for  fear  of  incompetency  and 
to  Second  failure,  2,  to  give  the  people  ample  time  to  find 
me  out  and  all  about  me,  3,  from  anxiety  about 
my  health  in  relation  to  the  size  of  the  church ;  I  received 
therefore  the  following  letter. 

CHARLESTON,  May  28,  1834. 

STEPHEN  THOMAS,  ESQ. 
DEAR  SIR  :-^ 
I  am  directed  to  furnish  you  with  the  following  Preamble 
and  Resolution  of  the  Pewholders  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church,  passed  at  a  meeting  on  the  25  Inst,  with  a  request 
that  you  will  give  it  early  attention. 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

W.  C.  Dukes, 

Secy.  2  P.  Church. 

"This  Congregation  having  the  highest  respect  and  attach- 
ment for  the  Rev*.  Mr.  Smith  as  their  Spiritual  Guide,  view 
with  sorrow  a  report  that  has  been  some  time  past  in  circula- 

*See  Howe's  History  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  South 
Carolina,  vol.  II,  pp.  559-561.  "Life  and  Times"  Adger,  p.  87. — 
Ed. 


145 

tion,  that  it  is  uncertain  whether  he  will  remain  Pastor  of  this 
Congregation  or  not,  which  has  caused  a  want  of  increase  in 
its  Pewholders. 

Be  it  therefore  RESOLVED,  That  a  Committee  to  Consist 
of  the  Elders  of  this  Congregation  do  wait  on  the  Rev.  Mr, 
Smith,  and  solicit  of  him  a  final  decision  on  the  Call  extended 
to  him  by  this  Church — and  should  he  give  a  favourable  reply, 
that  he  be  requested  to  be  installed  as  Pastor  at  an  early  day." 

ExtracL  from  the  minutes  2d.  P.  C. 

W.  C.  Dukes,  Secy. 

Extracts  from  letter  to  Pewholders  of  Second  Church, 
dated  June  j,  1834. 

I  duly  received  thro'  the  Session  as  your  Committee  the 
resolution  you  adopted  on  the  25th  of  May — 

Alost  sincerely  do  I  thank  you  for  that  assurance  of  respect 
and  attachment  with  which  it  was  accompanied,  These  on  your 
part,  in  connexion  with  love  and  devotedness  on  mine,  are 
absolutely  necessary  for  the  promotion  of  that  great  and  glo- 
rious work  in  which  we  are  united,  and  to  be  certain  of  the 
existence  of  such  feelings  and  of  our  mutual  adaptation  to 
each  other,  was  a  primary  reason  for  delaying  a  final  answer 
to  your  call. 

This  however  as  you  are  well  aware  was  not  the  0/^/3'  reason. 
I  should  be  most  unwilling  to  say  that  it  required  a  period  of 
two  years  to  'be  satisfied  of  your  kindness  as  a  people,  your 
affection  as  a  Church,  and  that  willingness  which  you  have 
manifested,  if  not  always  to  do,  at  least  always  to  hear  and  be 
made  acquainted  with  your  duty. 

When  I  first  received  your  call,  I  was  not  aware 
Church  too         £  ^j^^^  increasing  influence  which  the  largeness 

large.  ^  .... 

of  your  building  has  had  in  injuring  my  health. 
It  was  not  long  however  before  I  found  that  either  I  must 
make  up  my  mind  to  be  broken  down,  or  to  retire  altogether 
from  the  Church.     *     *     * 

Dr.  Smyth  continues  in  detail  to  show  what  alterations  he 
considers  necessary.  This  however,  he  enters  into  fully  as  fol- 
lows.— Editor. 

In   reply  to  the   letter  of  Mr.   Dukes   I   stated 
Alterations        ^j^^^    j    £gj^    ^    growiug   convictiou   that   the    size 

necessary.  . 

of  the  church  was  injurious  to  the  congregation 
and  ministers,  and  to  me.  It  had  been  so  to  Dr.  Flinn  and  Dr. 
Henry.     It  was  in  size  20  feet  longer  than  at  present,  15  feet 


[10] 


146 

higher  in  the  ceiHng,  arched  under  both  galleries ;  6  or  8  feet 
lower  in  the  floor  and  not  inclined;  the  pulpit  5  or  6  feet 
higher,  a  close  hexagonal  candle-stick  shaped  combination  of 
the  present  mahogany  divisions,  with  a  beautifully  inlaid 
sounding  board  in  the  shape  of  an  extinguisher,  both  repre- 
senting the  Jewish  Temple  candelabra ;  the  gallery  fronts  were 
some  18  inches  higher  artd  solid  pannels  and  the  galleries  plain 
benches.'  There  were  also  two  immense  doors  North  &  South 
with  an  immense  aisle  and  three  aisle  doors  at  the  West.  All 
would  be  open,  with  every  window,  in  Summer,  making  a 
labyrinth  of  draughts  and  impassable  walls  of  current  air,  de- 
lightful to  the  hearers  (or  sleepers,)  but  deadly  to  the  speaker, 
and  deadening  to  the  impression  of  his  discourse.  "Am  I 
articulating,"  said  a  minister  turning  round  to  me  in  the 
pulpit,  "for  I  cannot  hear  my  own  voice."  So  large  was  the 
building  and  so  enfeebled  the  congregation  when  I  took 
charge,  that  Rev.  Dr.  Porter  of  Andover,  who  preached  in  it 
a  few  times,  told  Dr.  Howe  "if  a  cannon  were  placed  in  the 
pulpit  and  fired  in  every  direction,  it  would  be  almost  sure  to 
hit  nobody."  I  proposed  therefore  an  alteration  and  received 
the  following  letter.'' 

Rev**,  and  Dear  Sir. 

On  the  22°*  Ins*,  the  Pewholders  of  the  2"''  Presbyterian 
Church  was  convened  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  report 

"The  pulpit  is  described  as  an  hour-glass  shape  and  on  the  east 
wall  on  each  side  of  the  centi;al  window  were  winged  angel-heads. 
A  speaking  tube  connected  the  pulpit  with  the  choir  loft,  where 
the  volunteer  choir  was  accompanied  by  a  bass-viol.  The  speak- 
ing tube  was  later  used  by  prearrangement,  by  Mr.  Fleetwood 
Lanneau  (the  violinist)  to  check  Dr.  Smyth  when  the  sermon  had 
reached  a  sufficient  length,  but  although  the  warnings  could  be 
heard  by  the  people  in  the  front  pews  they  produced  no  effect. 
One  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  congregation  who  sat  near  the 
pulpit  next  suggested  that  he  should  put  his  hat  in  the  aisle  as  a 
signal,  but  Dr.  Smyth  disregarded  this  also,  as  he  did  his  sons' 
signals  in  later  life.  The  Adger  family  occupied  the  large  front 
pew  on  the  south  side  of  the  Middle  Aisle. — Ed. 

^(Note  1859)  From  the  father  of  Mr.  William  J.  Smith,  chair- 
man of  Board  of  Deacons.  This  gentleman,  a  great  friend  of 
mine,  came  from  Bermuda  and  to  distinguish  him  from  another 
gentleman  was  generally  called  Mudian  Smith.  On  one  occasion 
therefore,  in  the  Lecture  Room,  I  gave  out  a  notice  requesting 
Mr.  Mudian  Smith  to  remain,  to  the  no  small  merriment  of  him 
and  all  present. — T.  S. 


147 

of  the  Committee  which  Committee  was  appointed  sometime 
Since,  to  examine  and  report  the  best  mode  to  alter  and  reduce 
the  Size  of  the  Church — the  Committee  did  on  that  day  make 
the  following  report  which  was  finally  adopted — and  is  as 
follows. — 

The  Committee  appointed  by  the  Pewholders  of  the  2°* 
Presbyterian  Church  for  the  purpose  of  recommending  the 
best  mode  of  altering  and  reducing  in  the  Size  the  Said  Church 
Now  Report; 

The  Committee  refer  to  their  former  report  in  May  last  as 
to  the  alteration  in  the  Ceiling — that  is  to  say,  they  recom- 
mend that  the  centre  arch  be  closed  up  &  that  a  flat  Ceiling  be 
made  from  the  East  to  the  west  end  of  the  Church  &  that  it 
be  so  constructed  as  to  make  a  finish  face  with  the  upper  part 
of  the  cornish  now  on  each  Side  of  the  Church. —  They  further 
recommend  that  the  arch^  in  the  gallery^  be  shut  up  &  a  flat 
Ceiling  be  put  in  each  Gallery  from  the  East  to  the  west  end — 
&  be  brought  as  low  as  will  finish  face  with  the  upper  part  of 
the  arch'  of  the  windows — your  Committee  again  mett  on  the 
19"  Ins*  and  after  examining  by  measurement  and  otherwise — 
they  recommend  that  a  partition  be  put  across  the  Church  & 
below  the  Gallery — Twenty  feet  from  the  west  end  of  the 
Church,  &  to  be  finish**  with  a  Door  at  each  Aisle  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  Doors  is  now  finish'*  at  the  west  end — &  that  a 
partition  be  put  above  from  the  Gallery— to  the  upper  Ceiling 
Eighteen  feet  from  the  west  end  of  the  Church  with  a  Door 
opposite  to  each  Gallery  &  to  be  finish**  in  the  same  order  as  the 
doors  now  is — your  Committee  further  recommend  that  the 
Singing  Gallery  be  brought  forward  to  the  next  Collom — say 
twelve  feet — the  front  to  be  finish*  in  the  Same  order  as  the 
present  one  now  is  &  on  the  same  construction. 

Your  Committee  decided  that  Estimates  be  obtain*  from 
Carpenters  &  Plasterers  to  enable  them  to  come  at  something 
like  the  cost  of  the  above  recommended  work  or  alterations 
which  recommendation  has  been  comply*  with  &  the  result  is 
as  follow^ — the  Carpenters  Estimate  for  all  his  work  finding 
all  materials  for  the  same  $880 — ifor  the  larthing  &  plastering 
including  the  materials  $480 — there  will  be  wanting  some  Iron 
work  to  Secure  the  Joice  that  will  run  across  the  Church  to 
the  rufe  of  the  Building,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
entire  Cost  will  be  about  thirteen  Hundred  dollars — all  of 
which  is  respectfully  Submitted  by  vour  Committee  20'"  June 
1834. 

Sig*  by  the  Chairman. 
thus  follows  the  proceeding'  of  the  meeting  of  the  22*  Inst. 


148 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Pewholders  of  the  2  Presbyterian 
Church  the  President  as  the  organ  of  the  Committee  on  alter- 
ations made  a  report  which  was  received  and  ordered  to  be 
enter""  on  the  Journals — and  on  Motion  and  Seconded — 
Resolv'' — that  a  copy  of  the  report  be  sent  to  the  Rev'*  M' 
Smith — and  that  the  President  in  communicating  the  Report 
and  resolution  as  above — be  requested — to  address  the  Rev* 
M''.  Smith  in  answer  to  his  Letter  of  the  3.  Ins*.  Extract 
from  the  minutes. 

Sign'— 

W"  C.  Dukes 

Sec* 
Inclos'*.  you  have  the  coppy  of  the  report  and  resolution — 

Permit  me  now  Rev**  &  D"'  Sir  to  inform  you  that  your 
favour  of  the  3.  Inst,  was  laid  before  the  Pew  holders  at  the 
first  meeting  after  it  was  receiv*  and  has  bin  at  several  meet- 
ing^ Since^and  was  finally  accepted  and  ordered  to  be  enter'* 
on  the  Journals  of  the  Church  at  the  last  meeting — 

It  affords  me  great  pleasure  to  State  that  great  unanimity 
prevailed  at  the  meeting,  every  member  present  was  desirous 
that  the  alteration  in  the  Church  Should  commence  immedi- 
ately— but  was  finally  agreed  to  commence  as  soon  as  circum- 
stances would  permit  which  I  humbly  hope  will  be  in  a  Short 
time. 

With  Sentiments  of  great  respect  I  remain  your  ob*"  &  H''' 
Serv*  and  I  Humbly  trust  a  Brother  in  the  Lord. 
W^^^  SMITH  JP% 

President  of  the  Association 
CHARLESTON.  26  June  1834.      2°'  Presbyterian  Church. 

Reply  to  the  preceding. 

CHARLESTON,  July  4,  1834. 
TO  WILLIAM  SMITH  ESQ— 

PRESIDENT  OF  SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

DEAR  SIR, 

Your  communication  as  President  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  was  duly  received. 

I  cannot  but  express  my  grateful  thanks  to  the  congregation 
for  the  kindness  with  which  they  have  met  my  views  in  regard 
to  the  proposed  alteration  of  the  church.    The  alterations  em- 


149 

braced  in  the  resolutions  submitted  by  you  entirely  coincide 
with  the  judgment  I  had  formed  of  the  change  requisite  to 
remove  the  evil  of  the  height  and  length  of  the  building. 

The  advantages  of  this  change  to  the  Congregation  will 
depend  on  the  harmony  and  views  with  which  it  is  effected. 
The  unanimity  which  has  characterized  your  determinations 
thus  far  will,  I  hope,  carry  them  into  execution. — 

I  have  been  and  still  am  anxious  that  in  making  this  altera- 
tion regard  should  be  had  to  myself  only  as  one  of  the  Pastors 
of  the  church,  for  all  of  whom  it  will  be  equally  necessary ; — 
and  to  the  interests  of  the  Congregation  both  in  its  temporal 
and  spiritual  well-being,  which  are  I  believe  intimately  in- 
volved.— 

I  must  very  distinctly  state  that  I  should  be  unwilling  to 
connect  the  responsibility  of  this  matter  with  myself  alone. 
For  should  Providence  make  it  necessary  for  me  to  enter  some 
other  field  or  early  remove  me  from  this  scene  of  earthly 
labour  unpleasant  reflections  would  gather  round  me. — These 
I  would  now  prevent,  by  placing  the  necessity  of  the  proposed 
alteration  of  your  church  on  the  general  basis  of  the  ivelfare 
of  the  Congregation,  by  zvhatever  Pastor  it  may  he  possessed. 

The  alteration  being  made,  my  call  is  at  your  disposal,  when, 
if  you  still  think  right,  you  may  put  it  into  the  hands  of 
Presbytery  that  they  may  take  order  upon  it  for  my  installa- 
tion— 

To  yourself  individually,  and  to  the  Congregation  generally 
I  remain 

With  Sentiments  of  respect  and  regard 

THOMAS  SMITH— 

(Note  of  1859)  This  alteration  cost,  I  think,  $8,000,  of 
which  Mr.  Adger  paid  half ;  and  included  only  part  of  the 
work  planned. 

The    next    alteration    was    much    later,    when 
Alterations         ^     ^j^   j^-   ,     backed    Straight    seats    were    taken 

of    1849.  °  ° 

down  and  the  pulpit,  at  my  suggestion,  was  al- 
tered to  its  present  form.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson,  Mr.  Dukes 
and  some  twenty  leading  persons  opposed  the  removal  of  the 
pews  and  filling  up  of  the  broad  aisle.  Mr.  H.  R.  Banks,  then 
President,  became  alarmed  after  the  contract  with  Mr.  Lopez 
was  agreed  upon.  Mr.  Robert  Adger  next  on  the  Standing 
Committee,  was  afraid  to  take  the  responsibility  and  give  orders. 
I  went  to  Mr.  Bancroft  and  asked  him  if  he  would,  if  I  as- 


JAMES  ADGER. 
From  a  miniature  by  Fraser  in  the  possession  of  his  Family. 


151 

sumed  all  risk  and  consequences.  He  agreed.  "Let  Mr.  L," 
said  I  "send  a  large  force  of  hands  and  tear  out  the  whole 
inside  before  any  one  knows."  This  he  did.  Next  da}^  Mr. 
Alexander  Black  was  to  be  buried  but  there  was  no  church  to 
go  into.  A  tempest  took  place,  but  finally  subsided  and  not  a 
pew  was  given  up  and  great  good  and  prosperity  secured.^ 

Both  the  following  letters  refer  to  similar  requests.     I  think 
for  some  reason  the  first  zvas  not  carried  out. 

CHARLESTON,  July  26,  1834. 
To 
WILLIAM  SMITH  ESQ. 

PRESIDENT  OF  2ND  PR.  CH. 


Very  Dear  Sir, 

Will  you  call  a  meeting  of  the  Pewholders  to 

Service 


°""  °  take  into  consideration  the  expediency  of  altering 


the  hour  of  afternoon  service  from  4  o'clock  till 
late  in  the  afternoon  or  till  evening,  that  is  ^  past  5  or  6,  or 
7  or  8  o'clock? 

That  such  a  change  would  be  advantageous,  I  think  ap- 
parent for  the  following  reasons. 

1.  A  similar  arrangement  succeeded  well  last  Summer  tho' 
the  hour  was  still  too  early. — 

2.  It  is  strongly  desired  by  many  with  whom  I  have  con- 
versed.— 

3.  It  will  be  equally  beneficial  to  the  speaker  and  the  hearer, 
by  removing  the  service  from  the  closest  and  most  oppressive 
hour  of  the  day  to  one  which  is  generally  pleasant. — 

4.  It  will  greatly  relieve  those  who  live  at  a  distance  from 
the  church.^ — ■ 

5.  This  is  particularly  desirable  now  in  the  present  con- 
dition of  our  churches. 

6.  Such  an  alteration  is  much  wished  by  other  ministers  and 
some  congregation  must  take  the  lead. — 

7.  If  the  evening  is  determined  on  the  Sabbath  School 
might  be  held  in  the  afternoon,  which  in  Winter  is  almost 
necessary  to  its  existence,  and  would  awaken  for  it  the  sym- 
pathy and  most  probably  engage  the  efforts  of  many  who 
cannot  now  attend —  This  also  would  afford  me  an  opportunity 
of  more  frequent  attendance  upon  it. 

^This  was  in  November,  1849.  See  letter  from  Dr.  Smyth, 
page   184. — Ed. 


152 

I  might  mention  also  that  during  a  course  of  Sermons  I 
wish  at  such  an  hour  to  dehver,  the  services  in  the  Third 
Church  would  probably  be  suspended. — 

Other  reasons  might  be  added  to  shew  that  with  safety  and 
advantage  such  an  alteration  in  the  hour  of  afternoon  worship 
might  be  made — as  it  has  been  in  New  York  and  other  Amer- 
ican cities,  and  as  it  is  now  generally  adopted  in  Europe — 

The  relief  and  gratification  such  an  arrangement  would  be 
to  myself — I  am  unwilling  to  urge,  being  already  under  such 
deep  obligations  to  the  kindness  and  generosity  of  the  Con- 
gregation.— 

I  remain 

respectfully 
&aff. 
Yours  in  the  Lord, 
Saturday  Night.  THOMAS  SMITH. 

On    Sunday,   June   29,    1834,   John    B.   Adger,    Mrs. 

arnage  o         Smyth's    brother    was    married    to    Elizabeth    Keith 
X)r.  Adger. 

Shrewsbury:   after  the   regular  afternoon  service,  the 

persons   to   be   married   were   asked   to   come   forward,   whereupon 

he  from  his  pew  went  over  to  hers  and  led  her  to  the  pulpit. 

Dr.   Adger  writes,    "My   father   accompanied   us    to    New   York 

and  Boston.     So  did  my  brother  James.     The  little  brig  that  was 

to  carry  us  to  Smyrna  was  not  quite  ready  to  sail     *     ^     *     \  saw 

that  my  father  was  much  distressed  at  the  prospect  of  separation, 

and  at  last  I  begged  him  to  leave  us.     He  started  home  early  the 

next    morning    by    stage.      I    went    down    with    him    and    saw    him 

in    the    stage,    and   my   brother   James    subsequently   informed    me, 

that,   as   they   started   off,   my   father   laid   his   hands    on   the   back 

of    the    seat    before    him,    and    bowed    his    head    upon    his    hands 

and    wept    audibly    and    profusely.      As    for    me,    that    was    the 

bitterest  hour  of  my  life — up  to  that  period.     I  had  left  my  mother 

with  my  father  to  take  care  of  her;  but  the  thought  that  oppressed 

me  was,  who  was  I  leaving  behind  me  to  take  care  of  my  father?" 

"My   Life   and  Times."   Chap   IV. — Editor. 

Dr.  A.  W.   Leland  writes  of  Dr.   Adger's   departure: 

COLUMBIA,  Aug  12,  1834. 
-''Tt  is  a  subject  of  sincere  gratitude  that  the  long  agony  of 
'separation  is  over'  and  that  you  have  all  been  mercifully  sup- 
ported through  such  a  trying  scene.  *  *  *  No  Mission- 
aries have  ever  left  their  native  land  under  happier  auspices, 
or  enjoying  more  of  the  affections  and  prayers  of  the  Church 
than  your  Brother  &  Sister." 


SARAH   ELLISON. 
Wife  of  James  Adger.     From  a  miniature  by  Fraser  in  the  posses- 
sion  of  the   Family. 


154 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Pewholders  of  the  Second 
i^i^^heaith,         Presbyterian  Church  held  on  Sabbath  Oct  5  1834, 
The  President   (W.  Smith  Jr.  Esq)   read  a  note 
from  our  Pastor,  stating  that  his  Physician  had  advised  a  ces- 
sation from  preaching  for  a  time,  and  recommending  a  trip 
for  a  few  weeks  in  the  Country  to  recruit  his  heahh: — ■  And 
On  motion  of  Mr.  J.  Robinson,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Bird, 
it  was  Resolved,  that  leave  of  absence  be  granted  to  the  Revd. 
Mr.  Smith,  for  a  few  weeks,  to  recruit  his  health. 
Extract  from  the  minutes, 

W.  C.  DUKES 

Secy. 

CHARLESTON,  6  Oct.  1834. 
REVD.  MR  SMITH, 

Above  you  have  an  extract  from  the  minutes  of  the  Pew- 
holders of  the  Church,  held  yesterday. —  In  communicating 
which,  allow  me  to  express  my  sincere  hope,  that  the  contem- 
plated absence  may  restore  you  to  health,  and  that  you  may 
return  to  us  with  strength  of  body,  and  preparation  for  future 
and  extensive  usefulness  among  us. 

Very  respectfully. 

Your  ob.  Serv. 

W.  C.  DUKES. 

From  a  letter  of  Dr.  Smyth  to  the  Circular  Church,  in  Septem- 
ber 1835,  defining  the  doctrines  of  the  New  School. — Editor. 

New  School  ^^  reply  to  your  queries,  which  are  of  a  very 

Presbyterian-     scrious  &  important  character,  my  answers  must 
'^™-  necessarih'  be  brief, — from  my  ignorance  of  the 

facts  of  the  case,  &  from  the  peculiar  situation  in  which  I 
stand. 

In  answering  Query  first  I  would  remark  that  the  term  New 
School  is  very  vague  &  undetermined,  being  applied  to  all  the 
varying  opinions — differing  from  what  are  termed  the  Old 
School,  or  Standard  doctrines  of  the  church.  Many  of  the 
doctrines  embraced  under  this  denomination  are,  I  must  be- 
lieve, widely  distinct  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Orthodox 
Standards  of  the  Presbyterian  Church ;  such  as  the  assertion 
that  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  the  first  sin  of  Adam  than 
with  the  sins  of  any  other  parent — that  there  is  no  such  thing 
as  original  Sin — that  the  doctrine  of  imputed  sin  &  imputed 
righteousness  is  nonsense — that  man's  regeneration  is  his  own 
act  &  that  man  is  perfectly  able  of  himself  to  do  that  which 


155 

it  was  nevertheless  necessary  for  God  to  give  his  Son  to  pro- 
cure &  his  Spirit  to  effect,  &  that  it  is  absurd  to  say  that  God 
requires  man  to  do^ — even  with  such  divine  co-operation  & 
assistance — anything  which  without  such  aids  he  cannot  do — 
&c  &c 

There  are  other  opinions — called  New  School,  upon  which 
there  ever  have  been  differences  of  opinion,  or  at  least  of 
explanation — ^altho'  they  are  not  in  literal  accordance  with  the 
generally  received  sense  of  our  public  standards,  nor  with  the 
known  sentiments  of  the  framers  of  those  standards. —  Such 
as  the  question  of  the  extent  of  the  atonement — &  the  mode  in 
which  acknowledged  sinfulness  is  transferred  from  Adam  to 
all  his  posterity — &  the  distinction  of  moral  &  physical  ability. 

Second  Query.  From  what  was  said  above,  it  will  be  ap- 
parent that  in  my  judgment  some  doctrines  now  promulgated 
by  some  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  if  carried  out  to  their 
legitimate  consequences,  are  adapted  ultimately  to  subject  the 
Gospel  scheme  of  salvation  as  laid  down  in  the  Bible,  &  sum- 
marily described  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of  Faith.    *     * 

It  will  only  be  necessary  to  contrast  then  in  a  few  points : 

I — Original  Sin.  3 — Man's  Ability. 

2 — Nature  of  depravity.  4 — Christ's  Atonement. 

5 — Regeneration. 

In  an  unfinished  MS.  sermon  of  Dr.  Smyth's  he  speaks  of  New 
School  doctrines  as  Pelagianism,  and  quotes  Dr.  Wood's  "Old 
and  New  School  Theology;"  Tyler's  "Letters  on  the  New  Haven 
Theology;"  Cheeseman's  "Difference  between  the  Old  and  New 
School  Theology."  One  sermon  of  Dr.  Smyth's  bearing  on  this 
doctrine  can  be  found  under  the  title  of  Imputation,  Vol.  X,  p. 
607,  Smyth's  Works.  In  1836,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  recommended  to  "all  the  elders  and  ministers  in  our 
churches,  the  Sermon  of  the  Rev.  T.  Smyth  on  the  Condition  and 
Character  of  the   Eldership." — Editor. 

Letter  from  Dr.    Witherspoon  in   18^6  when  Moderator   of 
Gen.  Assembly. 

PITTSBURG  May  26  &  7.  1836. 
DEAR  BROTHER  SMITH 

On  the  opening  of  the  Assembly  your  friend' 

semb^  18^6      °^  Camden,  was  chosen  Moderator  in  opposition 

to    Dr     Peters — whose    New     School    brethren, 

^Dr.  Smyth's  note  is  "Dr  J.  Witherspoon:"  at  this  date  he  was 
pastor  of  Bethesda  Church  of  Camden,  S.  C.  He  went  in  1837  to 
Colufnbia  but  his  feeble  health  put  an  end,  soon  after,  to  his 
ministry. — Ed. 


156 

seemed  secure  of  his  election.  A  mighty  effort  has  been,  must 
have  been  made  to  fill  the  Assembly  with  delegates  from  that 
party :  as  you  will  perceive  from  the  roll  which  is  published — 
&  here  inclosed  to  you.  After  the  election  of  officers  of  the 
house,  the  assembly  was  greatly  enlarged  by  the  influx  of 
delegates  from  all  sides.  Dr  Peters  &  Dr  Skinner  seemed  to 
take  the  lead  &  to  manifest  great  confidence  in  the  strength 
of  their  side  of  the  house. 

Barnes"  case  was  taken  up  on  Monday  after- 
Ai£rt°Barnes.  "°°^  ^  ^^^  usual  procccdiugs  had,  until  we  came 
to  the  point  where  the  pleadings  are  to  commence. 
In  the  meantime  Dr  Wilson  versus  Beecher,  came  up — and  an 
amicable  adjustment  of  the  case,  in  a  Christian  Spirit,  taking 
place,  in  the  presence  of  the  Assembly,  the  appeal  of  Dr  W. 
was  withdrawn. 

Controvers  Ycstcrday  the  transfer  of  the  Western  Foreign 

Concerning  Missionary  Society  to  the  General  Assembly,  was 
Mission  taken  up — it  has  called  forth  a  warm  and  animated 

discussion.  The  New  School  men  seem  determined 
to  resist  it — &  to  tmdo  all  the  doings  of  the  Last  Assembly — Dr 
Peters  &  Skinner  manifest  a  determination  to  overturn,  if  they 
can,  all  our  Boards  &  to  make  everything  bow  to  the  irrespon- 
sible &  voluntary  system,  as  it  is  most  improperly  called.  * 
*  *  Bro.  Peters  &  others,  in  their  speeches,  seemed  to  take 
it  for  granted,  that  they  had  a  majority  in  the  house  and  would 
do  what  they  pleased.  The  discussion  on  this  subject  was 
arrested  for  a  while  to  elect  a  Chairman  of  Board  of  Missions. 

"The  trial  of  the  Rev.  Albert  Barnes  for  heresy  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  division  between  the  two  branches  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church  known  as  the  Old  and  New  School.  Dr.  Barnes, 
who  was  acquitted  by  this  Assembly,  is  remembered  with  great 
reverence  and  affection.  As  often  happens  time  has  effaced  the 
differences.  The  real  reason  for  the  division  of  the  Church  was 
the  non-affiliation  with  orthodox  Presbyterianism  of  a  large  body, 
originally  Congregational  and  holding  closely  to  that  form  of 
doctrine  and  government,  which  had  been  admitted  by  a  "Plan 
of  Union"  in  1801.  They  maintained  also  different  opinions  as 
to  the  methods  of  carrying  on  the  Missionary  work  of  the  church, 
the  Old  School  favouring  the  system  of  Boards  appointed  by  the 
Assembly  but  with  a  semi-independent  position,  while  the  New 
School  wished  to  have  all  work  done  by  the  Assembly  itself, 
through  Committees,  or  else  by  voluntary  Boards  such  as  the 
A.  H.  M.  S.  and  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  See  vol.  VI,  p.  381,  Smyth's 
Works:  "The  Late  Charleston  Union  Presbytery"  by  Dr.  Smyth: 
Howe's  Hist,  of  the  Pres.  Church  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  H,  p.  565:  Adger's 
"Life  and  Times,"  pp.  354-360. — Ed. 


157 

Two  opposing  nominations  were  run —  Dr  Skinner's  name, 
with  other  New  School  men,  unfriendly  to  the  Assembly's 
Board,  were  on  one  ticket,  and  Dr  Green's  name,  with  other 
Old  School  men,  on  the  other.  But  the  New  School  brethren 
and  the  abolitionists  were  much  disappointed  at  the  result. 

The  vote  was  141  for  the  Green  ticket  vs  125  Skinner 
ticket.  Our  friends  rejoice,  the  opponents  of  our  boards  look 
blank. 

Friday  morn. —  The  Subject  of  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Board  will  be  resumed  this  morning — and  I  hope  by  i  o'c.  to 
be  able  to  tell  you  in  the  close  of  my  letter,  that  we  have  suc- 
ceeded. 

It  is  said  that  there  are  150  abolitionists^  on  the  floor  of  the 
Assembly.  I  can  scarcely  believe  this,  and  yet  I  am  convinced 
they  be  very  many.  Dr  Skinner  had  moved  to  postpone  the 
report  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions,  to  take  up  his 
report  of  the  minority  which  says,  "It  is  not  expedient  for  the 
Gen'l  Assembly,  to  engage  by  their  own  Board,  in  Foreign 
Missions" —  The  motion  for  postponement  was  lost  by  a  small 
majority :  and  the  report  of  the  Committee  will  again  Come  up 
tomorrow —  Dr  Palmer*  of  your  Presbytery,  was  the  only  man 
Soitth  of  Virginia  who  voted  for  the  postponement,  &  advo- 
cated the  side  opposed  to  a  presbyterian  organization  for 
Foreign  Missions  by  Gen'l  Assembly.  When  I  say  South  of 
Va.  I  mean  the  Atlantic  States.  The  Southern  delegates  have 
had  several  meetings  on  the  Subject  of  the  Slavery  Question. 
The  papers  from  the  South  state,  that  your  Presbytery,  The 
Charleston  Union,  had  instructed  your  delegates  to  the  As- 
sembly on  this  subject.  Dr  Palmer,  who  is  /  believe  your 
delegate,  stated  at  this  meeting  that  "he  did  not  feel  himself 
bound  by  these  instructions,  in  consequence  of  explanations 
given  him  by  members  of  Presbytery  out  of  doors." 

I  regret  most  deeply  to  see  the  course  he  takes  in  opposition 
to  Sound  Presbyterianism  &  what  I  believe  to  be  the  views  of 
the  South. 

The  Moderator  of  the  Gen'l  Assembly'  has  re- 

Abolitionism.  -i/xi  i  i\  i-ij_- 

ceived  (as  1  have  been  assured,)  several  msultmg 
letters.     One  was  a  print,  the  upper  part  representing  a  mob 

^Abolitionism  as  a  distinct  movement  dates  from  the  founding 
of  "The  Liberator"  in  Jan.  1831,  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison  of 
Boston  and  had  already  assumed  such  proportions  as  to  be  a 
menace  to  the  peace  of  the  country  in  every  way.  See  Herbert's 
"The   Abolition    Crusade    and    its    Consequences,"    chap.    III. — Ed. 

*Of  the    Congregational   Church   of   Charleston. 

°Dr.  Witherspoon   speaks   of  himself. — Ed. 


158 

hanging  a  man,  the  Devil  seated  near,  with  whip  in  hand, 
looking  on  and  urging  the  infuriated  multitude  to  their  work. 
The  Moderator's  name  written  at  his  back  &  the  warning  "You 
had  better  let  the  Abolitionists  alone."  He  had  borne  rather 
hard  on  them  at  a  Colonization"  Meeting  the  night  before  & 
should  the  opportunity  occur  again,  he  will  bear  harder  on 
them  still.  The  lower  half  of  the  print,  was  an  exhibition  of 
the  opening  of  the  Mail  in  your  City  &  burning  the  incendiary 
pamphlets  &  papers.'  There  were  various  names  &  insignia — 
the  Constitution! — Tobacco — Cotton,  "20,000  reward  for  Tap- 
pan" — the  names  of  different  incendiary  Newspapers —  V/hat 
blackguard  did  this  thing  is  unknown — altho'  he  is  strongly 
susj>ected  of  wearing  an  independent  black  coat  lately  from 
"New  York"  &  is  an  Evangelist. 

I  have  been  told  Abolitionism  abounds  in  this  region  &  I 
partly  believe  it.  I  say.  Sir,  let  the  South  look  well  to  her 
interests. 

I   can   see   nothing   to   save   the   Church   from 
•    "/i?    *  ^^j     division    and    you    know    what    then    must   soon 

ion  threatened.  -' 

follotv. 

Our  poor  Zion — divided — distracted — and  numbers  in  her 
own  bosom,  sworn  to  support  her  standards,  as  pleased  by  it 
as  little  Children  by  the  noise  they  make  when  they  break  some 
usful  implement  about  a  house,  the  value  of  which  implement 
they  are  utterly  ignorant  of.  We  have  all  our  business  as  it 
were  yet  to  do  and  it  is  impossible  to  say  when  we  shall 
adjourn —  More  next  week,  give  the  above  to  Gildersleeve*  if 
you  choose. 

Oh !  dear  fellow  I  wish  you  were  here — I  would  give  ten 
dead  horses  &  the  best  living  one  I  have,  if  you  were  in  this 
Assembly;  {inter  nos)  were  it  not  for  Dr  Miller  &  Dr  Hoge' 
&  one  or  two  more  I  know  not  what  we  should  do.     Nesbit 

'The  Colonization  of  Liberia  and  kindred  settlements,  of  which 
the  Abolitionists   did  not   approve. — Ed. 

'On  July  29th  1835,  a  party  of  prominent  citizens,  unopposed 
by  the  authorities,  took  possession  of  a  quantity  of  Abolition  lit- 
erature intended  for  distribution  among  the  negroes.  This  was 
publicly  burned  the  next  day  and  an  arrangement  made  with  the 
approval  of  the  Post  Master  General  that  all  such  documents 
should  be   suppressed   in   future. — Ed. 

'Dr.  Gildersleeve  w|as  the  Editor  of  a  religious  paper  in 
Charleston.  He  was  closely  associated  with  Dr.  Smyth  in  the 
Old    School    and    New    School    Controversy. 

"The  name  is  written  thus,  but  from  the  context  appears  to 
refer  to   Dr.   Charles   Hodge. — Ed. 


159 

from  Georgia  is  one  of  our  best  lay  speakers,  and  carries 
weight.  Pratt,  Snowden  &  myself  room  together  at  the  Ex- 
change Hotel  the  taverns  are  all  crowded — &  the  private 
houses  overfull.  Our  Galleries  in  the  church  must  contain  6 
or  700 — every  day — 274  members.  I  have  a  trying  time  but 
have  succeeded  admirably  thus  far,  they  say,  in  preserving 
order  and  despatching  the  business  of  the  house — Absolom 
Peters  took  an  appeal  from  one  of  my  decisions  to  the  house, 
but  they  sustained  the  chair  by  a  large  vote.  Since  then,  I 
have  had  no  trouble.  He  did  this  early  in  our  session.  My 
best  fraternal  regards  to  your  dear  wife,  Mr  &  Mrs  Adger,  & 
Miss  Susan  and  my  love  to  daughter  Sue  &  Mr  McDowell,  if 
in  Charleston.  I  have  directed  the  Pittsburg  paper  to  be  sent 
to  you. 

Ever  vour  aff.  bro. 

J.  WITHERSPOON. 
Write  to  me  at  Camden  late  in  June. 

CHARLESTON,  July  5,  1837. 
To  the  Pewholders  of  the  Sec.  Presbyterian  Church, 
GENTLEMEN, 

As  you  are  to  take  up  at  your  meeting  this 
New  Lecture-    gygj^jj^g.  ^j^g  whole  State  of  your  Lecture  Room,^ 

room.  >->  _   _  -'  ' 

permit  me  to  petition  on  behalf  of  myself  and 
session,  that  you  will  take  into  consideration  the  condition  of 
the  gallery  for  the  coloured  people,^  which  is  so  close  and  warm 
as  to  oblige  them  all  to  remain  away,  or  nearly  all.  Could  not 
the  half  window  be  opened  and  if  that  is  not  enough  could  not 
a  small  window  be  opened  on  each  side?  Or,  for  the  Summer 
months,  if  these  are  impracticable  could  the  portion  below 
under  the  gallery  be  allowed  them? 

I  need  scarcely  remind  you  that  for  want  of  weights  and 
pullies  to  the  windows  we  are  deprived  of  all  their  benefit  tho' 
now  so  much  required. 

With  much  respect  I  remain  Gentlemen, 

Your  servant  in  the  Lord, 
THOMAS  SMYTH. 

^The  congregation  had  on  March  12th,  1837,  moved  into  the 
newly  erected  Lecture  Room  on  Society  Street,  but  it  still  lacked 
many  things.  The  lecture  room  formerly  used  was  on  Blackbird 
Alley,  now  Burns   Lane. — Ed. 

^In  1847  the  basement  of  this  building  was  used  as  a  Church 
for  the  coloured  people,  with  Dr.  John  B.  Adger  as  minister.  This 
was  the  enterprize  which  led  to  the  building  of  the  Anson  Street 
Chapel  and  finally  the  founding  of  Zion  Church. — Ed. 


THOMAS   SMYTH. 
From  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  the  Family. 


MARGARET   MILLIGAN   ADGER   SMYTH. 
From  a  daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  the  Family. 


[11] 


163 

This  letter  shews  what  I  felt  from  the  beginning 
^_^^atis  ac-       — ^^^^ — ^^^  deeply — a  desire  to  leave  Charleston. 

The  climate  was  always  distressing  and  disastrous. 
The  congregation  was  very  divided  and  dissimular,  very  hard 
to  please  and  to  manage.  This  character  it  had  always  borne, 
as  I  learned  from  many.  This  character  was  imparted  and 
fostered  and  perpetuated  by  its  anomalous,  independent  and 
anti-presbyterian  constitution  which  I  have  ever  laboured  to 

alter,  and  would  have  had  removed  but  for  the  B 

catastrophy  and  anarchy. —  I  mean  the  interposition  of  a 
Peculiar  purely  democratic  corporation  between  the  people, 

Constitution  and  their  republican-presbyterian,^  representative 
ch  ^t''°'"^        officers — Elders   and   Deacons — and   the   occasion 

thus  given  for  personal  pride,  preeminence  and 
ambition  to  create  parties,  jealousies,  contentions,  and  to  thwart 
and  neutralize  the  spiritual  government  of  the  church.  In 
this  peculiarity  it  now  stands  alone,  Dr.  Skinner's  (Wads- 
worth's)  church  in  Philadelphia  having  abolished  a  similar  one 

many  years  ago.     Mr son-in-law  of  Dr.  Flinn  told 

me  (for  he  held  a  pew  some  time  and  was  disposed  to  worship 
with  us,)  that  I  was  the  only  one  ever  had  managed  and 
controlled  them.  Dr.  Flinn  "having  had  great  trouble  with 
them."  I  have  had  to  contend  therefore  for  every  inch  of 
Presbyterian  ground  and  policy — hymn  books,  deacons,  sys- 
tematic charity,  elders'  visitation,  &c.  &c.  And  yet  I  have  been 
hindered  much  and  the  condition  of  the  church  much  impaired. 
Our  parochial  school  fully  and  successfully  organized  and 
prospering,  was  abandoned  during  my  long  absence.  Our  true 
presbyterian  plan  of  making  collections  in  church,^  as  a  part  of 
divine  services,  as  our  Standards  distinctly  require,  has  been 
repeatedly  and  very  urgently  presented  to  the  Elders,  Deacons 
and  Congregation.  It  was  also  unanimously  agreed  upon  by 
the  former  in  separate  and  joint  meetings,  and  yet  after  all 
timidity  on  the  part  of  one  or  two  deacons  and  unauthoritative 
influence  in  the  Corporation  led  me  to  consent  to  delay  and 
defeat,  though  boxes  at  considerable  expense  had  been  pre- 
pared.   This  I  felt  and  lamented  very  deeply,  though  I  thought 

^See  Ecclesiastical  Republicanism,  vol.  Ill,  Smyth's  Works, 
and  Howe's  Hist,  of  Pres.  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II,  p.  584. — Ed. 

*At  that  time  collections  were  made  not  during  the  service,  but 
after  its  close,  when  a  deacon  with  his  hat  in  his  hand,  sometimes 
covered  with  a  fresh  handkerchief,  stood  in  each  doorway  to 
receive  any  contributions  that  were  to  be  made.  See  vol.  V, 
page    118,   Smyth's   Works. — Ed. 


163 

it  best,  under  particular  circumstances,  to  yield/  I  have  also 
laboured  hard,  and  with  very  partial  success,  to  secure  work- 
ing Elders  and  Deacons*  who  would  visit  among  the  people. 
To  some  extent  I  have  succeeded  and  feel  grateful  and  hopeful 
for  the  future  of  the  church.  It  was  agreed  upon  and  lists 
made  out,   regular  inquiry  made,  and  much   done  when  the 

B catastrophe   threw   every   thing  into   confusion. 

Elders  Dillingham  and  Gilchrist  still  visit,  and  will,  I  hope, 
perpetuate  and  perfect  the  rule,  so  that  a  non-visiting  Elder 
will  be  a  non-entity. 

In  many  other  respects  I  have  felt  the  incubus  of  a  worldly 
power  outside  of  the  spiritual  membership  and  government  of 
the  church,  restraining,  refusing,  rejecting,  and  preventing 
measures  for  the  great  benefit  of  the  church — of  the  Sabbath 
School,  Infant  Class,  Lecture  Room,  pulpit  and  Pastor. 

The  Church  was  started  under  worldly  influence  and  in  an 
ambitious  worldly  spirit.  The  Spiritual  power  and  government 
was  kept  in  subordination  and  subjection.  It  was,  after  long 
strife  however,  given  to  the  Session  to  nominate  suitable  per- 

^In  connection  with  the  subject  of  collections  I  may  here  men- 
tion two  other  scenes  which  occurred  some  years  since  in  the 
joint  meeting  of  Elders  and   Deacons. 

Mr who  is  now  in  the   Lunatic  Asylum  in   Columbia 

and  who  never  would  have  been  there  (his  wife  told  me  and  I 
concur),  but  for  property,  that  is,  love  of  money,  remarked  in 
allusion  to  charitable  collections,  that  "he  didnt  believe  money 
had  any  thing  to  do  with  religion  or  the  church."  Being  much 
astonished  and  grieved,  I  remarked  that  "that  was,  though  not 
intended,  a  very  infidel  expression,  since  both  the  Bible  and  our 
standards  embodied  its  constant  use  and  denounced  its  abuse." 
This  I  afterwards  more  fully  explained  and  enforced  the  scrip- 
tural grace  and  duty  of  giving,  as  well  as  praying.  In  a  discourse 
afterwards  on  "providing  not  for  one's  own,"  (that  is  for  church, 
as  well  as  other  relative  claims  and  for  the  household  of  faith 
primarily)  "is  worse  than  an  infidel"  I  remarked  that  I  had,  on 
one  occasion,  said  as  above,  but  that  if  the  apostle  had  been 
present  he  would  have  said  it  was  wors'e  than  infidelity. 

On    another    occasion    a    cause    of    charity    was    presented    and 

pleaded,   when    Mr remarked   that   he    stood   there   as    a 

leader  of  the  people  and  he  thought  they  ought  to  be  protected 
against  so  many  calls,  etc.  "Yes,"  I  replied,  "but  we  are  not 
surely  to  lead  by  standing  in  the  way,  but  by  going  forward  and 
setting  them  an  example,  that  they  may  walk  in  our  steps." — T.  S. 

"See  Eldership,  vol.  IV,  pages  120,  122;  Duties  of  Deacons, 
vol.  IV,  page  366,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


164 

sons,  who  were  elected  as  Elders  by  the  people."  It  was  an 
axiom  with  the  leaders  that  the  Pastor  and  Session'  should 
have  nothing  to  do  with  any  thing  beyond  the  admission  of 
members  and  the  like.  They  were  Diotrephes'  and  the  Pastor 
and  Session  cyphers,  and  Deacons  were  not  thought  of.  The 
Sunday  School  was  as  independent  of  Secession  as  if  in  another 
church.  The  Choir  and  music  were  equally  independent  and 
arbitrarily  managed. 

Difficulties  had  therefore  grown  up  under  Dr. 
resuUinT^  FHun, — iwhich  led  to  the  removal  of  Mr.  Boies 
and  the  Secession  of  the  then  most  spiritual  part 
of  the  church  in  large  part — had  led  Dr.  Henry,  as  I  under- 
stand, to  look  forward  to  a  removal — had  prepared  serious 
trouble  for  Mr.  Ashmead,  had  he  returned — had  forced  in  Mr, 
Dey,  and  forced  out  with  him  several  families — and  has  ever 
since  held  pastor  and  officers  in  check. 

On  all  these  accounts  I  never  felt  perfectly  settled  and 
always  thought  I  would  ultimately  change.  And  this  I  would 
have  done  had  I  acted  on  my  own  preferences.  My  family 
connection  though  every  thing  to  be  desired  in  all  social  and 
public  respect,  was  as  it  regarded  the  church,  in  some  condi- 
tions unfavourable.  The  Robinson  and  Adger  families  were 
to  some  extent  rival  houses,^  being  the  most  prominent  and 
oldest,  though  always  respectful  and  courteous.  I  however 
was  considered  as  an  Adger  and  therefore  rich,  and  naturally, 
if  not  necessarily,  partial  and  onesided.  I  lost  doubtless  much 
of  the  sympathy  and  kindness  of  the  congregation,  who  have 
proved  that  they  are  generous  and  liberal  by  their  conduct  to- 
wards others,  and  my  assistants,  though  not  so  in  the  matter 
of  personal  gifts  or  personal  manifestations  to  myself,  in  the 
way  of  salary,  donations,  marriage  fees,  or  in  any  other  form. 

'See  Eldership,  vol.  IV,  also  Eccles.  Rep.,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  22,  24, 
46,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

*See  Eccles.  Rep.,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  23,  46.  Deacons,  vol.  IV,  p.  365, 
etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

"'Diotrephes,  who  loveth  to  have  the  preeminence."  3  John,  9. 
—Ed. 

^Tradition  tells  us  that  when  an  especial  sum  was  to  be  raised 
for  an  important  object  and  a  meeting  of  the  corporation  had 
been  called,  Mr.  Adger  would  open  the  subscription  with  a  con- 
siderable donation,  let  us  say  for  example  $300.00.  When  the 
turn  of  Mr.  Robinson  came,  he  would  immediately  name  a  still 
larger  sum,  $500.00  perhaps.  Mr.  Adger  was  very  deaf,  so  would 
not  hear,  but  some  one  would  always  let  him  know  of  the  amount 
of  Mr.  Robinson's  promise  and  Mr.  Adger's  would  immediately 
be  increased  to  still  larger  proportions.     See  letter,  p.  166. — Ed. 


165 

This  I  have  always  attributed  to  the  causes  mentioned,  since 
in  many  other  ways  as  in  giving  leave  of  absence  for  an 
indefinite  time  always,  once  for  a  year  and  a  half,  when  they 
supplied  the  pulpit ;  and  during  late  years  in  repeatedly  de- 
clining to  accept  my  resignation,"  they  have  shewn  increasing 
personal  affection  and  interest  in  my  ministrations. 
Opportunities  ^hc  desire  and  determination  to  leave  Charles- 
to  leave  tou  wcrc  frequently  fostered  by  very  favourable 

Charleston.  ^^^  enticing  ovcrturcs.  No  man  could  be  more 
enthusiastically  appreciated  than  I  was  at  New  Brunswick,' 
where  a  divided  congregation  was  unanimously  united  in  a 
call  to  me,  and  where  I  preached  with  great  pleasure  to  myself 
and  commendation  from  others.  On  my  way  to  the  residence 
of  Dr.  F.  R.  Smith  at  which,  by  invitation,  our  party,  consist- 
ing of  my  wife,*  our  infant  Adger,  and  I,  were  guests,  I  lost 
my  carpet  bag  and  selected  sermons,  and  I  prepared  sermons 
then  in  the  study  of  Rev.  Professor  Ogilby  (of  N.  Y.  Episco- 
pal Seminary)  which  were  highly  approved  by  Dr.  Janeway. 
Openings  were  also  presented  through  Alexander  Henry  to 
the  Central  Church,  Philadelphia — to  Duane  St.°  Church,  New 
York,  (Dr.  James  W.  Alexander's) — to  the  College  in  Colum- 
bia, (See  Dr.  Thornwell's  Letter^) — to  Lexington,  Ky. — to 
Boston, — to  become  Editor  of  a  Presbyterian  Old  School 
Paper  in  N.  Y.  at  request  of  leading  ministers  there — to  the 
College  at  Danville,  Ky. — to  Union  Theological  Seminary, — 
to  our  own  Seminary — to  the  Seminary  in  Indiana — to  the 
Magee  College,  Ireland,  in  which  Mr.  Dill  (Trustee  and  Ex- 
ecutor) told  me  I  might  select  my  professorship;  and  other 
opportunities  also  were  offered. 

Reasons  for  ^^^    although     a     Profcssional    life    was     al- 

remaining  in  ways  my  choicc,  that  to  which  my  tastes 
Charleston.  ^^^  studics  led  mc,  though  the  Professorship 
most  consonant  to  my  studies  was  pressed  upon  me  at 
Columbia  by  Dr.  Thornwell  and  many  brethren,  (though 
they  disliked  my  Eldership  views)  ;   and  though  Dr.   Hodge 

^The  Doctor's  resignation  of  1854  was  refused;  that  of  1855 
refused  and  his  salary  increased;  while  in  1858  a  large  majority- 
including  James  Adger,  objected  on  the  ground  that  injury  would 
be   done   to   the   church. — Ed. 

'See  letter  from  Dr.  Gildersleeve,  p.  169,  other  letters  pp.  170, 
etc. — Ed. 

*Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth  had  recently  lost  two  little  daughters. — 
Ed. 

°See  pp.  181-183. — Ed. 

^See  p.  177. — Ed. 


166 

once  remarked  to  me  that  "they  must  have  me  and  my  library 
at  Princeton,"  in  allusion  to  Dr.  Miller's  failing  health; — yet 
I  always  felt  that  Providence  had  not  yet  opened  the  door,  and 
that  I  ought  not  to  climb  out  some  other  way  and  leave  a  post 
of  danger  and  of  duty  where  He  had  set  me  for  the  defence  of 
the  gospel,  and  as  a  Standard-bearer  of  the  Church's  banner 
in  her  season  of  emergent  strife.  My  congregation — through 
me,'  was  isolated  from  others  and  had  to  stand  against  much 
public  opprobrium.  The  position  of  the  church — long  in  the 
fields  and  away  from  population,  greatly  increased  the  diffi- 
culty of  gathering  a  strong  and  effective  congregation.  The 
people,  too,  were  as  a  whole  and  in  all  reasonable  proportion, 
united,  and  even  Mr.  Robinson  and  others  with  whom  I  most 
frequently  differed,  were  personally  very  kind  and  attached  and 
loved  and  esteemed  me,  (especially  Mr.  Robinson,  who  was  a 
whole  soul-led  noble  and  Christian  man  and  lover  of  the 
church)  ;  hence  from  time  to  time  I  have,  with  more  and  more 
firmness,  concluded  to  remain  and  live  and  die  with  my  people, 
unless  providence  opened  up  a  wide  and  effectual  door  or 
forcibly  and  fairly  ejected  me. 

CHARLESTON,  24  December,  1837. 
Sunday  afternoon. 
MY  DEAREST  SISTER  SUSAN,' 
,,,,,,  *     ^'     *     This  is  the  first  morning  for  some  six 

Methods    of  o 

the  Standing     wccks    that   wc   havc   bccu   able    to   meet   in   the 
Committee,         church,  our  services  have  been  altogether  in  the 
^^'  Lecture  room —  A  portion  of  the  ceiling  of  the 

church  had  fallen  &  a  part  of  the  centre  piece,  &  as  it  was  im- 
possible to  avoid  pulling  the  whole  of  it  down  the  president, 
Mr.  Smith,  had  it  done  last  week  &  the  church  was  opened  this 
morning. —  We  are  all  very  glad  to  get  back  to  it  I  assure  you, 
as  we  were  very  much  crowded  &  quite  uncomfortable  in  the 
Lecture  room.  Mr.  Brown  has  consented  at  last  to  pay  over 
some  $60.  or  $70.  that  was  subscribed  to  buy  new  benches  for 
the  lecture  room  &  orders  have  been  given  for  as  many  as  can 
be  made  for  that  amount. —  Week  before  last  also,  they  man- 
aged to  get  the  windows  hung,  the  weights,  cord  &  every  thing 
else  necessary  to  do  it  with,  having  been  here  some  time  before 
you  left  us — they  have  got  the  walk  from  the  two  gates  to  the 
steps  leading  into  the  room  paved  with  brick,  too — so  that  it  is 

'See  p.  176. — Ed. 

'This  letter  is  condensed  from  one  from  Mr.  William  Adger 
to  his  sister  in  Paris.  See  others  of  that  period,  Chap.  I,  "Inci- 
dents."—Ed. 


167 

now  a  very  comfortable,  commodious,  &.nea.t  lecture  room,  want- 
ing only  good  comfortable  benches  to  make  it  altogether  such  as 
we  could  desire. —  The  roof  of  the  church  was  taken  off  partly 
to  reshingle  it.  Mr.  Smith  (I  mean  "Mugium  Smith"  as  our 
Mr.  Smith"  calls  him,)  Mr.  S.  Robinson,  Mr.  Brown,  Father 
&  others  comprised  the  standing  Committee — whose  duty  it 
was  to  receive  proposals  and  to  see  that  it  was  well  done.  Mr. 
Robinson  was  very  full  of  it  &  when  he  &  Mr.  Smith  were 
talking  to  Father  one  day  about  it,  they  said  they  intended  to 
see  about  its  being  done  &  did  not  wish  to  trouble  the  standing 
Committee  about  the  job,  and  that  they  would  call  a  meeting 
to  obtain  permission  to  do  so —  Father  told  them  no  one 
would  object  to  it  at  all  &  that  it  was  quite  unnecessary  to  call 
a  meeting.  Father  passed  there  one  day  during  a  shower  of 
rain  &  saw  the  roof  stripped,  he  said  the  ceiling  would  be  so 
wet  it  would  all  tumble  down,  &  was  quite  vexed  about  it — 
it  did  come  down,  not  being  discovered  until  Sunday  morning, 
&  Mr.  Smith,  who  was  at  the  church  rather  early,  stopped 
Father  &  told  him  of  it.  Father  told  him  at  once,  that  he 
expected  nothing  else  &  said  so  long  ago,  that  if  he  &  Mr. 
Robinson  had  any  sense  of  justice  about  them,  they  would  not 
call  upon  the  members  of  the  church  to  put  it  up,  but  would 
do  it  themselves ;  this  of  course  enraged  Mr.  Smith,  &  Mr. 
Robinson  hearing  of  it,  sent  in  his  resignation  as  a  member 
of  the  Standing  Committee  &  Father's  letter  of  resignation 
followed  the  next  Sunday.  So  two  vacancies  occurred  in  the 
Standing  Committee  &  after  several  attempts  to  get  a  meeting 
of  the  Association  together,  a  quorum  was  obtained  last 
Monday  night,  &  Mr.  Dukes  &  Mr.  Alex.  Black  elected  in 
their  place. —  Since  you  left  I  think,  Father  has  made  Robert 
&  myself  members  of  the  Association  by  transferring  some  of 
his  stock  to  each  of  us.  They  could  hardly  have  made  a  bet- 
ter selection  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  the  Committee —  I  regret 
very  much  the  cause  of  it,  but  do  not  the  result,  I  have  always 
thought  that  Father  &  Mr.  R.,  by  their  squabbling,  jarring  & 
contensions,  did  the  church  more  harm  than  their  services  as 
members  of  the  standing  committee  &  association  did  good. — 
I  should  regret  very  much  to  see  either  of  them  drawing  off 
from  the  church,  but  by  being  obliged,  both  of  them,  to  resign 
as  members  of  the  committee,  I  think  they  will  now  both  of 
them  restrain  themselves  a  good  deal  in  the  meetings  of  the 

"Although  Dr.  Smyth  had  returned  to  the  original  spelling  and 
pronunciation  of  his  name  at  the  beginning  of  this  year,  he  was 
of  course  often  called  Smith  by  his  intimate  friends  and  his  wife 
addressed  him  as  "Mr.  Smith"  to  the  end  of  his  life. — Ed. 


168 

pewholders,  as  well  as  of  the  Association.  As  usual  they  were 
both  to  blame  in  the  present  case —  I  have  made  some  en-- 
quiries  about  it  &  find  that  Mr.  Robinson  allowed  Mr.  Smith 
to  close  in  with  the  carpenter  without  even  consulting  Mr. 
Robinson  &  thus  the  duty  of  the  standing  committee,  which 
Mr.  R.  &  Mr.  S.  voluntarily  assumed,  of  superintending  &c 
was  never  fulfilled  or  performed —  Father  on  the  other  hand 
spoke  quite  too  hastily  I  think  &  so  far  he  is  to  blame. —  By 
the  way,  Mr.  Dukes  furnished  the  shingles  to  shingle  the  roof 
of  the  church,  shingles  advanced  in  price  &  Mr.  Dukes  could 
not  get  his  supply  &  could  not  furnish  the  carpenter. —  Thus 
we  blame  the  standing  Committee,  they  blame  Mr.  Robinson 
&  Mr.  Smith,  Mr.  Robinson  throws  it  all  on  Mr.  Smith's 
shoulders —  Mr.  Smith  does  not  like  to  bear  it,  &  does  not 
wish  to  put  it  on  the  carpenter  &  therefore  he  says  that  it  was 
not  caused  by  the  rain,  but  that  the  ceiling  was  not  properly 
put  up  at  first  &  would  have  fallen  any  how —  The  carpenter 
however  feels  guilty — &  does  not  like  the  excuse  Mr.  Smith 
makes  &  he  therefore  throws  the  blame  on  Mr.  Dukes,  who 
good  humouredly  shrugs  up  his  broad  shoulders  &  says 
nothing,  I  believe. — 

Dr.  Smyth's  ^^^-   Smith^  has,   you  know,   been  away   some 

grief  for  his  wecks  ago  to  Augusta  at  the  meeting  of  the 
two  Children.  Syj^od — &  all  the  mischicf  which  I  have  been  re- 
lating happened  when  he  was  away — he  was  thunderstruck 
therefore  when  he  returned  home : —  other  things  though  have 
preyed  more  upon  his  mind  &  his  own  afflictions  have  op- 
pressed him  almost  to  the  ground — he  feels  it  very  much  & 
last  Sunday  morning,  in  attempting  to  read  for  the  first  time 
since  the  death  of  his  two  dear  children,^  a  chapter  in  the 
lecture  room,  he  was  so  completely  overcome  by  his  feelings 
as  to  be  obliged  to  sit  down  &  weep — &  he  did  not  for  some 
minutes  recover  himself  so  as  to  be  able  to  continue  the  read- 
ing of  the  chapter.     *     *     * 

Father  &  I  will  leave  I  expect,  about  the  ist  of  April — 
remember  me  to  my  dear  Mother,  to  James  &  Jane  Ann,  & 
accept  for  yourself  the  affectionate  love  of  yr.  brother  William 

Dec  25  9  o'clock — I  have  only  room  here  to  ofTer  my  dear 
Sister  my  sincere  congratulations  upon  the  return  of  this  her 
birthday — that  her  next  may  be  spent  by  her  at  home  among 
her  friends  in  restored  health  St  that  she  may  live  to  see  many 
happy  returns  of  it,  is  the  wish  of  her  brother. 

^Dr.  Smyth.— Ed. 
^See  letters  of   1837,  "Incidents." — Ed. 


169 

From  Rev.  B.  Gildersleeve.^ 

CHARLESTON  October  12,  1838. 
DEAR  BROTHER  SMYTH, 

The  call  to  ^^  ^  former  letter,  if  you  have  received  it,   I 

New  Bruns-  intreated  you  to  listen  to  no  overture  for  a  set- 
'"^^^-  tlement  in  any  of  our  Northern  Churches.     And 

nothing  that  you  have  said  touching  the  Church  at  New 
Brunswick*  makes  me  waver  in  the  least  in  the  opinion  that  I 
then  expressed.  The  prospect  may  be  very  fair — the  Church 
elegant — the  people  attentive,  and  all  may  appear  just  as  you 
wish  it.  But  these  things  may  not  last.  Other  trials  that  you 
cannot  foresee  may  come  upon  you. —  And  trials  far  greater 
than  any  which  you  have  here  been  called  to  endure.  Indeed, 
my  dear  Brother,  it  seems  designed  that  the  Ministry  should 
be  beset  with  trials. —  All,  or  almost  all,  endure  them,  what- 
ever their  station,  or  however  eligible  their  prospects.  Nor 
can  you  reasonably  calculate  to  be  exempted  from  them. 

From  what  I  know  of  your  people,  there  is,  I  am  fully 
persuaded,  no  sufficient  cause  for  your  leaving  them.  There 
is  not  one  that  I  know  who  wishes  the  connexion  dissolved. 
Some  have  their  peculiarities — their  frailties — their  infirmities 
— and  yet  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  all  love  you  and 
respect  you  and  would  regard  it  as  a  great  trial  were  you  to 
be  removed.  That  part  of  your  letter  to  the  Church  which  I 
did  not  read,  consisted  of  a  recommendation  to  subscribe  to 
the  Charleston  Observer.  There  is  always  in  my  own  feelings 
a  repugnance  to  read,  or  even  print,  any  thing  that  looks  like 
puffing  myself  or  any  of  my  performances.  And  I  mentioned, 
as  I  passed  it  over,  that  it  related  particularly  to  myself,  and 
therefore  I  would  omit  the  paragraph.  But  it  was  immediately 
known  by  members  and  was  imputed  to  the  cause  which  I 
have  stated.  It  never  was  dreamed  by  me  that  any  construc- 
tion could  have  been  placed  upon  this  omission  in  the  least 
unfavorable  to  yourself.  One  individual  to  whom  Mr.  Simon- 
ton  shewed  the  letter  before  it  was  read,  did  say,  he  did  not 
like  it — as  it  has  so  much  to  say  about  the  repairs  of  the 

^Dr.  Benjamin  Gildersleeve,  Editor  of  "The  Charleston  Ob- 
server," Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath  school  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church;  the  intimate  friend  of  the  family  and  Dr. 
Smyth's  chief  supporter  in  the  struggle  for  supremacy  then  going 
on  in  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  between  the  Old  and 
New  School  parties. — Ed. 

*Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton  was  urging  Dr.  Smyth  to  accept  a 
call  to  New  Brunswick. — Ed. 


170 

building —  But  you  must  not  think  any  thing  of  that.  He  is 
a  man  of  many  very  excellent  qualities  and  has  to  be  humoured 
in  his  peculiar  feelings.  He  is  also  sometimes  hasty,  and  does 
&  says  things  at  the  moment  for  which  he  is  afterward  sorry. 
Had  you  anticipated  the  precise  state  of  things  here — the  sick- 
ness" that  was  raging — you  would  no  doubt  have  written  a 
different  letter  in  some  respects. —  And  all  minds  have  not 
quite  grasp  enough  to  comprehend  how  it  was  that  you  could 
not  have  foreseen  the  afflictions  with  which  we  were  visited 
and  have  written  so  as  precisely  to  meet  the  case.  But  these 
little  things  ought  not  to  move  you.  You  have  I  trust,  a  great 
work  to  perform  and  to  perform  here,  where  you  commenced 
your  labors  in  the  Ministry  and  where  your  labors  have  not 
been  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  You  are  needed  in  this  City.  Your 
influence  at  the  South  has  been  growing,  and,  I  say  it  without 
flattery,  is  as  great,  if  not  greater,  than  that  of  any  man  in 
the  Church  of  your  age.     I  shall  feel  truly  desolate  and  alone 

if  you  do  not  return  to  remain  with  us. The  loss  of  our 

friend,  Mr.  Simonton,  comes  very  near  my  heart,  as  it  will 
come  very  near  to  yours.  Individually  I  do  not  think  there 
would  be  any  danger  in  returning  now;  but  I  would  not  give 
any  advice  on  the  Subject.  We  have  had  a  trying  Summer. 
God  has  scourged  us  sorely,  &  I  hope  it  will  prove  for  our 
profit. —  But  I  fear  that  we  soon  forget  his  chastisements. 
My  labors  have  been  great,  but  God  has  given  me  strength. 

Do  not,  my  Brother,  let  evil  reports  afifect  you.  Come  back 
to  your  people,  and  begin  your  labors  afresh.  And  God  may 
shew  you  that  you  have  here  much  to  do,  and  that  souls  in 
great  number  are  here  to  be  added  to  your  Ministry.  Mrs. 
G.  unites  in  affectionate  regards  both  to  Mrs.  S.  and  yourself. 
Some  of  my  children  have  been  sick,  but  by  the  blessing  of 
God  they  are  now  all  recovered. 

Your  very  affectionate  Brother, 

B.  GILDERSLEEVE. 

From  Dr.  F.  R.  Smith  in  New  Brunswick. 

Dec.  4,  1838. 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

*  *  *  I  am  not  surprised  at  the  conclusion  to  which 
you  seem  to  have  arrived,  viz. — that  the  door  is  not  clearly 
open  for  your  removal  and  that  you  seem  to  be  shut  up  to  a 
continuance  where  you  are,  at  least  for  the  present.  For  I 
had  foreseen  the  opposition  which  would  be  made  to  your 

'Yellow  fever  with  a  death  record  of  351. — Ed. 


171 

removal,  and  that  you  would  find  it  difficult  to  stem  the  tor- 
rent which,  I  was  sure,  would  set  against  you.  *  *  *  ^^ 
the  same  time  however,  I  did  believe  that  your  inclinations 
were  with  us,  and  that  there  were  other  reasons  which  had, 
and  ought  to  have,  great  weight  in  your  final  determination. 
*  *  *  The  first  and  most  prominent  is  your  health,  with- 
out which  there  can  be  but  little  usefulness  and  no  enjoyment 
in  life.  And  I  think  that  the  obligation  of  duty  must  be 
exceedingly  imperative  which  requires  a  man  to  sacrifice  his 
health  and  perhaps  his  life  in  the  cause.  Now  I  should  be 
unwilling  to  say  that  such  must  be  the  result  of  a  continued 
residence  in  Charleston,  or  that  a  removal  to  New  Brunswick 
would  be  a  certain  restorative.  But  I  believe  I  hazard  little 
professional  reputation  in  saying  that  a  native  of  the  Emerald 
Isle,  whose  blue  eyes  and  fair  skin°  have  become  tarnished  by 
a  seven  years  residence  in  a  Southern  latitude,  might  reason- 
ably expect  a  beneficial  change  in  a  more  northern  climate. 
Indeed  my  dear  friend,  to  be  more  particular,  I  do  think  that 
the  invigorating  influence  of  the  North  is  required  to  restore 
a  due  degree  of  Tone  to  your  system,  which  seems  to  have 
suffered  from  the  relaxing  influence  of  a  Southern  sun.  An- 
other reason  connected  with  Charleston,  is  the  Annual  return 
of  the  sickly  season,  which  compels  the  inhabitants  to  leave 
their  homes  and  disperse  for  about  one-fourth  of  the  year. 
At  all  times  inconvenient,  expensive,  and  I  should  suppose, 
unfavorable  to  the  successful  efforts  of  Pastoral  Labour. 
Again  I  supposed  that  N.  Brunswick  from  its  situation,  af- 
forded many  inducements,  such  as  its  proximity  to  Princeton, 
the  very  seat  and  centre  of  Presbyterian  orthodoxy  and  Liter- 

''Those  of  you  who  knew  him  in  his  prime,  will  readily  recall 
his  tall,  erect,  commanding  figure,  crowned  with  raven  locks  of 
luxuriant  growth,  and  always  arranged  with  care  and  taste;  his 
bright,  blue  eyes,  always  wide  open;  wearing  in  repose  a  tender 
expression;  sparkling  with  humour  in  social  converse,  and  flash- 
ing with  fire  in  animated  debate,  or  pulpit  discourse;  his  voice, 
naturally  sweet  and  mellow  [a  baritone — Ed.]  as  a  flute  in  its 
conversational  tones,  and  which  imparted  to  his  persuasive  ap- 
peals an  irresistible  pathos,  that  moved  and  melted  to  tears  the 
most  hardened  hearer;  but  when  he  rose  to  the  height  of  his 
great  argument,  and  to  an  impassioned  and  eloquent  declamation, 
it  became  as  sonorous  as  the  blast  o,f  a  bugle,  and  filled  his  vast 
audience  with  its  expansive  volume.  His  brow  was  not  massive, 
nor  his  features  and  face  large,  yet  they  bore  the  image  and 
superscription  of  greatness,  which  the  most  ordinary  beholder 
could  read." 

— Extract    from    Dr.    Brackett's    Memorial. 


172 

ature,  its  ready  access  to  the  great  cities  of  New  York  and 
Phila.  enjoying  most  of  the  advantages  of  a  healthy  country 
residence,  and  of  a  city  Hfe.     *     *     * 

I  will  now  venture  a  suggestion,  somewhat  hazardous  I 
admit,  but  dictated  be  assured,  by  motives  of  the  purest  friend- 
ship—  You  mention  a  Professorship  at  Columbia.  Did  it  never 
occur  to  you,  my  dear  friend,  that  your  Forte  is  in  Preaching, 
in  your  beautiful  style  and  impressive  delivery?  You  may 
not  be  as  successful  in  Teaching. —  Witness  the  case  of  Dr. 
Breckinridge.'^  I  do  not  profess  to  be  qualified  to  make  up  an 
opinion  on  this  point.  It  may  be  exactly  the  reverse,  But 
you  have  succeeded  eminently  in  the  Pulpit,  and  ought  not  to 
abandon  it  upon  slight  grounds.  You  will  therefore  receive 
my  suggestion  for  what  it  is  worth —  Besides  if  a  Professor- 
ship be  desirable,  is  Columbia  the  right  place?  The  Salary 
can  be  no  inducement  for  2000  Dolls,  in  Columbia  is  not  equal 
to  1500  in  N.  Bk.  for  all  Household  expenses;  which  sum  has 
always  met  my  wants,  exclusive  of  my  House.  *  *  *  The 
Congregation  I  find  will  be  much  disappointed  *  *  and 
yet  *  *  if,  after  consulting  with  Mr  Adger,  your  views 
remain  unchanged  *  *  then  give  such  an  intimation  to 
our  Session — Or  otherwise  permit  us  to  make  out  a  call  which 
will  be  unanimous. 

Mr.  Ogilby  *  *  suggests  that  it  is  better  to  labour  at 
the  North  than  die  a  Martyr  at  the  South. 

Remember  me  to  your  dear  wife  and  say  to  her  that  she 
made  a  strong  impression  upon  the  Hearts  of  all  my  family. 
They  all  join  in  a  request  that  we  may  not  be  forgotten,  let 
other  events  go  as  they  may. — Mrs.  Smith  will  be  most  happy 
to  have  a  letter. 

Accept  the  assurance  of  my  most  sincere  friendship. 

Yours  afft'ly 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth  F.  R.  SMITH. 

Charleston 

S.  Carolina. 

From  Mr.  G.  P.  Molleson,  New  Brunswick,  urging  Dr.  Smyth 
to  accept  the  call. 

Dec.  I  '38. 
*     *     *     The  well  selected  and  increasing  library  of  our 
literary  institutions  is  open  to  us  and  the  large  and  valuable 
libraries^  of   Princeton  and   the  cities   easily   accessible.      No 
better  spot  for  study  could  be  selected. 

'As   Professor  at   Princeton, — Ed. 

'All  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory  of  them! — Ed. 


173 

Our  people  have  been  easily  satisfied :  *  *  by  a  record 
kept,  it  appeared  that  our  late  pastor  in  health  did  not  preach 
on  an  average  in  one  year  one  sermon  a  week  and  yet  I  have 
not  heard  even  a  murmur  from  the  congregation.  Our  means 
of  support"  for  our  clergyman  have  hitherto  been  adequate  to 
his  wants  and  always  equal  to  his  hinted  anticipations,  and  I 
have  "faith"  enough  to  believe  that  they  will  never  suffer  your 
vessel  of  meal  to  be  empty  or  your  cruise  of  oil  to  fail. 

While  I  abhor  the  mad  and  destructive  zeal  of  the  reckless 
abolitionist,  may  I  not  whisper  in  your  ear,  that  there  is  a 
peculiar  feeling  which  you  cannot  but  have  experienced  (if 
the  memory  of  the  lamented  Emmet'  still  lives  in  your  recol- 
lection,) of  living  in  a  free  land,  where  "life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness"  are,  like  the  atmosphere,  common  to 
all? 

Previous  to  your  visit  here,  we  were  divided  *  *  but 
upon  your  coming  the  seeds  of  discord  were  eradicated, 
and  I  have  never  known  a  people  more  perfectly  and  warmly 
united.  *  *  Is  it  true  that  the  church  needs  your  services 
more  at  the  South  than  at  the  North?  Your  services  have 
been  valuable  in  preserving  the  purity  of  our  Zion  in  the 
troublous  times  thro'  which  I  hope  she  has  passed.  The  di- 
vision has  taken  place.*  May  we  not  anticipate  something  of 
the  calm  which  succeeds  the  storm?  The  restlessness  how- 
ever of  the  age,  of  which  you  spoke  in  your  sermon  from  the 
text  "He  was  alone,"  (I  wish  I  had  the  sermon)  will  require 
of  the  church  &  the  country  at  every  point,  their  ablest  de- 
fenders. Our  location  as  you  know,  upon  the  confines  of 
N.  York  is  an  outpost  demanding  upon  the  part  of  the  church 
at  large,  a  commander  clothed  with  "the  whole  armour  of 
God." 

*     *     *     If  your  domestic  arrangements  forbid  your  com- 
ing, I  have  not  a  word  to  say —  I  would  not  invade  their 
sanctity — and  if  they  do  consider  this  note  expunged.     *     * 
Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours', 

G.  P.  MOLLESON. 

^Dr.   Smyth's   salary  was  not  always  promptly  paid. — Ed. 

^The  Irish  patriot  of  1803.  He  was  hung  in  Dublin  on  Sept. 
20th  of  that  year.  His  brother  was  "out"  in  1798  with  Samuel 
Smith. — Ed. 

*The  Old  School  parted  from  the  New  School. — Ed. 


174 

The  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  was  the  only 
Division  of  one  in  this  part  of  the  South  affected  seriously  by 
the  Charleston  ^j^^  division  of  the  Church  that  took  place  at  the 
Union    Pres-  ,  ro  i-i-r^<~. 

liytery.  Assembly  of   1837  to  which   Dr.   Smyth  was  sent  by 

the  O.  S.  party  as  commissioner.  The  N.  S.  party  in 
the  Presbytery  was  the  outcome  of  a  local  union  of  Congrega- 
tionalists  and  Presbyterians,  and  was  violently  and  openly  op- 
posed to  the  action  of  the  Assembly  of  1837,  by  which  the  Old 
School  majority  had  excluded  the  four  synods,  Utica,  Geneva, 
Genessee,  and  the  Western  Reserve  (Dr.  Howe  says  also  Albany.) 
as  unorthodox  in  government  and  doctrine,  while  making  full 
provision  for  the  return  of  individual  ministers  and  congregations; 
it  was  also  opposed  to  the  Assembly's  appointment  of  Boards 
and  disapproved  its  refusal  to  take  action  on  the  slavery  question 
or  consider  the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  1818.  When  the  Assembly 
of  1838  divided,  the  Commissioners  sent  by  the  N.  S.  party  of 
the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  Dr.  Magruder  and  Dr.  White, 
after  vacillating  for  a  time,  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  N.  S. 
Assembly.  The  Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  standing 
firmly  with  the  conservative  O.  S.  Assembly,  (the  Moderator  of 
which  Dr.'  W.  S.  Palmer  had  assisted  in  1833  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Southern  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,)  at  its  meeting  in 
November  1838  by  an  overwhelming  majority  (only  the  disaf- 
fected from  the  Charleston  Presbytery  in  the  negative,)  voted  to 
continue  this  adherence,  although  the  malcontents  led  by  Dr. 
Dana,  Dr.  White  and  Dr.  Magruder,  offered  resolutions  declaring 
it  to  be  "an  Independent  Synod." 

Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  meeting  on  December  4  at  the 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  was  the  scene  of  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's 
most  important  battles  for  orthodox  Presbyterianism.  As  soon  as 
the  roll  was  called  in  the  lecture  room  over  the  vestibule  of  the 
church,  an  overture  was  submitted,  drawn,  the  records  say,  "by 
T.  Smyth,"  in  which  it  was  moved  that,  without  discussion  for 
or  against,  each  member  of  the  Presbytery  as  his  name  was 
called,  should  state  whether  or  not  he  wished  to  abide  by  the 
decisions  of  the  General  Assembly;  and  that  those  who  did  so 
abide  should,  whether  a  majority  or  minority,  be  considered  as 
constituting  the  regular  Presbytery  of  the  Charleston  Union;  and 
that  members  not  present,  including  those  in  foreign  lands,  should 
have  the  same  question  submitted  to  them.  The  Moderator  ruled 
this  overture  out  of  order  as  the  election  of  the  new  Moderator 
had  not  taken  place,  but  "T.  Smyth"  appealed  from  this  decision 
and  the  question  was  put,  resulting  in  a  vote  of  7  to  7,  which  the 
Moderator  declared  lost.  Dr.  Gildersleeve,  Stated  Clerk,  then 
took  his  books  from  the  table  and  with  Dr.  Smyth,  Dr.  Adam 
Gilchrist,  Dr.  McDowell,  and  three  elders,  withdrew  to  the'  lower 
part  of  the  Church,  when  Dr.  Smyth,  as  the  last  Moderator,  made 
prayer. 

The    excitement    in   the    Church    and    Community   was    intense 


175 

and  the  papers,  both  Dr.  Gildersleeve's  "Observer'  and  Dr.  Ma- 
gruder's  "Christian  Sentinel,"  as  well  as  the  secular  publications 
contained  many  articles.  Dr.  Smyth  was  attacked  as  a  "Partizan 
of  a  Philadelphia^  Cabal"  and  even  as  an  Abolitionist;  but  his 
party  was  supported  by  both  Synod  and  Assembly,  and  the  Pres- 
bytery was  re-named  the  Charleston  Presbytery  while  the  mal- 
content Charleston  Union  Presbytery  remained  independent  until 
1852,  and  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  in  Charleston.^ 
— Editor. 

The    following   is    taken    from   a    small    blank    book   which    has 
only  a  few  pages  filled. — Ed. 

Notices 

of 

Ministerial  Effort  and  Success 

for 

Private  Encouragement  and  Retrospect. — 

Sep.    1839 —  During  the  prevalence  of  yellow 

)w    tever,       r 
1839 


iTeiiow  fever,    ^^^^^   j   returned  to  the  city  of   Charleston.— It 


was  the  unanimous  wish  of  my  people,  as  ex- 
pressed in  a  Resolution  adopted  at  a  special  meeting,  that  I 
should  on  no  account  under  existing  circumstances,  go  below 
a  certain  Boundary  line.'  In  the  propriety  of  this  request  I 
fully  concurred  for  many  reasons,  i.  My  Church  &  many  of 
my  people  were  above  this  line.  2.  There  was  no  absolute 
necessity  that  I  should  go  below  it,  for  should  cases  of  sick- 
ness requiring  visitation  to  occur,  the  Rev.  Mr,  Gildersleeve, 
connected  with  the  church,  was  ready  to  attend  to  this  duty  & 
did.  3.  Living  where  I  did,  there  was  every  probability  that 
by  keeping  to  these  limits  I  should  escape  the  fever,  &  every 
probability  that  by  transgressing  it  I  should  contract  it.  4. 
The  interests  of  the  church  required  therefore,  that  I  should 
not  needlessly  incur  the  risk  and  I  complied  with  the  call  of 
duty. 

Still,  several  talked  about  the  matter  &  endeavoured  to 
pervert   my   motives,    especially   one   member   of   the   church. 

^Philadelphia  was  at  that  time  the  centre  of  American  Pres- 
byterianism. — Ed. 

"Authorities  for  the  preceding:  Dr.  Smyth's  tract  on  the 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery;  Howe's  Hist,  of  Pres.  Ch.  in  So. 
Ca.,  vol.  II,  pp.  568,  etc.;  "Life  and.  Times,"  Adger,  p.  362. 

'At  that  time  yellow  fever  was  considered  peculiarly  fatal  to 
those  not  native  to  the  climate  and  commonly  called  stranger's 
fever.  Dr.  Gildersleeve  was  "acclimated,"  Dr.  Smyth  was  not. — 
Ed.  •  ■  ■ 


176 

His  partner  in  trade,  a  member  of  another  church  &  a  very 
devoted  man,  was  occasionally  present  at  our  church.  He 
met  a  leading  member  of  it  last  week,  after  hearing  these 
misrepresentations  &  expressed  to  him  his  great  regret — ■ 
saying  that  my  people  were  not  aware  of  the  value  &  import- 
ance of  their  present  minister  &  would  if  he  were  removed 
then  only  learn  the  greatness  of  their  loss. —  He  therefore 
added,  that  instead  of  pushing  him  into  danger,  they  should 
by  all  means  preserve  him  from  it. — 

I  am  aware  that  I  cannot  even  pen  this  without  feeling  my 
liability — were  it  seen — to  the  imputation  of  vanity,  but  it  is 
not  here  recorded  for  the  award  of  flattering  praise  it  con- 
tains (a  commodity  so  dangerous  &  yet  so  often  proffered  to 
a  minister  &  in  this  case  much  more  strongly,  tho'  more  deli- 
cately given  by  the  gentleman  who  was  my  informant) — but 
from  its  pure  disinterestedness,  since  it  could  never  have  been 
imagined  that  I  should  know  of  it.  The  encouragement  af- 
forded by  it,  as  the  judgment  of  an  intelligent  Christian,  to 
rest  satisfied  with  the  propriety  of  my  present  course  &  the 
inapplicableness  of  all  censuring  remarks  on  that  score,  is 
very  great.     *     *     =i= 

During  my  absence  I  received  an  order  for  loo  Copies  of 
my  Discourses  on  the  Theatre  to  be  sold  in  N.  Orleans — *     * 

N.  B.  [Note  written  about  i860]  At  the  time  the  above 
was  written,  a  period  of  revival  commenced  &  cases  of  inquiry, 
of  correction  &  conversion  became  frequent  &  engrossing. 

For  this  reason,  &  the  fear  of  seeming  &  becoming  vain, 
these  memoranda  were  discontinued. 

I  have  however  regretted  that  many  interesting  occurrences 
were  not  recorded  at  the  time. 

The  new  &  Old  School  controversy  was  also  at  its  height 
&  my  time  excessively  engrossed  with  it — pastoral  duties — 
and  literary  authorship. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  held  in  the  Seventh 
Church  of  Philadelphia  in  May  1840,  an  attack  was  made  on  the 
faith  of  Dr.  Smyth  and  his  action  together  with  Dr.  Gildersleeve 
in  the  division  of  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery;  at  which  his 
Congregation  recommended  "that  our  esteemed  pastor  proceed 
forthwith  to  Philadelphia  that  he  may  there  repel  the  calumnious 
and  false  charges  against  him  and  his  brethren  of  the  Presbytery" 
and  gave  him  leave  of  absence  for  two  Sabbaths.  His  own  com- 
ment  follows: 

"On  the  occasion  referred  to  I  reached  the  Assembly  and  had 
an  opportunity  of  addressing  them  and  appealing  to  Mr.  Ma- 
gruder  who  was  a  member." 


177 

Dr.  Alexander  declared,  "I  read  your  public  expose  in  the 
Charleston   Observer  and  liked  it  all." 

Chancellor  Johnston's  comment  is,  "I  have  read  your  defense, 
*     *     *     it  is  not  only  entirely  satisfactory  but  triumphant." 

For  Dr.  Samuel  Miller's  opinion  refer  to  his  letter  in  "Author- 
ship.— Editor. 

Overture  from  Dr.  Thornzuell  in  reference  to  a  Professorship 
in  the  S.  C.  College.^ 

COLUMBIA,  Aug.  22,  1840. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Call  to  the  ^°^  have  probably  heard  that  my  friends  are 

South  Caro-  making  an  appeal  to  get  me  back  into  the  College, 
lina  College,  When  first  solicited  I  promptly  and  uncondition- 
ally declined ;  but  when  I  received  applications 
from  different  quarters  and  men  of  different  religious  denom- 
inations I  began  to  fear  that  probably  I  was  acting  too  hastily 
and  determined  to  give  the  whole  subject  a  full  and  candid 
consideration.  The  result  is  that  /  will  not  go  into  the  Col- 
lege if  you  can  be  got  there.  I  have  mentioned  your  name  to 
several  leading  individuals  here,  stating  at  the  same  time,  that 
I  had  no  authority  from  you  to  do  so.  They  have  made  en- 
quiries in  regard  to  you  which  I  could  not  answer.  And  you 
will  much  oblige  me  by  furnishing  me  with  the  materials  of 
an  answer  to  all  future  questions  of  the  sort. 

1.  At  what  institution  were  you  educated? 

2.  How  long  were  you  in  London  and  at  what  institution 
there?  Just  give  me  such  a  history  of  your  early  education 
as  will  afford  to  the  Board  some  insight  into  your  attainments 
as  a  scholar.  I  want  no  recommendations  from  any  man  or 
set  of  men ;  but  a  plain  statement  from  yourself,  which  I  may 
use  in  your  behalf.  For  my  own  satisfaction  I  would  like  also 
to  know  what  are  your  personal  relations  with  the  members 
of  the  Board  residing  in  Charleston.  Have  the  New  School 
succeeded  in  prejudicing  their  minds  against  you,  or  will  they 
probably  be  favourably  disposed  towards  you?  Their  report 
will  have  considerable  influence  with  the  whole  Board.  My 
impression  is  that  if  you  can  secure  them  your  election  could 
be  accomplished.  I  wish  to  sound  all  around.  If  I  find  that  you 
can  be  elected,  I  will  not  suffer  my  name  to  be  used  at  all. 
The  truth  is  I  am  anxious  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  either 
accepting  or  declining.    My  church  will  protest  warmly  against 

'It  may  be  of  this  offer  that  Dr.  Brackett  speaks  in  his 
Memorial   as   Dr.    Smyth's    supreme   sacrifice. — Ed. 

[12] 


178 

my  going  to  the  College.  My  way,  in  fact,  is  so  hedged  up 
that  I  do  not  know  that  I  would  accept  the  appointment  under 
any  circumstances,  I  have  thought  much  about  it  and  unless 
I  am  most  prodigiously  deceived  in  you  I  take  you  to  be  the 
man  for  the  place.  The  Providence  of  God  too  seems  to  me 
to  have  opened  a  path  for  you  to  leave  Charleston  with  a 
prospect  of  enlarging  your  usefulness.  He  has  caused  you  to 
be  persecuted  there  only  that  you  might  flee  to  another  city. 

I  have  thus  written  candidly  and  frankly  in  relation  to  this 
matter  and  shall  hope  to  hear  from  you  very  soon. 

My  kindest  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Smyth. 

Your  Friend  and  Brother, 

J.  H.  THORNWELL.' 

P.  S.  The  names  of  the  trustees  in  Charleston  so  far  as  I 
know  are  Judge  Dunkin,  Petigru  and  Memminger. 

Part  of  letter  to  Dr.  Smyth  from  Dr.  Thornwell. — Editor 

COLUMBIA,  Sep.  lo,  1840. 

Dr   Thorn-  ^^  ^^^  should  Icavc  Charleston  it  is  very  pos- 

weii  advises  siblc  that  the  New-School  would  construe  it  into 
acceptance  of  ^u  acknowledgement  of  defeat,  but  if  your  Church 
ro  essors  ip.  .^  united  and  harmonious,  exultation  on  the  part 
of  your  enemies  will  only  cement  your  people  more  closely 
together,  and  your  own  personal  feelings  will  be  saved  by  the 
character  of  the  station  which  you  would  be  called  to  occupy. 
I  firmly  believe  that  if  you  should  come  to  the  College  and 
your  Church  be  supplied  by  a  faithful  man,  New-Schoolism 
will  be  killed  in  Charleston.  The  community  will  then  see  it 
developed  in  its  true  character :  the  very  triumph  in  which  it 
would  endeavour  to  indulge  on  account  of  your  departure 
would  expose  its  spirit.  *  *  Your  last  controversy  has  put 
things  in  train  for  the  labours  of  another  man :  he  could  enter 
upon  the  rewards  of  your  victory  without  being  exposed  to 
the  personal  slanders  with  which  your  enemies  are  everlast- 
ingly assailing  you.  The  aspect  of  the  matter  would  be 
changed  if  you  were  called  to  leave  the  Presbytery,  but  you 

°Dr.  Thornwell  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  divines  in^ 
the  South.  He  returned  to  the  South  Carolina  College,  of  which 
he  was  for  many  years  the  honoured  President.  He  and  his 
family  were  always  intimate  friends  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth's 
whole  connection.  When  Dr.  Thornwell  was  installed  as  Pro- 
fessor in  the  Theological  Seminary  in  1857,  the  sermon  was 
preached  by  Dr.  Smyth.  For  Dr.  Smyth's  account  of  Dr.  Thorn- 
well's  views   on   denominational   education   see   "Authorship." — Ed. 


179 

will  still  be  on  the  ground.  You  will  still  be  in  a  position  to 
rebut  calumny  and  to  live  down  slander.  Still  it  is  a  difficult 
question  whether  you  ought  to  leave  your  people  in  trouble  and 
must  finally  be  decided  by  your  own  conscience.  I  throw  out 
the  above  hint  and  now  that  I  have  done  it  I  almost  tremble 
lest  I  have  given  a  wrong  touch  to  the  ark.  My  brother,  seek 
counsel  of  God,  He  alone  can  guide  you  with  infallible  wis- 
dom.    *     *     * 

You  were  right  about  the  salary ;  it  is  $2000.  payable  quart- 
erly, in  advance,  together  with  a  house.     You  can  live  very 
comfortably  upon  it — for  I  have  to  live  upon  nearly  a  thous- 
and d9llars  less.     Do  let  me  hear  from  you  soon. 
The  Lord  be  with  you.  Yours  etc. 

J.  H.  THORNWELL. 

In  connection  with  Columbia  I  may  mention  a 
memorable  event.  During  a  meeting  of  Presby- 
tery there  and  early  in  Dr.  Palmer's^  pastorate,  I  was  appointed 
to  deliver  a  Missionary  address  on  Sabbath  evening,  in  which 
I  took  occasion  to  show  that  while,  as  a  Denomination,  we 
conscientiously  felt  bound  to  carry  on  Missionary  operations 
as  a  Church  and  through  Church  agencies,  that  regarding  as 
we  did  Congregationalists  as  also  Christian  Churches  and 
ministers,  to  be  adjudged  for  their  views  by  Christ  their  own 
Master,  they  could  carry  on  Missions  only  through  voluntary 
Associations  such  as  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M. ;  and  that  we  must  in 
this  case,  regard  such  Associations  as  proper  and  to  be  re- 
garded by  us  with  a  Christian  charity  and  courtesy.  Dr.  P. 
was  very  much  excited  and  coming  to  the  pulpit,  told  his  people 
he  felt  bound  to  protect  them  from  false  principles  and  could 
not  allow  such  sentiments  to  be  uttered  in  his  pulpit  unre- 
buked.  I  replied  by  stating,  that  I  occupied  the  pulpit,  not  as 
his,  but  as  the  representative  of  Presbytery.  2,  that  as  having 
been  called  to  the  Church,  I  felt  a  tender  relation  and  concern 
towards  it,  and  3,  that  my  doctrine  of  fraternal  charity  was 
unquestionably  that  of  our  Standards  (See  Form  of  Gov.  in- 

^This  was  Dr.  Benjamin  Morgan  Palmer  the  younger,  the  great 
Dr.  Palmer  whose  wonderful  personality  exercised  so  powerful 
an  influence  in  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  the  son  of  Dr. 
Edward  Palmer  and  nephew  of  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer  in  whose  con- 
gregation of  the  Circular  Church  he  was  baptized.  He  was  in 
Columbia  from  1843  to  1855  as  pastor,  when  he  became  for  a  time 
a  professor  in  the  Columbia  Theological  Seminary  before  he  suc- 
ceeded Dr.  W.  A.  Scott  in  the  First  Church  of  New  Orleans. 
Dr.  Palmer  was  a  devoted  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth. — Ed. 


180 

trod.)  and  of  our  Church  generally.  Dr.  Wells,  who  was  a 
warm  friend,  was  very  much  aroused  and  with  Dr.  Leland  and 
many  others  warmly  approved  my  course.  The  Voluntary 
Controversy  of  Boards  was  then  rife.  Dr.  P.  I  know  regretted 
his  course  and  lived  to  change  his  views. 

REV.  THOS.  SMYTH 

Dec.   19,   1842. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Marriage  of  ^^^^^  y^^  '^^  ^^  ^^^  favour  to  lend  me  again 

a  deceased  Abp.  Whatclcy's'  vcry  interesting  work.  My 
wife's  sister,  friend  Dr.  Moultrie  wishes  to  read  it  and  in  his 
hands  I  will  guarantee  its  careful  preservation. 

While  writing,  I  will  take  the  occasion  to  refer  to  another 
subject.  I  am  about  to  give  up  the  pew  I  have  long  held  in 
the  Church  for  which  you  perform,  so  exceedingly  well,  the 
duties  of  Pastor.  It  is  not  on  account  of  any  difference  of 
opinion  or  any  sectarian  feelings  that  I  thus  part  from  so  many 
of  my  friends.  Far  from  it,  I  am  in  fraternity  with  the  whole 
Christian  world,  and  am  satisfied  that  there  is  common  ground 
enough  in  essentials,  to  afford  me  standing  room  with  almost 
every  denomination  of  Christians. 

But  the  late  decision  of  the  General  Assembly  concerning 
marriage  with  a  sister-in-law^  renders  it  impossible  for  me  to 
remain  in  connection  with  the  congregation  of  any  Church 
adhering  to  that  Assembly.  My  acquiescence  would  be  a 
direct  insult  to  the  memory  of  my  wife — at  whose  instance 
indeed  it  was  that  I  did  not  at  once  give  up  my  pew,  as  soon 
as  the  decision  was  promulgated.  She  urged  that  it  would 
be  better  to  wait  awhile,  in  order  that  the  act  might  be  delib- 
erate, and  not  even  seem  to  be  prompted  by  a  hasty  resent- 
ment. 

My  regret  at  the  necessity  of  taking  this  step  proceeds 
chiefly,  if  not  indeed  exclusively,  from  the  personal  regard 
which  I  entertain  for  you,  and  which  makes  it  painful  to  do 
anything  that  may  appear  to  imply  the  least  diminution  of  the 
respect  and  esteem  which  I  have  long  felt  for  you. —  And  with 
which  I  continue  to  be 

My  Dear  Sir,  Your  Friend  and  Serv't 

SAM'L  HENRY  DICKSON.* 

^Dr.  Smyth  mentions  the  works  of  Archbishop  Whatley's  in 
Chap.  "1846."  and  refers  constantly  to  them  in  his  religious  pub- 
lications.— Ed. 

^See  p.  61,  for   Dr.   Smyth's   views. — Ed. 

^He  brought  up  his  family  in  the  Unitarian  Church  in  an  effort 
to  get  as  far  from  Presbyterianism  as  possible. — Ed. 


181 

Letter  in  reference   to   Dr.   Smyth's   first   call  to   Duane   Street 
Church,   in   New   York. — Editor. 


Dear  Bro : 


COLUMBIA,  May  31,  1844. 


Call  to  Duane 

St.   Church  On   the   other   hand   we   need   you   here ;   your 

disapproved       position  here  is  important,  vour  church  occupies 

by    Dr.    Howe.  .     ,  ,.  .,        ,.  -■'  ,  . 

an  interesting  situation,  as  the  only  representative 
of  the  whole  truth  in  the  Capital  of  the  State.  *  *  There 
are  some  of  our  interests,  the  Missionary  for  instance,  specially 
resting  upon  you.  We  are  living  in  seasons  of  conflict  and 
anticipated  change,  and  we  need  your  services.     *     *     * 

Very  truly  yours, 

Geo  Howe." 

A  letter  written  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  from  my  Aunt  Magee's 
house  to  the  Members  of  the  Second  Presbyf"  Ch.  & 
Congregation. 

DUBLIN,  Sep.  17,  1844. 
MY  DEAR  FRIENDS, 

Death  of  -'-    expected    to    write    you    from    this    place    in 

George  Mof-  great  pleasure  as  the  time  of  my  return  draws 
fett,  Elder.  ^^  apacc,  but  alas  what  sad  and  afflictive  intel- 
ligence awaited  my  arrival  this  morning  .  Our  church  is  again 
bereaved  and  covered  with  the  gloom  of  sadness.  *  *  Amid 
all  our  other  difficulties,  one  of  the  greatest  has  been  to  find 
The  Church's  right-hearted  and  right-minded  and  right-handed 
need  of  men,  who  were  willing  to  assume  the  honorable, 

elders.  ^^^  oncrous  and  responsible  office  of  the  eldership* 

and  to  consecrate  a  portion  of  their  time  and  whatever  talents 
they  possessed  to  the  service  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of 
God :  You  have  many  of  you  shrunk  from  the  work,  excus- 
ing yourselves  either  by  your  farm  or  your  merchandise,  or 
your  want  of  that  measure  of  grace  and  fitness,  which  it  was 
your  duty  to  possess  and  your  privilege  to  seek   in  earnest 

'One  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Dr.  Smyth's  time,  the  historian  of  the  Synod  of  So.  Ca.;  a 
large,  rugged  man,  lame,  but  of  distinguished  bearing,  he  was 
always  calm  and  cool,  no  matter  how  heated  the  discussion.  He 
was  known  as  the  only  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  Seminary 
who  could  converse  in  Latin.  He  was  always  Dr.  Smyth's  staunch 
friend. — Ed. 

'See  Dedication  of  Dr.  Smyth's  Eldership,  vol.  IV,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 


183 

prayer  from  the  gracious  Head  of  the  Church.  Thus  from 
your  lack  of  devotedness  and  zeal,  the  Church  has  remained 
unofficered,  the  hands  of  your  pastor  unsustained  and  the 
general  duties  of  the  eldership  in  a  great  measure  unattended 
to. —  And  when  it  pleased  God  to  put  it  into  the  heart  of  a 
Thomas,  a  Wright,  an  Anthony,  an  O'Neal,  a  Simonton,  and 
a  Moffett  to  break  through  all  difficulties  and,  while  conscious 
of  much  weakness  and  unfitness  for  anything  like  a  perfect 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  the  office,  to  obey  the  wishes  of  the 
Church  and  to  consecrate  themselves  to  its  service,  how  has 
He  cut  them  down  one  after  another,  prostrated  them  in  the 
very  midst  of  their  successful  labours,  and  left  us  again  to 
exclaim,  "There  are  none  that  are  willing  to  consecrate  them- 
selves to  the  work  of  the  Lord  and  to  come  up  to  his  help  in 
a  diligent  and  faithful  exercise  of  this  most  important  service." 
Ah  yes !  I  look  back  upon  the  graves  of  these  standard  bearers, 
who  have  fallen  one  at  my  right  hand  and  the  other  at  my  left, 
and  I  feel  like  some  captain  on  the  field  of  battle  who  beholds 
the  enemy  rushing  on  with  fierce  hate  and  determined  slaughter, 
while  he  sees  his  own  few  and  scattered  troops  stript  of  their 
leaders,  and  left  to  meet  the  onset  in  their  own  single  and  ir- 
regular and  disunited  force. 

The  good,  the  generous,  the  kind-hearted,  the  ever  friendly, 
the  ever  sympathizing  and  encouraging  Moflfett  is  also  gone, 
and  I  can  only  again  see  him  by  fulfilling  his  dying  wish  that 
I  should  meet  him  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father,  when  He 
comes  to  distribute  crowns  to  all  His  victorious  soldiers.  In 
the  midst  of  growing  fitness  for  the  work  and  increasing  ac- 
ceptance and  usefulness  in  it,  thou  art  gone  to  the  grave,  and 
thy  sun  has  set  at  mid-day !  Oh  yes !  thou  knewest  well  that 
I  loved  thee  and  would  weep  bitterly  for  thy  fall  as  I  now  do. 
But  thou  thyself  hast  administered  consolation  and  "I  will  not 
deplore  thee."  Yes,  "it  is  well."  Thy  sun  has  set,  but  it  has 
arisen  in  brighter  glory  in  a  cloudless  sky,  and  though  dead 
thou  yet  speakest  to  us  by  thy  dying  declaration  to  my  own 
beloved  partner ;  'T  know  Dr.  Smyth  will  feel  it,  but  it  will  be 
a  loud  call  to  the  remaining  members  of  the  Church  to  come 
up  to  his  help  and  to  fill  up  the  place  I  have  so  feebly  filled." 

Brethren,  will  you  not  hear  this  voice,  re-echoed  as  it  is  by 
my  own  solemn  entreaty?  Will  not  those  to  whom  the  eyes 
of  all  have  been  directed  say,  "Here  Lord  are  we,  send  us  into 
this  field  of  usefulness."  *  *  Finally  brethren  pray  for  the 
bereaved  widow  and  fatherless  children     *     *     * 

Your  devoted  pastor  in  the  Lord, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


183 

Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  writes  from  New  York  to 
Account  by  his  friend  Dr.  John  Hall,  on  Oct.  30,  1844:  "Smyth 
Dr.  Alexander  ^^^  Charleston)  came  in  the  Western,  bringing  $1,500 
of  Dr.  Smyth's  r    u       ^  vi,    u-  xr  11    j  ■ 

book  purchase,    worth    of    Dooks    With    him.      He   was    called    on    im- 
promptu,   in    the    farewell    Missionary    meeting,    on 
Sunday,    and    made    an    admirable    address."      See    "Forty    Years 
Familiar  Letters  of  James  W.  Alexander,"  vol.  II,  p.  8. 

Two  other  quotations  from  Dr.  Alexander's  letters  have  place, 
and  require  explanation  here,  as  referring  especially  to  Dr.  Smyth's 
life  in  his  Church.  On  page  24,  2nd  vol.,  Dr.  Alexander  writes 
from  New  York,  on  March  19,   1845: 

"Smyth's    book    against    Confirmation    is    nearly 
Confirmation      ^^^^  ^j^j^  ^^  appendix,  almost  as  long  as  the  book, 
sion  of  Faith,    defending    the    public    aisle-profession,    and    anxious 
stand,  of  non-communicants." 

On  page  49,  March  24,  1846,  "Dr.  Smyth  has  come  over  to  our 
views,  against  public  aisle-covenant,  at  communions,  after  practis- 
ing thirty  years  the  other  way." 

Dr.  Alexander  has  misconstrued  Dr.  Smyth's  position  entirely 
if  his  opinion  can  be  judged  by  the  records.  The  appendix  to 
which  Dr.  Alexander  refers  (see  Confirmation  Examined,  vol. 
Ill,  p.  275,  Smyth's  Works)  is  an  account  of  the  method  advocated 
and  practised  by  him  for  thirteen  (not  thirty,)  years  and  by  the 
congregation  before  that,  together  with  the  form  used  by  him 
during  his  ministry  and  by  his  successors,  without  a  break  in  the 
continuity,  as  shown  by  the  Church  Manuals  giving  the  list  of 
names  added  at  each  communion.  Dr.  Smyth  never  used  "anxious 
seats,"  but  usually  insisted  on  a  period  of  probation  before  the 
candidate  was  admitted.  In  1846  he  admitted  106  members  to  the 
Church  at  the  April  Communion.  Of  these  sixteen  were  coloured. 
— Editor. 

Mr.  John  Gihon  built  a  house  in  Fifth  Avenue 
at  a  cost  of  $90,000,  and  held  pews  both  in  Dr. 
Alexander's  and  in  Dr.  Potts'  church ;  he  was  a  great  personal 
friend,  with  ^whom  I  have  several  times  domesticated.' 

NEW  YORK,  [  ?]   12,  1849. 
MY  DEAR  SIR : 

Second  call  ^     havc    uot    sccu    or    heard    of    you    for    a 

to  Duane  long    time.       You    are    no    doubt    aware    that 

street  Church.   ^^^    Duanc     St.     Church,    by    the     removal    of 
Dr.    Alexander^    to    Princeton,    is    again    without    a    pastor. 

'Dr.  Smyth  makes  use  of  Lord  Chesterfield's  phrase.  Dr. 
George  Potts  had  formerly  been  pastor  of  the  Duane  St.  Church 
but  was  now  at  the  University  Place  Church. — Ed. 

°Dr.  James  W.  Alexander  "the  perfect  pastor"  son  of  Dr. 
Archibald  Alexander  of  Princeton.  He  was  a  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth. 
For  letters  from  him  see  "Authorship"  and  "Incidents." — Ed. 


184 

I  do  not  now  belong  to  that  Church,  but  now  write 
you  at  the  request  of  a  member  of  it  to  ask  you  whether  in  case 
you  got  a  call  from  the  Duane  St.  Congregation  you  would 
accept  of  it.  Your  reply  will  be  considered  confidential  and 
will  not  go  farther  than  myself  and  the  person  alluded  to  (who 
I  may  as  well  tell  you  is  Mr.  Stephen  Whitney.) 

I  dont  know  what  salary  the  church  now  gives,  but  if  you 
conclude  on  taking  the  matter  into  consideration  I  can  get  for 
you  all  the  particulars  you  may  desire. 

Will  you  oblige  me  by  giving  as  early  a  reply  as  you  can? 
My  family  are  I  am  happy  to  say  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
usual  good  health  &  Mrs.  Gihon  joins  me  in  kind  remem- 
brances to  yourself  &  good  wife. 

Please  present  our  joint  respects  to  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Adger  & 
family  &  believe  me  ever  dear  Sir 

Yr.  friend 
(The  JOHN  GIHON. 

Rev.  T.  Smyth) 

CHARLESTON,  Dec.  2.  1849. 

In  regard  to  the  leading  purpose  of  your  letter  I  would 
return  thanks  to  Mr.  Whitney  &  my  kind  friends  for  their 
remembrance  of  me,  &  their  disposition  to  manifest  towards 
me  the  highest  consideration  &  regard.  I  am  free  to  say  that 
a  removal  to  your  city  would  in  itself  be  very  grateful  to  me, 
as  I  have  long  believed  a  northern  climate  would  be  most  con- 
genial to  my  constitution.  But  my  family  is  now  large — my 
library  very  extensive — my  expenses  necessarily  heavy — &  the 
difficulties  of  a  removal  in  many  respects  great.  Our  church 
here  is  at  present  undergoing  very  extensive  alterations  &  re- 
pairs to  be  finished  in  a  week,  with  new  pews  &c.  And  I  am 
not  therefore  prepared  to  ofifer  any  encouragement  to  my 
kind  friends,  or  divert  their  attention  from  a  more  suitable  & 
certain  minister. — 

You  will  present  my  best  thanks  to  Mr.  Whitney  &  sincere 
regards  of  Mrs.  S.  &  myself  to  Mrs.  Gihon. — • 

I  remain 
most  sincerely 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


185 
Letter  to  Second  Church  from  Dublin. 

DUBLIN,  Oct.  1850/ 
TO  MESSRS., 

DUKES.  DEWEES,  WILSON,  BANKS,  HARRALL, 
WRIGHT  &  ADGER; 

DEAR  BRETHREN, 

I   cannot   sufficiently   express   my   thankfulness 
ara  ysis,  ^^^  extreme  pleasure  in  hearing,  though  not  yet 

officially,  of  the  permanent  arrangement  you  have 
made  for  another  year  with  our  mutually  esteemed  and  valued 
friend  Mr.  Jacobs.  You  have  thus  done  what  will  I  hope 
effectually  preserve  the  peace,  unity,  purity  &  prosperity  of 
our  beloved  church — ^give  the  highest  possible  proof  of  your 
affectionate  interest  in  my  welfare  and  of  your  desire  for  my 
continuance  among  you — and  do  all  in  your  power  to  give 
success  to  my  present  efforts  to  retain  my  health,  by  calming 
all  my  anxieties,  and  filling  me  with  peaceful  hope  &  confi- 
dence. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  as  it  regards  my  general  health  I  am 
quite  as  well  as  I  have  been  for  many  years  back  and  though 
still  troubled  with  my  throat,  arm  and  side,  I  sincerely  hope 
that  complete  relaxation  &  travel  &c.  will  eventually  &  effectu- 
ally remove,  or  greatly  ameliorate  them,  and  that  by  next  fall 
I  shall  be  permitted,  by  a  gracious  providence,  to  resume  my 
ministry  among  you. 

I  have  been  much  solicited  to  remain  here  and 
?ii  *e  ^^^^^  accept  a  professorship  in  my  Aunt's  College, 
which  is  regarded  here  as  a  high  appointment. 
But  I  am  in  nothing  moved  from  my  hope  and  wish  to  remain 
and  abide  with  a  people  who  have  done  so  much  for  me,  and 
are  willing  to  do  more  to  accommodate  my  weakness  of  body 
than  any  others.  Our  union  too,  of  some  twenty  years,  has 
been  cemented  by  many  very  hallowed  &  endearing  recollec- 
tions &  events  which  link  us  together  by  all  the  ties  of  mem- 
ory, hope  and  sorrow,  by  all  that  is  solemn  in  death  &  life. 

"Dr.  Smyth  having  been  paralysed  on  the  left  side  of  his  body 
in  the  Spring  of  1850,  had  gone  abroad  for  rest  and  advice,  and 
remained  aw^ay  for  eighteen  months.  Full  details  will  be  found 
under  corresponding  dates  in  "Incidents  of  my  li,fe."  The  pre- 
vious attack  of  vi^hich  he  speaks  was  most  probably  his  illness  of 
1846.  He  was  so  often  ill  and  his  memory  for  dates  so  poor  that 
we  cannot  follow  him  exactly  and  no  such  illness  occurred  in 
1844.  From  now  on  he  frequently  spent  a  part  of  the  Summer  on 
Sullivan's   Island. — Ed. 


186 

These  many  &  multiplying  ties  are  destined  I  trust  in  the 
good  providence  of  God,  to  be  made  firmer  and  brighter  by 
the  restoration  of  my  health  &  the  opportunity  of  yet  long 
continued  &  mutual  relations  as  pastor  &  Session.  I  send  you 
for  your  perusal  (when  you  write  please  give  them  to  Mrs. 
Smyth,)  the  opinions  of  Sir  Henry  Marsh  &  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Stokes.  These  opinions  are  strong  and  decided 
fg'^e^^^'^'  ^  founded  not  merely  on  my  last  attack  but  also 

on  the  previous  one  in  1844  and  on  a  state  of 
nervous  and  digestive  suffering  for  many  years  of  which  no 
one,  not  even  in  my  family — has  had  any  adequate  idea.  I 
cannot  however  but  hope  that,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
I  may  by  next  fall  be  so  far  improved  as  to  be  able  with 
shorter  services,  to  undertake,  at  least  in  winter,  two  services 
on  Sabbath  and  from  Nov.  till  May,  one  Thurday  lecture.  An 
island  residence  and  a  few  weeks  recreation  in  the  summer, 
would  I  hope,  carry  me  through  that  season.  Perhaps  also 
you  might  approve  of  securing  the  assistant  services  of  Mr. 
Jacobs,  or  some  other  &  perhaps  younger  minister  for  the 
year,  so  as  to  secure  without  the  dangers  of  a  copastorship, 
the  full  &  efficient  supply  of  all  the  wants  of  the  congregation, 
even  should  it,  as  we  must  hope  it  will,  increase.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Jacobs  could  do  this  &  continue  a  Select  School. 

The  details  however  I  leave  to  you  &  to  future  conference. 
My  present  object  is  to  bring  before  you  the  views  of  my 
eminent  advisers  and  at  the  same  time  to  express  my  own 
candid  and  sincere  attachment  to  you  and  to  our  church  and 
my  grateful  sense  of  all  your  kindness. 

But  on  that  generosity  I  would  not  impose,  nor  would  I 
sacrifice  the  interests  of  the  church  to  any  personal  consid- 
erations. On  this  point  you  know  I  charged  you  when  leav- 
ing. And  as  providence  might  open  up  some  other  field 
adapted  to  the  strength  He  gives  me,  I  would  have  you  delib- 
erate &  act  with  a  single  eye  to  the  interests  of  the  church  & 
the  community. 

I  will  be  most  happy  to  hear  from  you  unitedly  &  separately. 
You  are  each  &  all  ever  in  my  heart,  my  thoughts  &  my  pray- 
ers. Brethren,  pray  for  me  &  Believe  me  to  be  with  deep  & 
sincere  Aff : 

Your  Servant  in  the  Lord 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


187 

On  the  occasion  of  my  paralysis  on  June  -?p  or  jo  in 
Washington  Depot. 

CHARLESTON,  July  25,  1853. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

I  feel  grateful  to  the  Congregation,  that  passed 

araysis,  ^^^  above  Preamble^  and  Resolutions,  for  appoint- 

1853-  .  ,    .  .  .    .      '  ^^ 

mg  me  their  organ  m  transmitting  the  same  to 

you.     The  sympathy  and  kind  regards  therein  expressed  are, 

I  doubt  not,  the  real  sentiments  of  all  hearts.     They  would 

have  been  expressed  before,  but  there  was  some  uncertainty 

in  the  minds  of  some,  as  to  the  course  which  you  would  take, 

whether  to  come  South  or  go  North.     And  it  is  proverbial 

that  large  bodies  move  slowly.     I  have  seen  but  one  feeling 

exhibited   in   the   congregation,   in    respect   to   yourself,   since 

your  illness,  and  that  is  of  sympathy  and  regard.    The  prayers 

of  the  church,  both  in  the  public  services  of  the  Sanctuary, 

and  in  the  social  prayer-meeting,  ascend  to  Heaven  on  your 

behalf.   May  they  be   heard   and   answered.     *     *     Give   my 

kindest  regards  to  Mrs  Smyth,  Miss  Jane  Ann,^  and  to  Adger. 

^         jj;         jjc 

I  remain  as  ever 

Your  Sincere  friend 

D.  L.  BUTTOLPH.^ 

CHARLESTON,  Oct.  3,  1855. 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND  &  PASTOR, 

I  sincerely  rejoice  to  learn,  since  my  return  home,  that  your 
visit  to  the  Hot  Springs  of  Virginia^  has  benefited  you  so 
much.  I  heard  occasionally  of  you,  while  away,  but  nothing 
definite  until  my  arrival  in  New  York, — There  I  received  let- 
ters from  home  which  told  me  you  were  much  improved  in 
health  and  strength. 

I  subsequently  met  with  a  gentleman  in  Washington — a 
Lieutenant  Reill,  I  think  of  the  Navy,  who  spent  some  time  at 
the  Springs  with  you,  who  gave  me  a  very  favourable  account 
of  your  health.  This  to  me  and  my  daughters  was  very 
gratifying — But  when  I  saw  Robert  Adger,  on  my  return 
home,  and  heard  him  confirm  all — and  more  than  I  had  dared 

^In  the  original  MS.  the  resolutions  are  enclosed.  They  are 
dated  July  24,  1853  and  were  offered  by  Mr.  Robert  C.  Gilchrist. 
—Ed. 

^Mrs.  Smyth's  youngest  sister. — Ed. 

^An  account  of  Mr.  Buttolph  may  be  found  on  p.  201. — Ed. 

*See  letter  from  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander,  "Incidents,"   1855. — Ed. 


188 

to  hope — I  felt  more  than  I  can  express,  of  gratitude  to  God 
for  his  mercy  to  you,  and  to  our  Church — Oh  may  it  please 
Him,  to  make  us  all  more  faithful — more  willing  to  conse- 
crate all  that  we  have  and  are  to  His  service. 

I  think  for  one  I'll  try — and  pray  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
take  possession  of  my  heart  and  make  me  what  I  ought  to  be — 
a  faithful  labourer  in  my  Master's  Vineyard — ^I  ask  my  dear 

Pastor's  prayer  in  my  behalf,  and  that  of  my  dear  Children. — 
*     *     * 

I  am,  yours  in  the  best  of  Bonds, 

W.  C.  DUKES. 

Written  probably  by  Dr.  Kirkpatrick. 

THE  SYNOD  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
1858. 

The  Sumter  Watchman  says,  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
closed  its  annual  sessions  in  that  place,  on  Saturday  night  last, 
at  II  o'clock.     *     *     * 

On  Wednesday  morning  Dr.  Smyth  delivered  a 
R^h'ab  °"  most  edifying  and  affecting  sermon  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  revivals.  Though  weak  in  body,  his  vig- 
orous mind  is  unimpaired,  and  the  glow  of  zeal  and  piety 
remains  in  full  force.  Dr.  Thornwell  was  called  away  on 
Saturday  by  afflictions  in  his  congregation,  and  thus  many  who 
expected  to  hear  him  were  disappointed.  But  Dr.  Howe,  who 
was  appointed  to  fill  his  place,  did  it  most  nobly. 

Dr    Ad  er  ^^-  ^dgcr  was  inaugurated  Professor  of  Ec- 

made  Profes-  clcsiastical  History  in  the  Seminary  at  Columbia, 
sor  in  Semi-  fjg  jg  ^  gentleman  of  fine  abilities,  and  a  fit  col- 
^^^^'  league  of  Drs.  Leland,  Howe  and  Thornwell. 

Dr.  McBryde,  a  returned  missionary  from  China,  was  elected 
Moderator,  and  presided  with  dignity  and  efficiency. 

We  were  pleased  to  see  among  us  once  more 
^/'  ^'  ^'         Dr.  T.  L.  Wilson,  who  is  a  native  of  our  District, 

Wilson.  -'  '  _  ,       ' 

and  was  for  fifteen  years  a  missionary  in  Africa, 
but  now  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions.  He  delivered  on  Saturday  a  most  stirring 
address  upon  the  subject  of  Foreign  Missions. 


189 
From  Mr.  Wright,  Ruling  Elder,  while  at  Aiken,  S.  C. 

AIKEN  SO.  CA.  July  20,  1858. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth, 

My  dear  Pastor, 
^'^Tv  ^"7^^        You  are  aware  of  our  effort  to  establish  a  Pres- 

established. 

byterian  Church  in  this  place  under  the  ministra- 
tion of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carroll,  it  is  progressing  with  the  most 
flattering  prospect,  he  'appears  to  be  just  the  minister  we 
wanted,  one  well  suited  for  the  work,  and  is  preaching  with 
great  acceptance  to  all.  It  is  his  wish  to  organize  the  Church 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  I  now  write  to  request  of  you  Letters 
of  dismissal  for  Mrs.  Wright  and  myself,  which  we  request 
with  great  reluctance,  not  willing  to  leave  the  Church  where 
our  fathers  worshipped,  where  we  were  brought  up  and  where 
we  trust  our  hearts  were  renewed  under  your  faithful  and 
God  blessed  preaching,  but  feel  it  our  duty  for  the  cause  of 
Christ.  In  all  human  probability  it  will  be  a  change  for  only 
a  few  weeks  for  me,  my  health  is  failing  fast,  my  strength 
completely  gone,  that  I  cannot  go  about  without  assistance, 
and  I  only  wait  my  Father's  time  when  he  shall  remove  [me] 
to  his  rest  there  to  be  with  Jesus  and  those  who  I  trust  to 
meet  there  with  him,  and  dear  Pastor  may  I  be  another  star 
in  your  crown  when  we  shall  there  meet. 

Yours  very  truly  and  sincerely 

Robert  S.  Wrisrht. 


Paralysis, 


A  Providential   ejection  such  as   I  anticipated^ 
seemed  intended  first  by  my  paralysis,   and  still 

more  by  the  B Catastrophe'  in  1856. 

My  paralysis  was  the  result  of  long  precedent  causes  I  pre- 

'See  p.   166.— Ed. 

'Mr.   B was  a  Child  of  the   Church  and  his  mother  an 

aboriginal   Flinnite,  a  Mother  in   Israel   &  greatly  beloved. — T.   S. 

During  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's  absences  in  Virginia  there  were 
accusations  brought  against  this  man,  resulting  in  a  Church 
trial  0;f  which,  to  Dr.  Smyth's  great  distress,  he  was  not  informed, 
owing  to  the  anxiety  of  his  friends  concerning  his  health.  He 
knew  nothing  of  it  until  his  return  in  the  Autumn.  Having  al- 
ways considered  a  formal  judicial  trial  "as  the  most  dreaded  of 
all  possible  evils"  Dr.  Smyth  had,  on  previous  occasions,  ad- 
monished or  disciplined  the  offender  without  public  notice  being 
attracted.  He  was  therefore  much  incensed  at  the  trial  having 
taken  place  in  his  absence,  denouncing  the  action  of  Session  as 
unpresbyterian.  He  refers  to  this  and  the  resulting  discontent 
in  the  Church  as  "this  dark  dispensation." — Ed. 


190 

sume, — as  a  naturally  unduly,  or  abnormally  excitable  ner- 
vous temperament,  2.  a  life  of  unintermitted  study — 3.  a  labo- 
rious ministry  and  protracted  seasons  of  revival,^  visiting, 
conversing  &c.  4.  In  connection  with  this,  very  severe  and 
continuous  literary  labour  in  the  preparation  of  "Unity  of  the 
Races.""  5.  Long  endured  and  violent,  sick,  nervous  headaches 
followed  by  great  languor  and  exhaustion  and  the  process  re- 
curring with  increasing  frequency  and  fatality.  I  have  been 
often  so  over-worn  as  to  preach  only  under  an  excitement 
greater  than  intense  headache,  to  be  followed  by  a  greater 
exacerbation,  and  have  often  composed  when  I  had  to  lie  down 
occasionally  to  settle  the  stomach  and  relieve  unbearable  pain, 
and  then  up  and  at  it  again  until  finished.  I  gave  my  body 
very  little  liberty,  and  have,  I  presume  with  too  great  severity, 
required  it  to  keep  study  and  writing  hours.  6.  Our  climate 
had  much  to  do  in  inducing  headache,  depression  &c.  7.  My 
preaching  was  with  a  degree  of  animation,  feeling  and  univer- 
sal nervous  energy,  and  when  in  the  spirit — and  in  prayer — 
with  such  an  absorbing  unction  as  to  leave  great  fatigue  and 
congestive  tension  of  the  brain,  and  pricking  and  tingling  of 
the  whole  covering  of  the  head,  which  only  air,  fanning,  sleep, 
or  galvinism  would  remove.  8.  The  immediate  causes  of  my 
attack  were  preaching  at  Saratoga,  running  about  N.  Y.  and 
Philadelphia  on  Monday,  Tuesday  and  Wednesday — anxiety 
to  get  home  and  preach  on  the  4th  of  July  Sunday — a  spell  of 
excessively  hot  weather  (The  Smithsonian  reported  106°  in 
shade) — hunger  almost  to  faintness,  even  at  Baltimore,  where 
I  had  no  time  to  eat — a  thundergust  on  the  way  to  Washing- 
ton and  sudden  chilling  while  I  was  asleep  with  the  left  leg 
in  a  state  of  tension,  over  the  other,  and  against  the  seat  in 
front,  and  perhaps  an  over  pressure  of  the  Sciatic  nerve  or 
effusion  of  Serum.  I  had  given  my  check  to  the  Baggage 
Master  and  arranged  to  take  supper  on  the  boat  on  the  way 
to  Richmond,  and  was  making  my  way  out  of  the  cars,  hav- 
ing passed  two  seats,  when  I  fell  squat  on  the  floor — opposite 
a  lady  and  her  husband  who  was  on  crutches  from  a  similar 
attack.  She  was  very  much  and  rudely  excited,  and  very 
peremptory  in  tone,  and  afterwards  took  my  carriage.  By  the 
time  I  could  get  the  Conductor,  I  knew  I  was  paralyzed  and 
not  asleep  in  my  limbs.  I  felt  an  instant  and  calm  submission 
to  the  will  of  God — blessed  be  His  name — I  had  not  lost  con- 
sciousness, nor  speech,  nor  the  sense  of  hunger.     On  reaching 

*The  Revival  of   1846  was  followed  by  an  attack  of  illness,   as 
well  as  that  of  1858. — Ed. 

'Published  in  1850  and  followed  by  an  attack  of  paralysis. — Ed. 


191 

the  Rev.  Mr.  Eckard's^  house,  I  told  him  what  had  happened 
and  that,  although  it  seemed  ridiculous  and  rude,  I  could  not 
but  tell  him  /  had  been,  and  was,  very  hungry.  This  I  told 
Dr.  Jackson  (  ?)  who  soon  came  and  he  allowed  me  tea  and 
toast;  the  next  day  he  dry  cupped  my  lowest  spine  where — 
and  not  higher — the  attack  was  seated.  Even  the  next  day, 
when  left  alone,  I  managed  with  the  help  of  bed  post  and 
chair  to  make  a  mechanical  pillar  of  my  limb,  and  thus  to 
stand,  and  get  about  the  room ;  and  in  six  days — with  crutches^ 
— I  left  for  Newport  in  easy  stages,  being  carried  to  and  from 
cars,  hotels  and  tables.  At  the  Metropolitan  Hotel  in  N.  Y. 
I  was  carried  on  a  man's  shoulder  from  the  third  story,  though 
I  had  begun  to  walk  about.  While  here  Dr.  E.  Prime  of  the 
N.  Y.  Observer  called  and  told  me  the  report  was  that  I  was 
dead  or  dying,  and  that  he  had  written  a  corresponding  notice 
for  the  paper  which  my  appearance  had  just  stopped.  Some 
such  did  appear  and  one  very  learnedly  accounted  for  my  ill- 
ness, and  also  remarked  that  truly  great  men  did  not  seem  to 
die  at  top —  e.g.  Clay,  Webster  &c. 

At  Newport — and   I   ought  to  have  been  sent 
New'  ort  ^P   ^°   thcsc   Warm   and   Hot    Springs' — my   ap- 

pearance and  the  daily  desperate  energy  of  will 
and  boldness  of  venture  and  self  possession —  attracted  much 
attention  and  sympathy.  I  soon  walked  out  alone  and  insisted 
on  driving,  though  m}^  arm  was  very  stiff  and  awkward.  On 
one  occasion  I  had  passed  the  Ocean  Hotel  Street  and  was 
returning  and  had  got  on  the  road,  when  I  saw 
bei -control       ^   swift,    fashiouablc   tandem   vehicle   coming   on 

m    danger.  '  ° 

my  track  and  so  near  that  I  could  not  go  forward, 
and  I  had  then  no  power  to  go  back.  So  I  braced  up  on  my 
crutches,  and  stood  still,  and  let  it  graze  past.  Several  were 
looking  on  in  expectation  of  my  destruction  but  incapable  of 
rendering  any  help.  A  gentleman  drove  up  and  insisted  on 
carrying  me  home.     But  I  insisted,  with  suitable  thanks,  on 

^Dr.  James  Read  Eckard  of  the  New  York  Ave.  Church  of 
Washington,  who  had  been  first  a  lawyer  then  a  missionary  to 
Ceylon. — Ed. 

^After  this  attack,  Dr.  Smyth  was  unable  to  stand  without  the 
support  of  crutches  or  of  two  walking  sticks.  To  enable  him  to 
retain  an  upright  position  in  the  pulpit  and  have  his  hands  free, 
he  had  constructed  a  mahogany  rest  for  his  back,  with  a  narrow 
padded  seat  on  which  he  sat  astride  as  in  a  saddle.  This  was 
used  by  him  the  rest  of  his  life. — Ed. 

^Almost  all  of  the  text  of  this  autobiography  was  written  at  the 
Virginia  Springs. — Ed. 


192 

walking,  and  did,  finding  my  family  in  much  alarm  from  the 
account  they  had  received. 

To  this  self-reliant,  self  possessing  controul,  I  owe  the  pres- 
ervation of  my  life  on  several  occasions — -once  in  youth,  when 
■my  horse  ran  off  and  the  saddle  turned  completely  und.er,  I 
got  loose  and  threw  myself  beyond  him,  and  afterwards  re- 
mounted—  2,  once  while  at  Princeton  when  riding  to  N. 
Brunswick,  my  horse,  in  coming  down  a  height  of  some  6  or 
8  feet  on  the  side  of  the  road,  up  which  I  had  gone  to  get  a 
view,  slipped  and  fell  head-long  to  the  road,  when  I  was  able 
calmly  to  wait  till  my  feet  were  on  a  level,  then  step  off,  keep- 
ing hold  of  the  bridle,  and  afterwards  re-mount. —  3.  and  4. 
twice  when  thrown  at  a  canter  in  the  streets  of  Charleston  by 
the  horse  falling  his  whole  length  in  consequence  of  holes  and 
a  blind  eye. —  5.  and  6.,  twice  since  paralyzed  when  my  horse 
kicked  back  and  broke  the  front  of  the  vehicle,  and  7,  once 
ran  at  full  gallop  from  Race  Course  to  the  Battery.  This  last 
was  the  afternoon  of  Preparatory  Lecture  evening,  and  I  had 
only  time,  after  stopping  him  in  deep  sand,  to  swallow  a  cup 
of  tea  and  ride  up  and  Lecture,  nobody  knowing  of  it  till 
afterwards. 

To  this  quality  I  was  indebted  also  for  readiness 
Synod.  Au-       -^  debate,  and  reply,  as  for  instance  at  Augusta 

gusta,    1840.  1  tr  J  J  o 

[1840?],  when  the  Synod  decided  the  question 
of  Boards,"  then  agitated  by  Drs.  Breckenridge,  Thornwell 
and  Palmer,  &c.  Dr.  Thornwell  occupied  the  afternoon  with 
an  elaborate  argument  and  compared  me  to  a  vessel  putting 
to  sea  without  ballast  (which  he  afterwards  generously  re- 
tracted disarming  any  reply).  I  had  made  notes  and  had 
only  the  interval  of  supper  time  for  preparation,  afterwards 
making  a  long  reply,  under  a  severe  headache.  Dr.  Lowrie 
(Sec.)°  was  present  and  when  the  debate  was  taken  at  i 
o'clock  in  morning  we  had  an  overwhelming  majority. 

So  again  on  the  restoration  of  the  Charleston 
vme°'*i8r-'°'''     Union  Presbytery,  I  had  to  leave  the  Moderator's 

chair  and  reply  to  Drs.  Palmer  and  Arnold  Mil- 
ler f  when  my  motion  was  carried  by  three  to  one,  I  think. 

^They  did  not  agree  with  him  as  to  Missionary  Boards.  Dr. 
Howe  describes  him  "In  the  excitement  of  debate  the  whole  man 
transformed,  his  eye  full  of  expression  his  form  taller  seemingly 
than  ever  before."     Hist,  of  Pres.  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  2,  p.  763. — Ed. 

'Dr.  Smyth  evidently  means  John  C.  Lowrie,  D.  D.,  formerly  a 
missionary  to  India,  then  Ass.  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  For. 
Miss. — Ed. 

'Prof,   in   the   Theological    Seminary.      Synod   met   in   Yorkville 


193 

N.  B.  I  wrote  the  preceding  pages  under  ex- 
A  ^  nighty  o  ^  cruciating,  spasmodic,  neuralgic  pains  in  the  ten- 
dons of  my  knee  and  instep,  the  effect  of  which 
will  be  seen  in  the  jerking  character  of  some  of  the  writing. 
It  kept  me  awake  most  of  the  night.  Indeed  I  had  well  nigh 
fainted  in  preparations  for  bed.  I  was  very  faint  and  had 
even  screamed  out;  I  was  led  to  think  of  what  I  was  writing, 
and  of  my  real  spirit  and  motives.  I  tried  to  realize  that  God 
is  a  heart  searcher  and  to  unveil  it  all  to  his  inspection.  I  had 
much  converse  with  him.  I  told  all  to  Jesus.  I  cast  all  upon 
him.  I  asked  him  to  guide  me — if  I  was  wrong  or  improperly 
minded,  to  reveal  even  this  unto  me — to  cleanse  me  from  secret 
faults  and  keep  me  from  sins  of  presumptuous  vanity  or  self- 
seeking  pride.  I  told  him  I  was  a  poor,  perishing,  helpless 
sufferer — perhaps  through  my  own  imprudence  and  fault, 
though  I  could  not  account  for  my  present  severe  attack.  I 
told  him  he  gave  his  beloved  sleep,  but  that  I  could  not  think 
myself  worthy  of  his  love.  I  told  him  I  felt  my  pains  very 
much — writhed  under  them — was  unmanned  and  unmanly — 
and  would  be  glad  to  be  relieved.  But  still  I  felt  it  was  so 
good  to  get  face  to  face  with  Him  and  wrestle  with  Him  for 
His  blessing,  and  that  I  needed  the  humiliation  and  bruising 
under  the  harrow  of  tribulation  so  much,  that  I  would  not  ask 
Him  to  relieve  me,  but  let  Him  do  what  seemed  to  Him  good. 
Only  I  entreated  Him  to  strengthen  and  help  and  have  pity  on 
me  and  not  to  leave  me  alone.  In  language  which  I  had 
admired  and  used  during  the  day  I  said  with  the  old  pilgrim 
Deszler,  1692,  "I  will  not  let  Thee  go.'" 

Thus  the  night  wore  away.  To-day,  Sabbath,  Sep.  11,  1859, 
I  preached  for  Him  to  a  very  earnest,  listening  audience  and 

in  October  1852.  The  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  had  appealed 
to  the  General  Assembly  in  Charleston  in  May  but  was  referred 
to  Synod.  Dr.  Palmer  offered  resolutions,  written  by  Dr.  Thorn- 
well,  but  Dr.  Smyth's  substitute  was  adopted.  Howe's  Hist.,  vol. 
2,  p.  603. — Ed. 

*(Note)  "That  overwhelming  conviction  often  in  the  light  of 
one  higher  and  holier  than  we; — that  irresistiible  impu'lse  to 
prayer  which  bids  us  pour  out  our  Sorrows  and  make  our  wants 
known  to  One  who  hears  and  will  answer  us; — that  indefinable 
but  inextinguishable  consciousness  of  a  direct  intercourse  and 
communion  of  man  with  God,  of  God's  influence  upon  man  and 
(with  reverence  be  it  spoken)  of  man's  influence  upon  God; — 
these  are  facts  of  experience  to  the  full  as  real  and  as  certain  as 
the  laws  of  planetary  motions  and  chemical  affinities."  Hansel's 
Limits  of  Thought.  Lect.  V,  page  175.  (Quote  Lyra  Germanica, 
vol.   I,  pp.  59-60.) — T.  S. 

113] 


194 


tried  to  persuade  them  every  one,  to  come  to  Him  now — then 
and  there  and  just  as  they  were;  and  now  O  Lamb  of  God  I 
come  to  Thee  for  Hfe  and  love,  for  peace  and  pardon,  for 
justification  and  joy,  for  hohness  and  happiness — for  faith 
and  fortitude,  for  living,  dying  and  everlasting  grace. 


On   the   occasion   of  my  paralysis,   I   resigned, 
f8s4^"^*'°"'       ^"^  ^y  people  would  not  concur  and  I  laboured 

with  the  help  of  Assistants  until  the  B 

catastrophe  in  1856. 

Condition  of  When  I  left  Charleston  that  July  for  my  Sum- 
Congregation,  mer  recreation  I  thought  and  said  that  the  Con- 
*^^^-  gregation    never    had    been    in    so    pleasant    and 

prosperous  a  condition.  Since  our  long  and  fruitful  revivaf 
we  had  sent  off  the  large  and  most  influential  body  now  con- 
stituting Glebe  St."  Church,  including  three  Elders  and  all  its 

^This  great  revival  took  place  in  the  Spring  of,  1846.  One  hun- 
dred and  six  Communicants  of  which  16  were  coloured  were 
added  to  the  Church  at  the  April  Communion;  Of  these,  one  was 
Miss  Ellen  Crawford,  a  member  of  Dr.  Smyth's  household.  An 
eye  witness  tells  that  the  middle  aisle  was  filled  back  to  the  door, 
the  negroes  at  the  end  of  the  line.  Dr.  Smyth's  own  account 
may  be  found  in  vol.  VI,  p.  33,  of  his  uniform  works  and  on  p. 
36,  his  account  of  the  one  hundred  and  sixty  coloured  members 
of  his  Church.  Many  more  members  were  added  that  year. 
According  to  a  tradition  among  the  negroes  Dr.  Smyth  preached 
that  Sunday  from  the  text  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  while  the  first  hymn 
sung,  to  the  tune  of  "Nichols"  was  "Mistaken  souls  that  dream 
o,f  Heaven  and  make  their  empty  boast"  the  next  being  "Broad 
is  the  road  that  leads  to  death,"  with  the  tune  "Winchester." 

This  account  is  given  by  C.  Artope,  the  present  sexton  of  the 
Church  and  is  his  Mother's  story.  She  was  a  free  Coloured 
woman,   Harriet  Johnson,  and  sat  in  the  north   gallery. 

It  was  after  this  revival  that  a  colony  was  sent  out  to  form 
Glebe  Street  Church.  This  united  after  the  war  with  the  white 
portion  of  Zion  Congregation  and  finally  became  the  present 
congregation  of  Westminster  Church  which  had  formerly"  been 
called  the  Third  Church.— Ed. 

"The  first  congregation  of  the  Third  Church  a  colony  from 
the  Scotch  Church  was  known  as  St.  Andrews  and  built  a  small 
church  on  Archdale  Street.  This  did  not  succeed  and  the  vacant 
church  was  taken  over  by  a  colony  from  the  Second  Church  in 
1822.  Before  establishment  of  Glebe  St.  Church  in  1847,  Second 
Church  ranked  as  seventh  in  importance  of  all  the  Old  School 
churches.  The  congregation  qf  Zion  Church  was  drawn  from  the 
membership   of  Second   Church  in   1859. — Ed. 


195 

present  officers,  Elders  and  Deacons,  with  I  believe  two 
exceptions.  And  yet  the  congregation  had  filled  up.  The 
number  of  pews  had  been  again  and  again  increased  by  filling 
up  the  broad  cross  aisle  and  closing  the  N.  &  S.  doors.  But 
the  demand  was  still  greater  than  the  supply  and  several  val- 
uable additions  could  not  be  accommodated.  The  Sabbath 
School  was  extraordinarily  prosperous.  There  was  a  hopeful 
state  of  religious  feeling  in  many  cases.  The  meetings  of 
Session  were  vigorous  and  the  Deaconship  most  energetic. 
The  Rev.  Henry  M.  Smith  was  labouring  with  indefatigable 
energy  as  Assistant  minister.  The  N.  E.  &  N.  W.  territories 
of  the  city  had  been  surveyed  and  mapped  out  as  fields  of 
Church  Extension.  At  our  last  meeting  of  Session,  then  nine 
in  number,  it  was  stronger  than  ever  before,  the  only  question 
undecided  about  a  move  for  another  church  was  who  would 
leave,  and  very  encouraging  reports  of  Eldership  visitation 
were  made.     *     *     * 

The  result  of  this  last  revival  in  the  church 
[in  1858 — Ed.]  and  in  melting  down  all  isolating 
feelings  would  have  been  very  different  but  for  a  plan  matured 
during  this  period  and  now,  carried  into  effect,  of  transform- 
ing the  Coloured  Mission  Church  in  Anson  Street^  under  care 
of  Mr.  Girardeau,  into  a  self-sustaining  church  with  white 
Eldership  and  members  of  its  own.  *  *  That  this  could 
be  carried  into  effect  only  by  a  large  and  important  colony 
from  our  church  is  indubitable,  since  it  required  both  great 
and  good  men,  and  large  resources  and  influential  public 
character.  And  all  these  it  found  in  these  Elders  and  in  the 
families  and  friends  they  could  carry  with  them. 

This  scheme  came  before  Presbytery  in  a  report  and  over- 
ture from  Mr.  Campbell,  associated  with  Mr.  Girardeau  by 
Presbytery,  as  from  our  church.  On  asking  the  full  meaning, 
and  receiving  as  answer  that  it  meant  all  that  it  now  is,  I 
supported  the  measure,  and  framed,  or  assisted  in  framing, 
the  resolution  adopted.  I  did  so  in  opposition  to  adverse 
sentiments  expressed  by  Mr.  Lee,  Dr.  Kirkpatrick,  and  others, 
an  apparently  general  feeling,  but  I  did  it  on  the  explicit 
understanding  expressed  on  the  floor,  and  repeatedly  after- 
wards, to  Mr.  Girardeau,  and  others,- — that  in  the  erection  of 
the  proposed  building  mutual  consultation  should  be  had,  and 

^The  Anson  Street  Chapel  had  been  dedicated  to  the  work  for 
the  coloured  people  under  Dr.  John  B.  Adger  on  May  26th  1850. 
Services  had  been  conducted  by  him  before  that  in  the  basement 
of  the  Society  St.  Lecture  Room.  The  work  was  transferred  to 
Dr.  Girardeau  assisted  by  Dr.  Jacobs,  in  1852. 


196 

a  location  chosen  not  interfering  with  any  existing  church,  but 
providing  for  the  long  cherished  desire  of  a  church  in  the 
Western  or  N.  W.  region  of  the  city.  On  this  understanding, 
and  on  this  alone,  the  measure  received  my  cordial  support, 
and  was  adopted  rather  permissively,  than  actively  by  Presby- 
tery which  regarded  the  plan  as  in  effect  an  ultimate  aban- 
donment of  a  separate  coloured  enterprise. 

I  saw  clearly  how  things  were  tending  in  our  church,  and 
that  some  were  dissatisfied  with  my  independent  course.  *  * 
When  therefore  Mr.  Robert  Adger  conferred  with  me  about 
going  down  to  Mr.  Girardeau's  Church,  (which  was  one  Sab- 
bath, after  service,  in  the  porch,  when  I  was  heated  and 
worried,)  I  at  once  replied  to  him  that  the  cause  was  good 
and  great,  and  Mr.  Girardeau  noble  and  devoted,  and  deserv- 
ing of  all  support — that  without  him  or  such,  the  enterprise 
could  not  succeed,  and  that  if  they  would  only  select  a  proper 
location  and  not  interfere  with  any  existing  church,  I  would 
not  say  a  word  to  hinder  him  or  any  others  (and  I  expected  he 
would  influence  many)  from  going — that  I  should  rejoice  to 
see  him  putting  out  all  his  abilities,  which  were  so  great  that 
I  had  often  thought  he  should  have  been  a  minister.  He 
went  immediately,  and  with  him,  or  soon  after,  the  many  more. 

Thus  did  God  work  out  of  all  this  dark  dispensation  the 
grand  result  of  the  noble  and  prosperous  Zion  Church,  in 
which  I  rejoice  and  will  rejoice;  although  in  the  effort  I  made 
to  prevent  the  location  selected  in  the  very  centre  of  existing 
churches,   I   was   resisted   and   my   solemn  protest   unheeded. 

But  however  this  may  have  been,  the  result  has  been  per- 
mitted by  God  to  take  place  under  the  direction  and  controul 
of  His  providence.  And  it  will  work  out  his  purposes  toward 
me,  our  church,  and  all  concerned.  That  I  needed  any  pos- 
sible severity  of  humiliating  chastisement  I  sincerely  admit, 
and  to  all  and  every  such  I  desire  to  bow  in  childlike  submis- 
sion and  confiding  love.  That  our  church  had  justly  called 
down  a  like  severity  for  a  course  so  strangely  uncharitable, 
unpresbyterian,^  schismatic  and  injurious  to  our  cause,  as  well 
as  for  pride  and  worldliness,  I  have  candidly  believed.  And 
that  God  in  his  infinite  wisdom  and  mercy  brought  good  out 
of  evil,  and  made  the  wrath  of.  men  to  praise  him,  and  will 
make  the  errors  of  all  concerned  to  entail  their  own  evil  con- 
sequences in  the  manner  and  measure  and  time  it  pleaseth 

^See  reference  to  First  Book  of  Discipline  requiring  the  con- 
sent of  the  Minister  before  the  action  of  the  Kirk  shall  prevail. 
Eldership,  vol.  IV,  page  151,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


197 

Him,  I  rejoice  to  believe.  Let  me  suffer — let  our  church  be 
crippled  but  let  God  be  glorified  and  Christ  preached  and  souls 
saved.     *     *     * 

I  love  Dr.  Girardeau  in  my  heart  of  hearts  and 
■  *  *  I  admire  and  pray  for  and  bless  God  for 
him  and  for  all  his  usefulness  to  my  own  Children^  and  others. 
For  though  Adger  has  been  tender  in  frequent  conversations 
with  me  and  struggling  against  feelings,  and  though  Augus- 
tine and  Sue  had  both  for  more  than  a  year  hoped  in  Christ — 
yet  under  his  preaching  they  were  greatly  blessed  and  Adger 
brought  to  conversion  and  confession.  May  God  in  Christ 
bless  him  and  his  noble  church. 

CHARLESTON,  June  ii,  1858. 
MY  DEAR  AND  HONOURED  BROTHER, 
-^^   (,jj.^^_  I  cannot  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  9th  inst., 

deau's  work  Without  first  sinccrely  thanking  you  for  the  af- 
for  the  fectionate  manner  in  which  you  have  been  pleased 

negroes.  ^^  address  me.     *     *     * 

I  have  a  deep  and  abiding  conviction  that  if  I  have  been 
called  to  labour  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  I  have  a  special 
vocation  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  to  the  coloured  people. 
In  obedience  to  what  appeared  to  me  "a  heavenly  summons" 
I  was  led  at  the  very  outset  of  my  ministerial  life  to  elect 
those  fields  of  labour  which  presented  the  most  abundant  op- 
portunities for  ministrations  to  them.  Constrained  by  the 
same  conviction,  I  undertook  the  work  in  the  Anson  Street 
church,  with  the  hope  that  God  would  ultimately  open  to  me 
"a.  wide  door  &  effectual"  for  extending  the  tidings  of  Re- 
demption to  the  ignorant  and  perishing  sons  of  Ham.  Through 
days  of  darkness  and  nights  of  anxiety,  sustained  by  this  hope, 
I  continued  to  prosecute  the  work  in  that  church.  God  has 
been  pleased  mercifully  to  vouchsafe  His  blessing  to  my  un- 
worthy efforts  and  in  great  grace  &  marvellous  loving  kind- 
ness to  His  humble  servant  has  granted  him  the  desire  of  his 
heart.     *     *     * 

Most   earnestly   invoking   Grace,    Mercy,    and    Peace    from 

^A  letter  from  Dr.  Smyth's  son  Adger,  "Incidents,"  1859,  will 
partly  explain  this  reference.  Dr.  Girardeau  had,  during  the 
Spring  of  1858,  held  revival  services  for  some  time  in  the  Anson 
Street  Chapel  which  had  had  a  very  strong  influence  on  Dr. 
Smyth's  children,  the  three  eldest  becoming  members  of  the 
church  at  that  time;  they,  however,  owed  their  religious  education 
and  principles  to  the  untiring  devotion  of  their  father  and 
mother. — Ed. 


198 

God  our  Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  upon  you  and  yours 
in  whose  welfare  I  feel  the  tenderest  interest,  I  am,  my  Dear 
Sir, 

With  esteem  and  affection 

Yr  unworthy  brother  in  Christ, 

JOHN  L.  GIRARDEAU/ 
To  the  Rev. 

Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 
Charleston — 

Extract  from  a  letter  to  ''Presbyterian"  dated  April  12  18 jp 

MESSRS  EDITORS:— The  city  from  which 
zfon^'^Church!  ^  ^^^^^  ^^^  recently  been  the  scene  of  *  *  the 
dedication  of  Zion  Presbyterian  Church  "on  the 
evening  of  Sabbath  the  3rd  inst  and  the  installation  of  its  pastor 
the  Rev.  John  L.  Girardeau,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  Sabbath 
following.  *  *  at  the  dedication  eighteen  hundred,  it  may 
be  two  thousand  blacks  were  present;  the  white  congregation 
in  attendance  numbering  eight  hundred  or  more.     *     *     * 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Adger,  *  *  who  can  but  feel  a  paternal 
solicitude  for  its  welfare,  was  present  at  the  services.  The 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  pastor  of  the  Second  Church,  out  of  whose 
bosom  the  original  members  had  for  the  most  part  come, 
was  also  there  to  aid  in  the  exercises.  So  too  the  Rev.  Ferdi- 
nand Jacobs,  who  had  supplied  the  pulpit  of  the  Mission  at 
one  time  for  twelve  months  or  longer.  Others  of  our  ministers 
were  there.  Mr.  Girardeau  preached  the  sermon  *  *  from 
the  parable  of  the  King's  Supper.  *  *  You  have  doubtless 
heard  *  *  sublime  music  in  the  house  of  God ;  but  if  you 
never  heard  Old  Hundred,  Mear,  and  Coronation,  sung  by  two 
thousand  blacks,  *  *  you  have  yet  to  learn  what  an  engine 
music  can  be  made  for  lifting  the  soul  above  this  earth  on 
which  we  stand.  There  was  no  need  of  an  organ  in  Zion 
Church  that  evening. 

*Dr.  Girardeau,  always  most  eloquent,  was  in  after  years  a 
leader  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  a  preacher  whose  sermons 
were  never  too  long  and  can  never  be  forgotten  by  the  throngs 
of  people  that  hung  on  his  words.  His  tender  kindness  to  the 
children  was  great;  dignity  forgotten,  he  would  play  games  and 
tell  B'Rabbit  stories  which  he  could  do  to  perfection.  But  the 
children  had  to  earn  the  pleasure  by  reciting  a  question  from 
the  Shorter  Catechism,  preferably  "Effectual  Calling,"  which  he 
considered  the  most   difficult   and   important. — Ed. 


199 

On  the  next  Sabbath  (the  last)  we  had  a  repetition  of  the 
scene  in  many  of  its  aspects,  the  same  throng  in  about  the 
same  proportion  *  *.  The  venerable  Dr.  Leland  of  the 
Seminary  at  Columbia  presided.  *  *  Dr.  Smyth  delivered 
the  sermon  from  the  words  "The  poor  have  the  gospel  preached 
to  them,"  the  subject  particularly  dwelt  upon  being  "the  mu- 
tual adaptation  of  the  gospel  and  the  poor  to  each  other."  The 
discourse  was  in  the  Doctor's  happiest  style  *  *  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Danna  of  the  Central  Church,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk- 
patrick  of  the  Glebe  Street,  delivered  the  charges.^ 


Nigger  Church — We  heard  yesterday  morning, 
zion°^Church°  ^^0"^  what  wc  conccivcd  to  be  good  authority, 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  his  Honor  the  Mayor, 
to  enter  the  African  Church,  during  divine  service  and  effect 
a  coup  d'etat,  by  proclaiming  the  whole  concern  an  unlawful 
assembly,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  police,  sending  Sambo  flying 
through  the  window,  as  Napoleon  I  drove  the  National  As- 
sembly head  over  heels  into  the  street  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonets  of  his  grenadiers.  Accordingly  we  posted  off  to  said 
Church  in  the  midst  of  a  tempest  of  rain  but  found  things 
going  on  as  usual,   and  the  pastor  preaching  a   sermon   to 

°As  Zion  Church  still  continues  to  be  an  important  factor  in 
the  negro  community  in  Charleston,  it  is  of  interest  to  the  de- 
scendants of  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth  and  his  wife  Margaret  Adger  to 
record  that  the  origin  of  this  Church  was  almost  entirely  the 
work,  spiritually  and  materially,  of  Dr.  Smyth  as  a  pastor  and  the 
help  and  subscriptions  of  the  Adger  family.  Dr.  John  B.  Adger 
followed  Dr.  Smyth  in  gathering  the  congregation  in  the  Anson 
St.  Chapel  and  the  greater  proportion  of  the  money  given  to 
establish  it  came  from  the  Adgers,  two  of  whom,  Robert  and 
Joseph  Ellison,  were  among  its  first  officers.  The  cost  of  the 
building  was  $25,000.  For  many  years  previous  to  this  writing  the 
property  has  been  held  by  six  trustees,  four  of  whom  are  of  the 
Smyth  and  Adger  family.  The  property  was  placed  in  the  hands 
of  these  trustees  after  various  changes  caused  by  the  war  and 
by  the  shifting  of  the  white  congregation,  first  to  Glebe  Street 
and  then  to  Westminster  Church.  It  is  now  held  by  the  six 
trustees  on  the  original  understanding,  that  it  is  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  coloured  Presbyterians  of  Charleston  on  condition 
that  it  is  not  used  for  other  than  religious  purposes.  If  this 
congregation  should  in  any  way  fail  the  trustees  will  endeavour 
to  place  the  Church  in  the  hands  of  others.  To  this  day  many 
of  the  negroes  call  it  Adger  Church.  Dr.  Adger  gives  many  in- 
teresting details  in  his  "Life  and  Times. — Ed. 


300 

niggers  which  we  thought  rather  too  obstruse  for  comprehen- 
sion by  brains  covered  with  wool. 

We  were  accompanied  by  a  brother  of  the  quill,  and  as 
neither  of  us  could  compete  with  some  of  the  sable  gents  pres- 
ent in  the  matter  of  toggery,  we  both  took  our  seats  in  a 
comer,  and  cogitated  profoundly  on  the  question :  Where  did 
all  the  fine  attire  with  which  Sambo  and  Dinah  were  attired 
come  from?  and  on  the  bill  about  to  be  introduced  in  the 
Legislature  of  South  Carolina  concerning  a  distinctive  style  of 
dress  for  niggers. 

Richmond  Examiner. 


[Note  by  Dr.  Smyth.]  ''On  reaching  Columbia  this  fall  I 
found  that  attacks  (two  or  more)  had  been  made  on  Mr. 
Girardeau's  Church  in  the  papers^  and  placards  on  the  walls 
calling  for  its  destruction.  To  these  he  made  the  following 
noble  reply." 

Briefly  stated  Dr.  Girardeau's  reply  asserts  afresh  his  belief 
in  the  lawfulness  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  the  benefits  which 
the  negroes  derived  from  it,  and  the  necessity  of  the  religious 
education  of  the  coloured  people:  That,  born  near  Charleston 
descended  from  a  Revolutionary  soldier-grandfather  and  a  planter- 
father  he  is  loyal  to  the  Constitution  but  feels  himself  peculiarily 
called  to  the  training  of  the  negroes. 

There  are  still  (in  1912)  many  stories  told  by  the 
Legen  s   of        coloured  people  of  their  connection  with  the  congre- 

Zion     Church.  .  .     ,        ^  it-,,  •  ^,  ,        ,         a 

gation  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Anson 
St.  Chapel  and  Zion  Church.  One  old  woman  told  the  editor  of 
these  papers  of  a  sewing  society  of  coloured  women  to  which  was 
entrusted  the  making  of  a  large  number  of  linen  shirts  for  Dr.  John 
Adger  when  he  was  preparing  to  go  to  Smyrna  in  1834.  The  sexton 
of  the  Second  Church  was  Francis  a  free  coloured  man,  part  Indian, 
whose  wife  Betsy  belonged  to  Mr.  Adger.  (Their  son  John  known 
afterwards  as  John  Dent  was  Dr.  Smyth's  body  servant  and  Mrs. 
Smyth's  butler.  He  served  faithfully  and  was  nursed  by  Dr. 
Smyth's  daughters  on  his  death-bed.  The  elder  son  Sam  is  often 
mentioned  in  the  family  letters.)  Maum  Cinda  was  the  assistant 
sexton  and  "snatched  a  fearful  joy"  from  casting  the  first  handful 
of  earth  on  the  coffins  of  those  well  known  to  her.  She  is  buried 
in  the  churchyard  with  the  white  people,  but  the  burying  ground 
for  the  coloured  people  was  three  miles  from  the  city  at  a  settle- 
ment called  Rikerville. 

^There  had  been  great  opposition  also  to  the  establishment  of 
Anson  St.  Chapel,  many  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  joining 
in  the   outcry  against  it. — Ed. 


201 

Harriet  Johnson  whose  account  of  the  revival  of  1846  is  noted 
elsewhere  was  a  free  woman  and  kept  her  own  name.  She  owned 
a  slave  named  Sarah  (who  was  also  a  member  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church)  bearing  the  surname  of  Artope  which  was 
that  of  Harriet's  husband.  When  the  greater  part  of  the  coloured 
people  were  taken  by  Dr.  John  Adger  to  the  newly-built  chapel 
on  Anson  Street,  Harriet,  who  was  a  great  singer,  became  the 
leader  of  the  choir  which  sat  at  that  time  behind  the  door.  She 
continued  to  hold  this  office  all  her  life,  long  after  the  migra- 
tion to  Zion,  "and  she  could  make  that  church  ring!" — Editor. 

For  sometime  after  my  attack  of  paralysis  I 
From  i8s3  ^^^  certainly  physically  incompetent  for  all  the 
duties  and  anxious  responsibilities  of  a  sole  pas- 
torship, and  so  feeling — though  not  even  then  feeling  hopeless 
of  measurable  recovery  and  capacity — I  resigned.  But  as  my 
people  were  anxious  to  have  me  continue  and  render  them 
such  service  as  I  could  with  the  help  of  an  Assistant — whose 
salary  of  $750  I,  after  a  little,  insisted  on  paying,  I  continued 
to  hold  my  resignation  in  retentis,  for  several  reasons :  i . 
because  I  was  able  to  preach  once  on  Sabbath — address  the 
Prayer  Meeting  or  Lecture  or  both  as  usual,  and  visit,  per- 
form funeral  and  other  services :  2.  because  I  had  hope  of 
doing  more,  and  soon  was  able  to  do  more :  3.  because  our 
helps  (Mr.  Buttolph^  and  Mr.  Smith)  were  very  acceptable, 
energetic  and  useful,  and  the  arrangement  in  every  way  popu- 
lar and  pleasant :  4.  because  I  had  always  desired  to  wear  out 
and  not  rust  out:  5.  because  my  active  energetic  nature  and 
will — (God's  talents)  demanded  active  and  engrossing  occupa- 
tion :  6.  because  my  constant  and  often  severe  pains  in  my 
lower  limbs  and  left  arm  became  intolerable  and  oppressively 
dispiriting,  when  mind  and  body  were  not  engrossed  in 
occupation  or  study  or  sleep :    7.  because  weekly  demand  gave 

^Mr.  Buttolph  was  employed  as  a  teacher  in  Miss  Ramsey's 
school  in  Charleston  &  found  his  way  to  our  church  where  he 
had  a  pew  some  time  before  I  could  find  out  who  he  was,  and  then 
had  to  introduce  myself  to  him.  His  difficulties  in  thinking  of 
the  ministry  were  many,  and  his  great  diffidence  and  modest  hu- 
mility not  the  least.  I  invited  him  to  breakfast  with  us  on 
Saturday  mornings,  &  after  long  and  frequent  conversations  and 
providing  for  his  support  while  at  the  seminary,  he  felt  constrained 
to  enter  the  ministry.  Having  made  this  decision  he  prepared 
sketches  of  sermons  weekly  which  I  criticised  with  him  and 
heard  him  read.  After  going  through  the  Seminary  he  most 
acceptably  laboured  as  a  son  in  the  Gospel  and  an  Assistant  Minis- 
ter in  our  Church  where  he  was  much  and  universally  beloved. — 
T.  S. 


202 

impetus  and  interest  in  providing  weekly  supply :  8.  because 
my  afflictions  drew  me  away  from  ambitious,  literary  pursuits 
and  plans  to  Christ,  to  the  gospel,  to  death  and  eternity,  to  my 
people  and  their  consolation  and  sanctification,  and  I  felt  more 
willing  and  more  happy  in  preaching  than  ever  before,  and 
was  therefore  able  more  frequently  (indeed  most  generally.) 
to  preach  without  reading :  9.  because  the  Lord  seemed  to 
smile  upon  and  bless  me  and  my  people  in  these  efforts ;  and 
10,  finally,  because  it  was,  (as  it  ever  had  been)  a  g-reat 
gratification  to  be  able  to  earn  a  support  for  myself,  and  in 
part  at  least,  for  my  family;  to  publish  and  give  away  books 
and  pamphlets,  and  provide  for  possible  superannuation,  and 
still  more  anxiously,  for  some  testamentary  endowments  I  had 
an  intense  desire  to  originate,  if  unable  .to  complete.^ 

Since  Mr.  Smith  left  us  I  have  filled  the  pulpit 
alone,  have  preached  twice  and  occasionally  held 
even  a  third  service  on  Sabbath,  and  besides  all  other  and 
former  services,  have  preached  for  some  time,  one  evening  in 
the  week  to  our  coloured  people.  I  conducted  the  Communion 
before  last  (in  May  1859,)  and  admitted  members  entirely 
alone,  (a  thing  I  had  never  done  before)  and  preached  again 
in  the  afternoon, — after  having  had  three  preaching  services 
during  the  previous  week.  I  did  very  nearly  as  much  on  the 
August  Communion  service,  and  had  about  the  same  time 
preached  and  administered  Communion  on  an  intensely  hot 
day  for  the  Circular  Church  people. 

Method    of  Now  in  doing  all  this  it  is  at  once  apparent  that 

keeping  com-  my  labour,  exhaustion,  and  consequent  depression 
parativeiy  must  havc  been  at  times  very  extreme,  and  some 

^^  *  ^'  times  hazardous  to  life.     I  have  been  thought  to 

injure  my  health  and  interfere  with  my  happiness.  But  it  was 
my  own  choosing.  I  am  convinced  also  that  on  the  zvhole,  it 
has  been  best  for  me — taking  me  as  I  was.  and  then  I  had 
gradually  systematized  a  mode  of  life,  a  method  of  study,  a 
daily  system  of  bodily  gymnastics,  ablutions,  rubbing  down 
with  glove  and  hands,  and  with  oil,  hot  water,  cold  water  and 
latterly,  with  ice  itself,  over  every  part  of  the  body  every 
morning — with  regular  times  for  intermission  for  rest  and  a 
nap,  and  for  out-door  exercise.  In  these  I  have  found  an 
adaptation,  an  excitement,  an  occupation,  a  passive  and  pow- 
erful exercise,  a  cleaning  and  relief  to  the  skin,  a  soothing  to 
the  nerves,  a  quieting  down  after  study.  And  in  these  I  have 
been  most  undeviating  and  regular.  And  then  I  have  laboured 
more  and  more  to  keep  myself  calm — alas  how  weakly! — and 

^See    closing   pages,    "Incidents." — Ed. 


203 

to  take  every  thing  submissively,  and  when  otherwise — alas 
how  often ! — to  endeavour  with  divine  help  to  restore  and 
preserve  equanimity. 

Resignation  These  remarks  apply  also  to  my  last  resignation 

of  1858  in  1858  as  narrated.     This  was  absolute  and  per- 

refused.  emptory,   after  notice,   and  most  public.     But   it 

gave  reasons  and  appealed  to  facts.  I  did  not  feel  as  disabled 
or  unfit  as  I  had  at  one  time,  but  contrariwise,  and  I  did  not 
intend  to  give  up  preaching.  The  congregation  refused  to 
accept  this  by  unanimous  vote^  of  all  male  pewholders  present 
at  the  meeting.  *  *  Several  ladies  arose  also  and  some 
coloured  people  as  well.  *  *  53  persons  I  think  were 
present. 

Travelling  in  N.  B.  (At  Rockbridgc  Baths.)  Here  I  had  to 
Virginia,  give  Up  Writing  as  the  stages  had  all  arrived  and 

^^5^-  the  gong  sounded — and  I  had  to  get  limber  and 

be  off  in  half  an  hour  from  Bath  Alum  to  Rockbridge  Baths, 
where  I  now  am,  though  not  yet  settled.  The  weather  how- 
ever is  still  more  unsettled.  It  rains  very  hard  and  portends 
a  spell  of  equinoctial,  rainy,  or  stormy  weather.  My  physical 
condition  is  quite  as  much  unsettled  by  the  long  stage  ride 
over  very  jolting  roads.  I  am  therefore  quite  out  of  sorts, 
and  as  you  see  gentle  reader,  nervous.  Nervous,  a  general 
chilly  cold,  swollen  neck-glands,  a  rainy  day,  in  an  inn,  wood 
very  scarce,  all  in  disorder,  among  strangers  and  in  rather  a 
comfortless  and  poorly  kept  place,  thermometer  at  66°,  med- 
itating a  bath  and  swim  in  72°  water  and  under  abundant  open 
atmospheric  pressure,  either  pouring  or  sprinkling  in  unstinted 
measure.  What  a  picture!  But  keep  up  brave  heart,  Christ 
is  here  and  thou  hast  weathered  with  him,  many  a  storm  and 
found  Him  cheer  in  gloom,  and  present  and  pleasant  in  every 
time  of  need. 

"Dear  Brother,  who  when   thou  might'st  justly  chide 
Thy  foolish  brother,  tak'st  him  to  thy  side, 
And  grace  and  love  giv'st  him  in  recompense 
Of  murmurings,  injury  and  great  offence. 
Too  much,  too  much,  dear  brother,  thou  hast  done 
Too  much  alas!  for  such  a  worthless  one." 


Since  the  refusal  to  accept  my  resignation  great 

ditions,     1859. 


cordiality  has   existed   in  the  congregation,   such 


extensive    and    costly    improvements    have    been 
made  in  the  church,  both  internally  and  externally,  as  to  make 

'Mr.    James"  Adger    (Dr.    Smyth's    father-in-law)    opposed    his 
resignation. — Ed. 


304 

it  far  transcend  any  former  appearance.  The  aisles  have  been 
all  carpeted  with  the  finest  Brussels  manufacture.  A  lot  for 
a  new  Lecture  Room  has  been  purchased  and  only  the  fatal 
yellow  fever  season  of  1858  prevented  the  immediate  erection 
of  a  commodious  building  for  it  and  the  Sabbath  School,  a 
project  /  hope  only  postponed.^  The  cemetery  has  been  hand- 
somely walled  in  on  the  North  side  instead  of  an  old  wooden 
fence,  and  is  increasingly  beautified  with  trees,  shelled  walks, 
handsome  monurnents  and  costly  enclosures —  The  Poor  fund 
has  been  considerably  improved.  The  Coloured  Burial  Ground 
has  been  carefully  secured  and  above  all  a  spirit  of  unwonted 
harmony  and  cooperation  has  been  awakened.  The  Prayer 
meetings  never  have  been  so  largely  attended.  *  *  On  the 
day  previous  to  my  leaving  (Aug.  14,  1859)  in  the  afternoon 
after  service,  on  motion  of  Deacon  Johnston,  made  in  his  pew, 
after  the  benediction,  the  whole  congregation  white  and  col- 
oured, came  up  and  shook  hands  and  took  an  affectionate  leave 
of  me,  not  a  few  in  tears.  *  *  Why  do  I  mention  these 
things?  *  *  To  vindicate  m3^self  to  myself,  to  my  children, 
to  my  people,  to  my  Church  denominationally,  to  all  and  every 
to  whom  these  presents  may  hereafter  come. 

Dr.  Smyth's  trials  did  not  end  then  for  at  the  meeting  of 
Synod  in  Colujmbia  in  October  1859  it  was  decided  to  discontinue 
the  Executive  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  which  Dr.  Smyth 
had  been  the  chairman  for  twenty-six  years  and  to  which  his 
greatest  efforts  were  devoted.  The  reason  for  this  action  was 
that  since  the  return  of  Dr.  John  Leighton  Wilson  from  Africa 
in  1853  the  Synod  had  no  missionaries  in  the  field  and  the  com- 
mittee was  engaged  entirely  in  the  circulation  of  missionary  lit- 
erature.— Editor. 

The   following  have   entered   the  ministry  in   some   church 
since  1832  from  within  the  Congregation. 

Part  of  Dr  ^-  ^^^ ■  J-  B.  Adger  D.  D.,  who  was  with  me 

Smyth's  in  Princeton.     His  wife  accompanied  him  to  the 

harvest.  mission  field. 

2.  Mr.  James  Adger,  who  became  after  some  year  or  two 
of  labour  a  Merchant. 

3.  Rev.  D.  McNeill  Turner  D.  D. 

4.  Rev.  Charles  Stillman,  now  of  Alabama. 

5.  Rev.  Christian  Logan  and  wife,  deceased. 

6.  Rev.  William  L.  Hughes  and  wife.         Do 

7.  Rev.  Robert  Small,  Do 

8.  Rev.  Donald  Auld  and  wife,  Do 

^The  project  was  postponed  for  many  years  and  the  lot  then 
purchased  was  not  used. — Ed. 


205 

g.  Rev.   Elias   B.   Hort,   now   Lutheran,   and   Chaplain   to 
Lunatic  Asylum  in  Columbia,  S.  C. 

10.  Rev.  Edwin  Bolles,  now  Lutheran. 

11.  Rev.  Thomas  Catto,  a  free  Coloured  man  who  studied 
at  our  Seminary  and  is  now  Pastor  of  a  church  in  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

12.  Mr.  Courtenay,  who  became  Exhorter  &c.  in  the  Meth- 
odist Church. 

13.  Rev.  William  J.  McCormick. 

14.  Rev.  Robert  M.     "         "       his   brother. 

15.  The  Rev.  J.  L.  Girardeau, — who  as  he  told  me  was  once 
in  our  Sabbath  School — whose  father  died  a  member  of  our 
Church  leaving  his  wife  and  family  in  it,  and  was  a  warm 
personal  friend. 

16.  The  Rev.  — Girardeau,  his  brother,  now  Episcopalian. 

17.  The  Rev.  Arnold  W.  Miller  of  Petersburgh,  Va. 

18.  The  Rev.  James  T.  White  of  Chester,  S.  C. 

19.  The  Rev.  William  Corbett  of  Cheraw. 

20.  The  Rev.  Elnathan  G.  Walker — went  West. 

21.  The  Rev.  C.  Scott, — Dutch  Reformed.  When  I  met 
him  he  was  a  Teacher  in  Aiken  where  I  sat  up  till  after  mid- 
night conversing : — I  afterwards  corresponded  with  him  and 
put  reading  into  his  hands,  until  what  appeared  to  him  insuper- 
able obstacles  to  his  entering  the  Ministry  were  removed  on 
his  convinced  judgment,  and  he  went  to  N.  Brunswick  Semi- 
nary. 

22.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dubois  of  Atlanta,  Geo.,  who  as  he  then 
told  me,  was  converted  when  I  met  him,  and  thereafter  led  in- 
to the  Ministry  by  my  preaching. 

23.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dufort,  now  Missionary  in  China ;  who 
informed  me  in  Summerville  where  he  preached,  that  he  was 
converted  by  a  discourse  I  preached  in  Augusta,  Geo.  and 
soon  led  to  devote  himself  to  the  Ministry. 

24.  The  Rev.  James  T.  Waite,  whose  case  is  detailed  in 
M.  S.  S.  vol.  2. 

25.  The  Rev.  A.  F.  Dickson, — grandson  of  Dr.  Flinn  and 
called  after  him. 

26.  The  Rev.  Henry  Dickson,  his  brother.  Their  father 
was  our  2d.  S.  S.  Superintendent — their  Mother,  Dr.  Flinn's 
daughter. 

2y.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bradford,  brother  of  Mrs.  W.  G.  Ban- 
croft, was  converted  and  went  to  Andover  while  a  member  of 
our  congregation  and  expecting  to  join  our  Church. 

28.  The  Rev.  E.  O.  Frierson  was  supported  by  and  became 
a  member  of  our  Church. 


206 

29-  Mr.  James  Smyth'  is  now  studying  for  the  ministry.* 

30.  Mr.  Robert  Anderson  is  also  now  pursuing  his  prepara- 
tory studies. 

31.  Mr.  Cardoza  a  free  person  of  Colour,  is  now  preparing 
for  the  Ministry  in  Scotland.  His  father  was  a  Jew.  His 
conversion  and  Calvinistic  experience  were  very  clear,  thor- 
ough and  remarkable. 

32.  The  father  of  Rev.  Dr.  McBr}^de,  after  removing  from 
the  bounds  of  the  Congregation  to  a  destitute  region  where 
there  was  no  Presbyterian  Church,  became  a  Methodist  Ex- 
horter. 

33.  My  Son  Augustine  Thomas  Smyth  has  thus  far  the 
Ministry  in  view.^* 

34.  So  also  had  young  Wilson  who  went  to  his  uncles'  on 
the  death  of  his  Mother.  He  was  hopefully  pious,  had  for 
years  desired  to  be  a  Minister  and  was  being  educated  by  us 
for  that  purpose.* 

35.  Mr.  William  Jacobs,  now  in  the  Charleston  College,  is 
preparing  for  the  Ministry. 

36.  Rev.  David  L.  Buttolph,  who  far  sometime  considered 
the  obstacles  in  his  way  insuperable. 

From  the  Rev.  D.  L.  Buttolph.  RICEBORO  GA. 

July  9,  i860 

Plans  for  the  *  *  ^  have  been  thinking  seriously  of  the 
Semi-Centen-  subject  matter  of  your  letter.  The  idea  of  cel- 
niai,  1861.  ebrating  the  Semi-Centennial  Anniversary  of  your 
Church  is  a  happy  one.  If  the  history  of  any  church  deserves 
to  be  handed  down  to  posterity,  it  is  that  of  the  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Charleston. 

Its  record  is  on  high  and  should  be  faithfully  held  in  re- 
membrance by  all  who  have  had  any  connection  with  it.  I 
would  like  very  much  to  be  present  at  the  anniversary,  and  if 
I  had  the  ability  to  treat  the  subject  you  suggest  in  any  way 
worthy  of  the  occasion  I  would  rejoice  to  participate  in  the 

"This  was  not  a  connection  of  Dr.   Smyth's  family. — Ed. 

^It  is  but  just  to  some  of  those  whose  names  are  on  the  above 
list  and  several  mentioned  in  the  original  MS.  to  say  that  they 
did  not  put  their  hands  to  the  plough,  and  turn  back;  it  was  Dr. 
Smyth,  who,  in  his  constant  hope  for  volunteers  for  the  ministry, 
mistook  the  emotional  ideas  of  the  very  young  for  the  fixed  pur- 
pose necessary  to  carry  a  man  into  the  heavy  responsibilities  of 
the  Ministry.  Those  whose  names  are  marked  with  an  asterisk 
entered  other  professions. — Ed. 


207 

exercises.  But  I  have  my  fears  and  misgivings.  It  would  be 
a  sad  thing  to  fail  upon  such  an  occasion  and  before  such  an 
audience  as  will  then  be  assembled. 

Warm  Springs,  Va.,  Aug.  29,  1859. 
I  left  home  on  Monday  Aug.  15,  1859,  having 
or  .    .  ug-     preached    and    administered    the    Communion    on 

■ust,    io5y« 

the  14th  and  preached  again  in  the  afternoon  and 
after  having  on  that  day  made  three  visits — during  the  pre- 
vious week  addressed  full  Prayer  Meetings  and  preached  the 
Preparatory  Lecture — and  on  the  previous  Sabbath  admin- 
istered Baptism,  preached  twice  and  made  four  calls.  And 
from  numerous  statements  to  me  personally  and  various  evi- 
dences, I  presume  I  have  been  as  acceptable  in  my  public 
Services  and  private  ministrations,  and  in  my  ministry  as  a 
whole,  as  at  any  former  period — if  not  .more  so ;  this  too,  though 
on  account  of  many  things  in  part  alluded  to,  an  opposite  state 
of  affairs  might  most  reasonably  have  been  expected.  In  a 
letter  received  to-day  from  Elder  William  Adger  speaking  of 
a  Prayer  Meeting  held  on  Sabbath  afternoon  last  in  lack  of 
preaching — it  is  said,  "The  Lecture  Room  was  filled.  *  * 
I  trust  and  pray  that  God  will  bless  the  means  you  are  using 
to  your  renewal  in  strength  of  body,  and  that  you  may  soon 
be  returned  to  us.  Every  prayer  I  have  heard  offered  in  the 
church  contained  numerous  petitions  on  your  behalf.  I  do 
sincerely  think  that  the  people  love  and  reverence  you  much." 

That  this  section  ends  here  must  not  be  construed  as  meaning 
that  Dr.  Smyth's  active  life  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
ended  with  the  opening  o,f  the  war.  It  is  only  that  the  threads 
all  come  together  then,  his  interests  were  so  centred  in  that 
great  conflict  that  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  them.  But  his 
life  in  the  old  church  ended  only  with  his  last  breath  and  in  a 
very  marked   sense   has   never  ended. — Editor. 


AUTHOR'S  APOLOGY 


AND   REASONS  FOR 


AUTHORSHIP 


[14] 


211 


AUTHOR'S  APOLOGY  AND  REASONS  FOR 
AUTHORSHIP/ 

From  1836  to  1838  there  was  much  agitation 
a!ntrverst.°^  in  the  Church  and  Presbytery  on  new  School 
doctrines  and  measures,  in  which  Dr.  Wm.  Mc- 
Dowell, tho'  away  from  us  part  of  the  time,  as  Secretary  to 
Board  of  Missions,  took  an  active  part.  This  led  to  what  I 
may  regard  as  my  period  of  Controversy — to  the  division  of 
Presbytery — ^to  Separation  from  all  the  ministers  within  one 
hundred  miles  of  Charleston — to  the  most  bitter  feelings — and 
public  scandal.  (For  an  account  of  all  this,  See  i.  my  Pam- 
phlet on  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery  in  vol.  of  Tracts 
on  Presbyterianism  and  elsewhere^ —  2.  my  Miscellanies  vol. 
I. —  3.  Correspondence,  Letters  &c.  at  present  in  a  labelled 
parcel  by  themselves.)  I  will  only  say  here  that  my  course 
was  providentially  forced  upon  me  by  my  position  and  by  my 
convictions.  Dr.  McDowell's  removal  left  me  alone  as  a  Pas- 
tor after  Mr.  Gilchrist's^  removal.  I  wished  no  strife.  I  was 
for  peace.  I  proposed  on  the  evening  of  our  division  and 
afterwards,  peaceful  separation ;  and  continued  ministerial  in- 
terchange, evangelical  cooperation,  and  christian  courtesy.  I 
repeatedly  proposed  an  exchange  to  Dr.  Post*  and  others  and 
had  it  declined.  I  continued  to  speak  to  Mr.  Dana  until  he 
declined  returning  my  salutation.  I  agreed  to  every  proposi- 
tion that  Mr.  Fleming  (Elder  previously  of  his  church)   and 

several  others — Dr.  Bachman,  Judge  Gilchrist,  Mr 

&c — thought  sufficient,  and  having  replied  publicly  to  public 
personal  charges,  I  never  afterwards  either  read  or  answered 
the  Weekly  Sentinel  or  The  Monthly.  I  was  urged  much,  by 
many,  including  Governor  Armstrong,  who  was  very  much 
dissatisfied  at  that  time  with  Boston  preaching,  to  go  to  Bos- 
ton and  start  a  Presbyterian  Church. 

^This  was  written  in  1859. — Ed. 

''This  pamphlet  has  not  been  included  in  the  uniform  edition  of 
Dr.  Smyth's  Works.  For  some  information  see  vol.  VI,  p.  383. — 
Ed. 

'Dr.  Adam  Gilchrist  was  pastor  of  the  church  in  Walterboro 
at  the  time  referred  to,  but  left  the  Presbytery  in  1841. — Ed. 

*Dr.  Post  was  pastor  of  the  Circular  Church,  Dr.  Dana  of  the 
Third.  Mr.  Thomas  Fleming,  formerly  of  Second,  then  of  Third 
Church,  had  removed  to  Philadelphia  and  was  connected  by  his 
daughter's  marriage  with  the  Adger  family. — Ed. 


218 

I  felt  very  much  distressed  with  my  position  and  disposed 
to  leave,  as  will  be  seen  from  many  of  my  letters  of  that  time. 
I  often  said  I  was  as  much  alone  as  if  in  Kamschatka. 

This  led  to  my  next  period,  which  was  that  of 
^ubiiratiTn  °^   ^^^^  study  and  frequent  publication,  so  as  fully 

to  occupy  and  build  up  my  mind,  my  faith — my 
congregation,  and  the  interests  of  our  church. 

That  my  motives  were  pure  and  only  pure  I  do 

not  either  say  or  believe,  I  know  not  that  there 
was  any  thing  purely  unselfish  and  God  glorifying  and  man 
loving  about  them.  I  know  that  I  am  naturally  ambitious — 
that  from  an  early  period  I  had  a  desire  to  be  distinguished, 
to  be  prominently  and  popularly  useful  and  active;  early  suc- 
cess led  to  early  flattery,  to  a  more  confident  hope  that  God 
had  called  me  to  do  and  study  and  write  and  work  for  Him, 
to  serve  my  generation  according  to  the  will  of  God ;  to  the 
hope  that  I  would  finally  succeed  and  push  my  way  to  some 
position  in  which  I  could  be  as  a  light  and  leaven  and  salt,  as 
a  head  and  center  of  influence. —  I  know  that  all  my  teachers, 
pastors  and  friends  &c,  thus  interpreted  the  prognostications 
of  my  developing  capacities,  acquisitions,  love  of  books  and 
study;  (and  of  doing  more  than  was  at  any  time  actually  re- 
quired ; — )  that  from  my  nursery  life  spent  in  our  affluent 
days  I  felt  that  I  should  be  a  minister,  and  officiated  as  chap- 
lain for  the  nursery  congregation,  having  the  high  easy  chair 
for  my  pulpit.  That  in  all  this  there  was  pride  and  self-seek- 
ing vanity,  I  am  sure.  And  looking  back  now  at  my  prompt- 
ings, my  preparations,  and  my  performances  in  the  pulpit  I  am 
sincerely  filled  with  loathing  and  contempt  of  myself,  and  with 
admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  amazing  forbearance  and 
condescension  of  God  in  permitting  such  an  one  to  serve  Him, 
and  in  continuing  such  services  so  long  and  with  such  appar- 
ent acceptance. 

What  is  re-  ^o  dcsirc  the  office   of  the  ministry  is' — God 

quired  of  a  declares  it — Q.  good — a  proper — a  laudable — a  holy 
Minister.  ambition.      And   without   ambition   and   a   desire 

to  be  great — was  any  man — could  any  man  ever  be  great  in 
goodness,  or  in  any  "high  calling ;"  in  self  denial,  self  sacrifice, 
in  pain,  in  poverty,  in  weariness  often,  in  weakness,  in  disease 
and  disappointment  and  defeat,  in  deaths  often?  Could  any 
man  persevere  through  evil  and  through  good  report,  with  the 
loss  of  rest — earthly  recompense — social  happiness  and  do- 
mestic joys — in  laborious  study,  and  exhausting,  unintermit- 

°See  vol.  VI,  p.  571,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


313 

ting  occupation,  forgetting  what  is  behind  and  never  thinking 
he  has  attained,  but  still  pressing  on  towards  a  mark  set  before 
him,  higher  than  any  yet  reached?  I  think  not.  I  believe 
that  capacity  to  do  brings  with  it  its  own  consciousness,  and 
its  own  impelling  energy,  determination  and  will ;  and  that 
where  the  heart  is  Sanctified  and  set  right  such  consciousness 
brings  with  it,  as  in  the  case  of  Milton,  or  of  Paul — of  all  men 
— a  corresponding  sense  of  responsibility  to  put  his  talents, 
be  they  one  or  many — out  to  usury,  and  to  the  very  best 
advantage ;  and  I  believe  also  that  Avitli  such  conscious  ability 
to  do,  and  such  responsibility  to  do,  there  is  a  proportionate 
sense  of  "woe  unto  me"  if  I  do  not,  and  of  humility  in  view 
of  the  imperfection  of  what  is  done,  and  the  much  that  is  not 
done. 

Self-confidence  ^  "^^'^  must  know  that  he  can  do,  and  what  he 
necessary,  but  cau  do,  and  all  he  can  do,  in  order  to  do  what  he 
a  danger.  ^^^^  ^^^^  havc  Confidence  in  undertaking,  boldness 

in  executing,  and  self  approval  in  having  done,  or  endeavoured 
to  do  his  duty;  as  well  as  self  condemnation  if  timidly,  or 
through  fear  or  favor  of  man,  he  fails  to  do  it. 

Now  there  is  in  this  matter  the  two  extremes. 
toSuty"'''^"^  1st;  of  thinking  of  ourselves  more  highly  than 
we  ought;  next,  of  not  thinking  as  highly  as  we 
should  of  ourselves  as  God's  instruments,  fitted  and  prepared 
by  his  divine  skill  for  his  own  purposes ;  slothfully  excus- 
ing ourselves  from  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day,  and  bury- 
ing our  talent  in  a  napkin  of  assumed  diffidence  and  the  white, 
scented,  cambric  of  modest  reserve.  It  is  far  easier  to  wipe 
tears  of  humility  from  the  eye  of  weeping  indolence  than  it  is 
to  wipe  the  rolling  sweat  drops  from  the  furrowed  brow  of 
fevered  labour. 

The  full  knowledge  of  just  what  is  our  true  capacity  and 
right  course,  is  a  matter  too  high  for  our  understanding.  We 
cannot  attain  unto  it.  God  alone  can  reveal  this  unto  us.  Left 
to  ourselves  we  will  assuredly  make  shipwreck  on  Scylla  or 
Charybdis,  and  prostitute  our  talents  to  lust  and  laziness,  or 
the  honor  that  cometh  from  man. 

God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner!  O  God,  I  bring  here  to- 
night to  thee,  on  these  mountains  (Wann  Spring,  Va.,  Sep. 
1859),  my  ambition,  my  education,  my  studies,  my  writing, 
(and  this  confession  among  them)  ;  my  preaching,  my  praying, 
my  success  in  winning  souls  to  Christ  and  turning  Sinners 
from  the  error  of  their  ways — (and  I  spent  all  yesterday 
afternoon  with  a  hopeful,  tearful,  worldly  wise,  and  proud, 
and  hitherto  hopeless  "Sceptical"  man) — all — ^all  I  have  ever 


214 

desired  or  designed  to  do — and  offer  them  up  in  burnt  sacri- 
fice, beseeching  Thee  to  pardon,  for  Christ's  sake,  my  pride 
and  presumption  and  pravity;  and  turning  away  from  the 
burning  pile,  I  come,  O  my  precious  Saviour,  to  Thee,  a  naked, 
unworthy,  unprofitable,  and  consciously  wicked  servant,  and 
beseech  Thee  to  forgive  all  my  self-righteous  and  self-seeking 
services,  to  grant  that  I  may  be  saved  though  as  by  fire,  and 
with  the  loss  of  all  things,  for  which  by  any  I  may  have  been 
commended ;  and  that  I  may  not  at  least  be  a  cast  away,  but 
a  trophy  of  all  conquering,  all  sanctifying  grace. 

Amen  and  Amen. 

Severe  study  When  I  entered  on  this  course  of  severe  study 
and  need  of  and  Unremitting  toil — not  yet  ended — I  verily 
books.  thought  I  might  do  God  and  his  cause  service  in 

my  way,  in  my  sphere,  and  in  a  manner  and  measure,  in  some 
way,  that  nobody  else  but  I  was  required,  or  had  opportunity 
for,  some  work  that  no  one  without  my  love  and  knowledge 
of  books  and  devotion  to  study,  would  be  able  to  accomplish. 
I  had  always  a  love  of  books ;  as  College 
Librarian,  and  subscriber  to  the  Belfast  Library — 
(a  very  fine  one) — and  at  Highbury  in  London,  I  used  to  go 
over  the  whole  library,  or  collections  in  old  book  stores  and 
stalls,  and  make  myself  acquainted  with  the  author,  title,  con- 
tents, and  preface  of  every  book.  I  studied  Bibliography 
therefore,  in  order  to  collect  a  large  and  systematic  Presby- 
terian Literary  Theological  Library,  as  an  armoury  for  our 
ministers  and  churches  in  Charleston,  similar  to  that  of  Dr. 
Williams  in  London.  As  it  increased,  I  laboured  to  adapt 
it  for  a  Theological  Seminary,  in  which  I  hoped  and  desired  it 
ultimately  to  find  providential  location. 

I  had  been  led  from  early  up-bringing  among  Independents 
or  Congregationalists  (though  by  all  ancestral  and  consan- 
guineal  relations,  Presbyterian ;  and  as  soon  as  that  church  in 
Ireland  began  its  great  work  of  purification  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Dr.  Cooke,  I  was  in  heart  and  feeling  with  him  and 
with  it;)  to  take  a  deep  personal  interest  in  the  subject  of 
Church  Government,  Polity,  and  Order.  My  investigations 
into  this  subject  were  greatly  stimulated  by  the  arrogant  ef- 
frontery with  which  Prelacy  was  then  proclaiming  her  exclu- 
sive claims,  and  her  Apostolical  Succession,  to  all  ministerial 
grace  and  authority.  The  Oxford  Tracts  were  then  the  writ- 
ings of  the  day,  and  the  Goliah  of  the  hosts  of  the  Philistines. 
These  writings  I  found  very  popular  in  Charleston,  where 
Episcopacy  has  always  been  the  most  dominant — fashionable 


215 

• — powerful  church.  I  gave  myself  therefore,  to  the  collection 
of  the  best  works  on  these  controversies  and  to  their  study, 
so  as  to  give  to  my  brethren  the  advantages  of  a  thorough 
survey  of  the  field,  and  a  careful  reference  to,  and  use  of, 
original  authorities. 

In  this  work  I  had  no  encouragement,  but  every  thing 
adverse.  No  one  had  ever  dared  in  Charleston  to  do  more 
than  apologize  and  defend.  To  assert  a  Scriptural  claim  for 
Presbytery,  and  a  disclaim  of  such  right  for  Prelacy,  was  re- 
garded even  by  my  family,  friends,  and  people  as  dangerous 
and  impolitic,  especially  as  I  was  so  young,  and  the  Old  School 
so  unpopular — a  stink  in  the  nostrils  of  the  whole  community. 
For  as  every  minister — except  Mr.  Gildersleeve — in  and 
around  the  City,  took  violent  position  adverse,  and  by  a 
weekly  paper  established  for  the  purpose,  diffused  bitter  pre- 
judices against  me  primarily  and  personally,  and  against  the 
church  and  its  course  of  action,  it  followed  that  every  News- 
paper in  the  City  and  all  the  fountains  of  public  influence, 
Alleged  wcre  hostilc  to  me  and  to  our  church.     So  much 

abolition  SO  that  when  I  was  openly  charged  in  the  Mer- 

sympathy.  cufy^  by  Rcv.   Mr as  an  abolitionist  in 

league  with  abolitionists,  even  Mr.  Robinson  failed  to  secure 
for  a  reply,  a  place  either  in  the  Mercury  or  Courier,  as  an 
advertisement,  and  it  had  to  be  printed  and  circulated  in  a 
sheet. 

But  I  knew  I  had  truth  and  charity  on  my  side, 
postohca         ^^^  J  persevered  and  delivered  to  growing  crowds 

Succession.  ^  _  . 

my  Lectures  on  Apostolical  Succession.^ 
ThQ  effect  was  very  great,  and  very  healthful  and  happy. 
Joy  and  delight  were  awakened  in  hearts  long  cowed  down 
and  abashed.  "Oh,"  said  Mrs.  Col.  [John]  Bryan  (sister  of 
Hugh  S.  Legare,  who  called  upon  me),  "I  could  not  help  com- 
ing to  see  you  and  tell  you  how  rejoiced  I  am.  Now"  said  she, 
"they  are  silent.  They  have  nothing  to  say.  Bishop  Gadsden 
has  gone  round  and  dissuaded  all  from  hearing  or  reading. 
They  now  know  why  it  is,  and  how  necessarily  it  is  that  we 
reject  their  claims." 

I  published  also  a  series  of  articles  on  High 

ubHcat^ns       Churchism,  and  another  in  controversy  with  the 

Rev.  Mr.  Kaufman  f  until  he  discontinued  it  by 

*In  the  Charleston  Mercury  of  Dec.  i8th,  1838,  the  Rev.  I.  S.  K. 
Legare  writes  very  warmly. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  I  &  vol.  II,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

^The  Rev.  Abraham  Kaufman,  Rector  of  St.  Philip's  Church, 
Charleston. — Ed. 


216 

requisition,  it  was  said,  of  the  Bishop.  I  had  also  pubHshed 
my  Ecclesiastical  Catechism*  at  Dr.  Miller's  request  and  as 
corrected  by  his  suggestions,  and  a  Tract  on  Presbyterianism.° 

The  result  of  all  was,  I  have  said,  happy.  My  own  people 
were  confirmed  in  attachment  to  their  principles  and  in  con- 
fidence in  me.  'T  was  very  much  opposed  to  your  course," 
said  Mrs.  Robinson,  after  my  first  Lecture,  "but  now  I  think 
you  are  right,  and  that  we  owe  you  thanks."  Judge  King,* 
Judge  Gilchrist,  Chancellor  Johnston,'  Mr.  Bailey,  Attorney 
General,  and  many  others  warmly  encouraged  me.  None 
could  take  offence.  My  object  was  catholic  and  defensive.  I 
•opposed  only  the  principle  and  foundation  of  Popery,  and  de- 
fended the  fundamental  principle  of  all  Protestant  Evangelical 
Communions,  including  such  Episcopalians  as  were  not  extreme 
in  their  views.  Col.  Memminger,  who  had  been  High  Church, 
read  and  received  my  argument,  and  became  what  he  has  ever 
since  been  increasingly,  a  warm-hearted  Evangelical  Christian.' 
He  wished  me  very  much  to  condense  and  circulate  my  works, 
and  thought  I  would  accomplish  great  good ;  this  I  desired  to 
do,  and  engaged  Mr.  Tracey  of  Boston  to  do.  Daniel  Ravenel 
Esq.  was  then,  and  had  been  for  40  odd  years,  in  St.  Michael's 
Church,  and  thought,  as  he  told  me,  he  could  worship  no- 
where else.  He  altogether  approved  of  my  course  and  con- 
curred in  my  positions.  He  studied  the  subject  deeply,  and 
wrote  some  articles  upon  it  which  I  read,  and  we  conversed 
about  it  often  and  much.  The  result  was  his  resistance  to 
High  Church  claims  in  Mr.  Trapier's  preaching  and  services, 
and  his  leaving  St.  Michael's  and  re-establishing  the  defunct 
French  Protestant  Church.^ 

Another  effect  was  a  higher  estimation  and  regard  towards 
me  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Palmer  and  the  other  separated  brethren, 
as  will  be  seen  by  his  letter,  and  a  growing  favourable  senti- 
ment which  steadily  increased. 
„.        .^.  The   work   on  Apostolic   Succession   had   very 

His     writings  ^  ^  ... 

well  received     widc   circulation   among   all   Denominations,   and 

in  Great  Bri-     abroad  also.     Dr.  Duff'  told  me  in  London   (my 

wife  and  boys  breakfasted  with  him  at  Mr.  Nes- 

*See  letters  Dr.  Miller,  pp.  231  and  237,  and  vol.  IV,  p.  437, 
Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

"The  first  articles  on  Eldership,  vol.  IV. — Ed. 

'See  letters.— Ed. 

'See  letters. — Ed. 

^The  Huguenot  Church  had  been  closed  for  some  years  when 
Mr.  Ravenel,  with  several  others  of  Huguenot  family,  reopened 
it.— Ed. 

®Dr.  Alexander  Duff,  the  celebrated  Missionary. — Ed. 


217 

bit's,  in  Berners  St.)"  that  it  would  gratify  me  to  know,  that  it 
was  studied  in  his  College  in  Calcutta,  and  that  whenever  he 
was  consulted  on  Prelatical  and  Romish  claims  he  re- 
ferred to  this  as  a  complete  armoury.  When  I  arrived  in 
Glasgow  in  1844,  I  found  Mr.  Collins,  the  publisher  of  Dr. 
Chalmers'  Works,  and  one  of  his  Elders  in  his  work  of  refor- 
mation in  that  city,  had  already  published  my  work  on  Pres- 
bytery and  Prelacy,  and  was  then  reading  my  work  on  the 
Apostolical  Succession  with  a  view  to  publish  it.  I  had  some 
difficulty  in  making  him  believe  I  was  the  author,  as  he  had 
associated  so  much  research  and  learned  investigation  and 
extensive  reading  with  age  and  great  experience. 

The  Free  "^Y  Discoursc  on  the  Free   Church^  had   been 

Kirk  of  previously  published  with   Prefatory   remarks  by 

Scotland.  j-^^    Lorimcr,  in  Edinburgh,  under  circumstances 

referred  to  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Edmonston.'  When  I  reached 
Scotland  I  was  therefore  well  known  and  warmly  received. 
In  Edinburgh,  after  a  breakfast,^  a  party  including,  I  think, 
Drs.  Candlish  and  Cunningham,  went  with  me  to  the  church 
of  the  disruption,  (the  High  Church*  I  think),  and  described 
the  scene  after  the  disruption — the  crowd  within  and  the 
thronged  multitudes  without,  awaiting  the  result; — the  in- 
tense anxiety  and  silent  awe  of  the  Assembly — ^the  awful  grav- 
ity of  the  Moderator  as  with  heroic  solemnity,  he  read  the 
protest — his  coming  down  from  the  pulpit, — the  immediate 
out-coming  from  his  pew  of  Dr.  Chalmers" — the  opening  of 
pews  over  the  house  and  the  enrolment  of  one  after  another 
in  the  august  procession,  until  five  hundred  had  left  their 
seats,  and  the  ministerial  benches  were  in  great  part  deserted 
— the  acclamations  of  the  crowded  galleries,  as  one  after 
another  rose  and  joined  the  ranks — the  shouts  that  rent  the 

"In  1851,  during  their  visit  to  London. — Ed. 

^See  Sermon,  "Exodus  of  the  Church  of  Scotland"  printed  in 
vol.  Ill,  page  479  and  vol.  V,  page  193,  Smyth's  Works.  Vol.  Ill 
has  a  most  interesting  sermon  on  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers  with 
many  personal  reminiscences  appended.  Vol.  V  has  other  ap- 
pendices.— Ed. 

^See  letters,  p.  240. — Ed. 

'See  letters  of  1846  and  1850. — Ed. 

■■St.  Andrews  Church.  The  Hall  at  Tanfield  was  prepared  for 
the  separating  ministers.     See  vol.  V,  p.  204,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

°In  vol.  Ill,  p.  563,  Dr.  Smyth  tells  of  his  travelling  companion, 
Dr.  W.  A.  Scott,  preaching  from  Dr.  Chalmers'  pulpit.  Dr.  Chal- 
mers insisted  on  one  of  the  two  visitors  performing  this  office. — 
Ed. 


218 

air  when  the  door  opened  and  the  Moderator  and  Dr.  Chal- 
mers came  forth,  bare  headed  and  stript  of  every  sign  of  office, 
shouts  which  were  taken  up  from  crowd  to  crowd  along  the 
streets — the  dense  gathering  of  citizens  on  every  street  thro' 
which  they  passed  for  two  miles,  to  the  temporary  and  im- 
mense building  prepared  for  the  occasion,  opening  up  and 
enclosing  them  as  within  walls  of  living  human  beings,  gaz- 
ing in  lost  wonder  and  admiration — and  rending  the  air  with 
shouts  whenever  Drs.  Chalmers  and  Cunningham  and  Cand- 
lish,  or  other  worthies,  came  in  view.  Here  on  the  very  spot 
I  had  my  mind  filled  with  the  whole  Scene.  We  walked  arm 
in  arm  through  the  same  streets,,  in  the  same  steps,  until  we 
came  to  the  place  of  Assembly,  and  I  was  again  delighted 
with  a  mental  picture  of  all  that  occurred  there,  when  Dr. 
Chalmers  was  by  acclamation  appointed  Moderator.  A  vision 
of  glory  truly ! 

With  Dr.  Chalmers  I  breakfasted  three  time's 
r.       omas      ^^  Wednesdays,  when  he  was  accustomed  to  see 

Chalmers.  _  .  -'     ' 

his  friends,  and  strangers."  /  also  walked  with 
him  and  visited  his  Mission  Church  and  School  House  in 
Crogate,  the  Grass  Market,  and  in  the  vilest  portion  of  Edin- 
burgh's many  low  and  filthy  lanes^  or  Wynds.  He  gathered 
this  congregation  in  an  attic  loft,  dark,  dingy,  and  accessible 
only  through  dung-hills  and  filth.  It  was  either  in  the  house, 
or  next  to  the  house  where  the  murderer  Burke  had  smothered 
so  many  victims,  and  sold  their  bodies  to  the  doctors.  I  heard 
him  preach  there  to  a  collection  of  the  poorest  of  the  poor,  and 
never  did  I  conceive  of  him  as  so  exalted,  as  in  thus  stooping 
his  majestic  eloquence  and  world  wide  popularity  to  the  ca- 
pacity and  hearts  of  these  poor.  He  gave  me  a  picture  of  this 
Mission  Building  with  his  autograph,  and  also  a  copy  of 
Treatises  on  Faith  he  had  edited,  also  with  his  autograph.  This 
treatise  is  in  the  Smyth  Library,  where  I  wish  the  picture  also 
to  be  placed,  as  well  as  the  picture  of  him  as  dead ;  and  the  two 
best  likenesses — the  largest  of  him  in  meridian  life  as  he  was 
in  London,  and  another,  or  all. 

It  was  a  great  encouragement,  and  a  highly  appreciated 
compliment,  to  know  not  only  that  he  thought  and  spoke  well 
of  my  Sermon  alluded  to  above — (at  which  he  and  many  were 
amazed  that  it  so  accurately  and  understandingly  presented 
their  own  views  of  the  whole  controversy,)   and  of  my  other 

^In  vol.  Ill,  p.  563,  Dr.  Smyth  tells  of  his  travelling  companion, 
Dr.  W.  A.  Scott,  preaching  from  Dr.  Chalmers'  pulpit.  Dr.  Chal- 
mers insisted  on  one  of  the  two  visitors  performing  this  office. — 
Ed. 


219 

works,  but  that,  as  Dr.  Candlish  has  two  or  three  times  told 
me — he  very  frequently  alluded,  in  terms  of  praise,  to  my 
Discourse  on  Denominational  Education,^  and  especially  of  the 
distinction  there  drawn  out  between  Sectarian  and  Denomina- 
tional Education,  and  the  Unsectarian  character  of  Presby- 
terianisrri.  "Of  this"  said  Dr.  Candlish,  "he  (Dr.  Chalmers.) 
cannot  cease  speaking,  he  is  so  much  pleased  with  it." 

While  in^  Edinburgh  I  rode  out  with  Drs.  Candlish  and 
Cunningham  and  spent  a  night  with  him  at  his  Summer  re- 
treatf  near  Roslin  Castle. 

His  works  O^  reaching  Belfast,  I  found  my  Ecclesiastical 

published  in      Catcchism  had  been  published  there,  with  a  Pre- 

Belfast.  f^^g 

Before  passing  from  these  works  I  would  say,  I  make  these 
remarks  and  memoranda  knowing  that  they  are  egotistical 
and  seemingly  vain,  and  to  be  interpreted  very  charitably  in 
the  light  of  what  I  have  before  confessed ;  simply  as  facts  in 
my  history  known  only  to  myself;  and  so  far  a  justification  of 
my  own  judgment,  that  I  was,  by  opportunity  and  sufficient 
capacity,  called  upon  to  write  and  publish,  and  that  however 
temporary  and  limited  their  usefulness  might  be,  my  writings 
were  approved  by  the  church,  and  instrumental  in  promoting 
truth  and  charity.  2.  My  publications  were  the  result  of  long 
and  very  laborious  study,  and  the  accumulated  preparation 
perhaps  of  years.  I  prepared  them  chiefly  at  hours  beyond 
pastoral  claims  and  duties.  My  wife  for  years  would  not  go 
to  bed  till  I  did,  to  constrain  me  to  take  rest,  and  has  fre- 
quently sat  up  till  two  o'clock  in  the  morning;  and  with  her 
sisters  and  friends  did  much  in  the  way  of  transcribing  &c.^ 

3.  All  my  works  were  zvritten — (that  is —  i.  I 

^/^wm-kin°        ^^^  arranged  my  general  plan ;  2.  the  plan  of  each 

chapter;    3.  had  all  my  reference  books  collected 

around  me) — ^in  great  haste — in  a  furor  or  excitement,  so  as 

frequently  to  bathe  me  in  perspiration,  and  perfectly  benumb 

^See  vol.  V,  page  529,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

t  Dr.  Chalmers'  place  was  called  Morningside. — Ed. 

^Not  only  did  Mrs.  Smyth  write  for  him  in  the  early  days  of 
their  marriage,  but  as  long  as  he  lived,  when  her  duties  elsewhere 
did  not  interfere:  she  used  also  to  guard  his  door  against  the 
frequent  and  unnecessary  calls  that  are  made  on  a  beloved  pastor. 
Other  members  of  his  family  wrote  for  him  in  later  years,  espec- 
ially his  sister-in-law,  Miss  Janey  Adger,  who  also  studied  with 
him:  sons  and  daughters  were  pressed  into  service,  and  the  wife 
of  his  son  Augustine  acted  as  amanuensis  for  him  for  a  long  time, 
as   he   greatly   approved   of   her  handwriting. — Ed. 


220 

my  fingers.  I  never  copied  out  for  printing  or  re-wrote  any 
one  work  or  pamphlet.'  They  were  printed  from  the  original 
MSS.  or  original  copies,  and  corrected,  amended,  altered, 
abridged,  and  enlarged.  One  page  in  the  Apostolical  Succes- 
sion was  by  such  enlargement  three  feet  long  and  many  in 
proportion,  and  full  of  interlineations.  Of  course  this  is  to 
my  condemnation  and  no  excuse  for  their  many  imperfections. 
So  it  was  however.  I  never  could  bear  re-writing,  and  the 
truth  is,  I  zvrote  every  thing  in  the  expectation 
has^tv^""^  ^/ia^  /  had  hut  a  short  time  to  live  and  must  do 

quickly  whatever  I  did.  I  wrote  each  work  think- 
ing that  it  was  the  last,  and  that  I  must  be  willing  to  do 
whatever  service  I  could,  and  lose  the  possible  fame  of  greater 
condensation,  correctness  of  style,  and  perfection  of  arrange- 
ment. I  have  also  detracted  greatly  from  the  originality  of 
my  works,  by  numerous  quotations,^  and  a  parade  of  multi- 
plied references.  This  however  was  done  advisedly,  and  on  a 
principle  directly  opposite  to  that  acted  upon  by  Dr.  Breckin- 
ridge, and  commended  by  others.  I  wish  a  didatic 
References         book — a  book  of  authority  on  any  subject — a  book 

desirable.  -^  ■'  ■' 

of  reference  and  study — an  armoury — a  treasury 
—to  give — not  merely  dogmatic  deliverances  of  what  the  au- 
thor believes  is  and  must  be  true,  but  his  reasons  therefor  and 
his  authorities  for  so  judging,  and  most  assuredly  the  sources 
of  his  ideas,  arguments,  and  facts.  This  plan  all  precedent  and 
all  experience  commended  to  me.  A  practical  book  for  the 
unlearned — ad  populum  and  not  ad  cleruni — for  mere  edifica- 
tion, and  not  for  help  and  guidance  to  investigation,  is  dif- 
ferent, and  yet  even  here  there  are  diversities  of  gifts  and 
tastes,  and  in  all  cases  it  is  far  easier  and  saves  immense  care 
and  labour  to  give,  as  our  own,  the  substance  of  others,  than 
to  weave  into  a  well  constructed  fabric  the  flowers  and  fruits 
and  products  of  other  minds.  To  me  works  like  Hansel's 
Limits  of  Thought,  McCosh,  Turretin,  Calvin,  Mosheim,  &c 
are  immeasurably  more  satisfactory  than  the  text  of  any  of 
them  eliminated  of  all  its  authorities  and  references  would  be. 
Having  found  the  extreme  difficulty  of  tracing  facts  and  au- 
thorities and  of  weighing  opposite  arguments  in  the  scales  of 
truth,  I  determined  that  whatever,  with  the  help  of  a  large  and 
expensively  collected  library,  I  could  establish  and  make  evi- 
dent I  would  put  into  such  a  form  as  to  give  to  myself,  and 
to  any  other  inquirer,  the  opportunity,  at  any  time,  of  origi- 

^See  Dr.  Smyth's  own  comment  on  a  youthful  effort,  p.  17. — Ed. 
^Many  quotations,  poetical  and  otherwise,  have  been  necessarily 
omitted  in  this  work. — Ed. 


231 

nally  investigating  and  confirming.  My  quotations  and  refer- 
ences were  therefore  in  most  cases  subsequent  additions^  such 
as  continued  additions  to  my  books,  and  study  of  them,  en- 
abled me  to  make.  And  the  haste  under  which,  as  stated,  the 
work  must  be  done,  if  ever  done,  rendered  it  impossible,  if  in 
this  view  desirable,  to  condense,  in  my  own  language,  rather 
than  introduce  the  authors  themselves. 

Subjects  ■'^y    work    on    "Apostolical    Succession"    be    it 

often  new,  remembered  was  the  first  published  in  this  country, 
always  timely.  ^^^  distinctively  in  any  other,  by  a  presbyterian, 
and  to  any  great  extent  by  others.  The  subject  was  novel  and 
the  attempt  hazardous.  And  what  was  first  and  most  needed, 
was,  as  I  judged,  an  elaborate  and  didactic  compilation  of 
argument  and  authority.  Since  then  others  have  issued  pop- 
ular and  powerful  compilations.  How  far  they  were  indebted 
to  the  accumulation  of  my  work  it  is  not  for  me  to  say,  though 
Dr.  McElroy  of  New  York  once  said  to  me,  in  allusion  to 
them,  "It  is  well  seen  they  have  been  milking  your  cow."  {e.  g. 
Boardman's  Work.^) 

It  is  very  easy  as  in  the  case  of  a  recent  work  on  "Unity  of 
Races"'  to  appropriate  as  original  authorities  and  proofs  those 
compiled  by  others  without  reference.  Often  indeed,  the  more 
indebtedness,  the  less  the  reference.  This  however,  was  just 
what  I  expected  and  desired,  that  my  work  should  lead  to 
other  publications,  more  popular  and  effective  with  the  com- 
munity, leaving  mine  to  remain  on  shelves  of  reference,  until 
it  passes  from  the  minds  and  memories  of  men. 
Publication  ^^  ^^^  Certainly  timely  and  needed,  for  it  very 

paid  him  soon,  though  published  at  $3,  was  out  of  print,  it 

nothing.  j^^g  heen  so  for  many  years,  and  is  now  sought 

after  from  abroad.  From  this  and  most  or  all  of  my  works,  I 
ought  to  have  realized  some  considerable  pecuniary  returns. 
They  all  sold  at  fair  but  reasonable  prices  (for  I  always  re- 
quired the  lowest  paying  price  to  be  put  on),  and  on  some 
there  has  been  realized  something  beyond  expenses.  But  on 
the  whole, — ^rom  getting  them  up  on  best  paper  and  by  best 
printers,  publishers,  and  binders — with  failures  of  booksellers 
(as  Leavitt  &c)  ; — no  returns  of  money  certainly  paid  (as  $60 

Published  in  Philadelphia  in  1844  by  Dr.  Henry  Augustus 
Boardman,  D.  D. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works.  The  editor  does  not  know  to 
what  "recent  work"  he  alludes. 


222 

paid  by  Dr.  Scotf  of  N.  O.  to  Mr.  Poole,  $60  to  a  clergyman 
in  N.  C,  and  so  on  and  so  on — various  frauds — )  and  my 
utter  incompetency  and  inability  to  attend  to  them,  as  well  as 
because  money  making  was  not  in  my  calculations — I  have  in 
good  part  paid  for  them  and  circulated  them  gratuitously, 
giving  them  very  freely  to  brethren  and  students  in  the  min- 
istry. 

Gratitude  for  Regarding  the  ability  to  write  and  to  bestow 
the  ability  to  them,  as  gifts  of  God,  I  have  been  and  am  thank- 
write  and  f^i  fQj-  j^y  works  and  for  being  disposed  to  em- 
^"  '^  ■  ploy  them  for  the  promotion  of  His  glory,  and 
yet  to  be  clothed  with  humility.  Sensible  of  entire  weakness, 
dependence,  and  unworthiness  I  take  (or  at  least  desire  to  take) 
my  place  and  position  as  God  assigns  it,  neither  assuming  one 
too  high  for  me  to  maintain,  nor  declining  one  which  he  has 
appropriated  -  for  me  through  His  working  in  the  hearts  and 
views  of  others.  Not  distrusting  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God,  neither  taking  the  direction  nor  refusing  to  follow, 
neither  avoiding  humiliation  nor  exaltation,  neither  taking  the 
lead  nor  shrinking  from  place,  prominence,  and  responsibility 
— having  a  profound  sense  of  my  own  sinful  nothingness  and 
of  my  ill-desert  of  any  but  the  lowest  seat  among  the  great, 
Avise,  or  good,  and  yet  believing  that  I  can  be  and  do  all  things 
God  requires  of  me,  through  His  wisdom  guiding,  and  His 
grace  strengthening, — I  have  endeavoured  to  distrust  myself 
without  distrusting  God.  I  have  therefore  endured  many 
rebuffs,  and  many  hard  and  harsh  blows,  many  contemptuous 
remarks  and  actions,  and  silent  scorn.  I  have  been  scorched 
and  peeled  and  annihilated,  filled  with  shame  and  self  loathing, 
and  would  gladly  a  thousand  times,  have  sunk  into  the  earth, 
or  fallen  as  a  star  of  night  into  darkness  and  nothingness ;  as 
I  told  Mr.  Carter  (who  treated  me  very  ungenerously  and  in 
an  unmanly — dishonorable,  and  even  untruthful  manner),  "I 
have  for  years  prayed  to  God  to  disappoint  all  my  des-ires, 
blast  all  my  schemes,  and  throw  contempt  on  all  my  pride,  so 
far  as  was  necessary  for  my  sanctification  and  salvation."  I 
have  been  trying  to  walk  softly  and  humbly — to  receive,  as 
well  deserved,  the  indignation  of  the  Lord ;  to  come  down  into 
the  valley  of  humiliation — to  give  up  wife,  children,  brothers. 
Elders,  and  dearest  and  most  relied  on  friends — to  take  con- 
tentedly alienated  affections  and  transferred  devotion,  betrayed 

'Dr.  W.  A.  Scott  of  New  Orleans  is  often  referred  to  as  a 
friend  of  Dr.  Smyth,  not  only  as  his  welcome  travelling  com- 
panion in  1844  and  1846  but  in  a  letter  from  James  Smith,  (1846), 
and  letters  from  himself  late  in  life.    Also  see  vol.  Ill,  p.  563- — Ed. 


223 

confidence  and  the  violation  of  the  most  inviolable  obligations ; 
— and  in  whatsoever  state  to  be  content. 

Humble  con-  The  Icsson  has  been  a  hard  one  to  learn  and 
tentment  a  the  coursc  of  study  protractcd.  I  have  had  many 
difficult  lesson,  trials— trials  of  body,  of  mind,  within  and  with- 
out, at  home  and  abroad,  in  my  family  and  in  my  church.  But 
the  God  of  hope  and  consolation  has  comforted  me  under  them 
all.  They  have  been  of  eminent  service  in  loosening  my  vain 
confidence  in  the  creature,  in  disengaging  me  from  the  world, 
— in  cherishing  a  pilgrim  spirit,- — in  drawing  me  nearer  to 
heaven, — in  giving  intensity  and  sincerity  to  prayer;  in  mak- 
ing it  essential  to  life  and  peace  to  have  a  realizing,  living,  and 
loving  communion  with  Christ,  and  a  cheerful  intimacy  with 
death  and  the  grave.  I  have  been  much — most  of  my  time — 
alone — alone  in  heart,  if  not  in  fact — alone  with  pains  and 
weakness  and  faint  languor.^  I  have  often  felt  of  my  poor 
impoverished  limbs  and  almost  formless  frame,  that  I  ought  to 
be  in  the  grave  buried  out  of  sight,  and  that  it  was  impossible 
to  live.  And  yet  it  has  been  not  with  gloomy  but  with  grate- 
ful thoughts — a  calm  and  cheerful  heart  from  every  murmur 
free.  Nay,  it  is  with  intense  delight,  as  in  reviewing  the 
mercies  of  the  day,  I  cast  myself  upon  a  present  Saviour  as 
a  helpless  child  and  say 

"Oh  God  I  would  delight  in  Thee 
And  on  Thee  can  depend, 
To  Thee  in  every  trouble  flee 
My  best  my  only  friend." 

Often,  oh  how  often,  do  I  thus  fall  asleep  in  the  arms  of 
Jesus  leaning  on  the  beloved,  and  when  I  awake  find  I  am  still 
with  him ;  often,  oh  how  often,  do  I  wish  for  the  wings  of  a 
dove  to  fly  away  and  be  at  rest!  Often,  oh  how  often  do  I 
feel  like  an  unweaned  child  yearning  for  the  breast  of  con- 
solation, the  arms  of  love,  and  the  caresses  of  affection ; —  full 

'Dr.  Smyth  was  undoubtedly  much  alone  in  spirit,  in  spite  of 
the  mutual  devotion  existing  between  his  wife  and  himself  and  the 
great  affection  shown  him  by  his  congregation.  He  had  been 
almost  completely  separated  from  all  the  friends  o,f  his  youth — the 
division  of  the  Presbytery  cut  him  off  in  a  measure  from  the  men 
with  whom  he  could  enjoy  an  interchange  of  ideas  common  to 
their  daily  lives.  This  isolation,  begun  with  the  controversy  of 
Boards,  continued  in  the  long  argument  as  to  the  Eldership,  in 
which  he  stood  at  bay  for  years.  Even  in  his  Missionary  enthusi- 
asm he  was  far  in  advance  of  his  Synod,  and  when  we  read  of 
his  experiences  in  Belfast  in  1846  with  the  Anti-Slavery  Society 
we  know  he  felt  utterly  alone. — Ed. 


224 

of  fears  and  anxious  trepidation  do  I  look  up  into  my  Saviour's 
face  and  beseech  Him  to  calm  my  fears,  to  soothe  my  trepida- 
tion, to  assure  me  that  he  is  mine  and  that  I  am  His,  and  to 
take  me  to  himself  that  I  may  be  ever  with  my  Lord. 
Books  have  ^^^  ^  waudcr.     What  I  wish  to  bring  out  is 

been  of  that  I  have  been  delivered  more  and  more  from 

influence.  soHcitudc  about  the  favour  or  disfavour  of  men 

and  the  success  or  failure  of  my  productions  to  gain  the  com- 
mendation of  many.  Of  making  books  there  is,  and  will  be, 
no  end ;  and  the  time  has  come  when  as  a  general  rule,  the 
circle  of  any  one  man's  influence  must  be  more  and  more  re- 
stricted, especially  in  religious  literature;  when  the  more  a 
work  is  adapted  to  mere  popular  and  pleasant  instruction  it 
will  be  present  and  passing  in  its  popularity,  and  when  there- 
fore a  man  must  be  satisfied  to  write,  as  he  preaches,  for  local 
and  limited  utility,  and  with  local  and  limited  success.  Nor 
will  this  curtail  authorship  or  the  duty  and  advantages  of  new 
productions.  Contrariwise  it  will  increase  it  in  quantity  and 
improve  it  in  quality.  It  will  adapt  it  to  special  necessities 
and  imbue  it  with  all  the  ardour  of  particular  affections.  It 
will  simplify  and  sanctify  its  aim  and  spirit  and  intensify  its 
power  to  do  good,  as  light  and  leaven  and  salt  cast  into  the 
bosom  of  the  surrounding  mass. 

I  feel  that  I  have  not  lived  and  laboured,  or 
Even  though     ^j-ittcu  and  published  in  vain.     I  thank  God  for 

forgotten.  ^ 

having  wrought  in  me  to  do  so  much  and  so  ac- 
ceptably. I  have  not  done  all,  or  what  I  could ;  I  have  never 
brought  out  what  was  in,  nor  written  what  was  felt,  nor 
spoken  as  I  thought,  nor  realized  what  I  conceived,  nor  per- 
fected what  I  have  performed.  Immaturity  and  imperfection 
characterize  all,  I  am  surprised  and  grateful  for  the  consid- 
eration and  forbearing  sympathy  extended  to  my  works.  Let 
them^ — ^if  God  will,  perish.  Let  them  melt  in  the  yeast  of 
waters,  or  rise  as  vapours  of  a  morning  and  mingle  with  the 
elements.  Let  the  echo  of  my  name  and  fame  die  away,  until 
it  is  lost  among  the  hills  of  a  coming  futurity.  Or  like  waifs 
floated  ashore  by  some  fitful  or  receding  wave,  the  relics  and 
specimens  of  former  generations,  ancestral  portraits  in  some 
gallery  of  the  curious  antiquary,  or  the  arms  of  some  former 
Knight — let  them  abide.  Any  how,  any  bow  they  have  ful- 
filled their  mission.  They  are  among  the  links  of  causes,  and 
the  procession  of  effects.  Their  effects  may  abide  when  the 
causes  are  extinct.  The  harvest  may  multiply  when  the  orig- 
inal seed  is  perished. 


325 

TT       .  .  I  rejoice  that  I  have  Hved  and  laboured.     The 

rle    rejoices  •' 

that  he  has       contest  is  the  same  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
lived  and  of  time.    One  is  the  warfare — the  issue — the  com- 

batants and  the  victorious  results,  and  the  ever- 
lasting glory.  I  rejoice  to  have  mingled  in  it,  though  only  in 
one  age,  one  brief  term  of  labour,  one  part  of  the  field  and  one 
particular  service.  I  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  army^  of 
Immanuel  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords.  I  have 
fought  under  his  banner,  and  under  his  eye  and  for  his  crown 
and  covenant.  My  name  is  on  the  roll  book  of  heaven's 
heraldry  and  will  not  be  forgotten  on  the  great  muster  day 
when  the  roll  shall  be  called  and  every  man  shall  spring  forth, 
even  from  his  gory  bed  on  some  embattled  field  of  long-past 
ages,  or  his  grave  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  when  a 
crown  of  righteousness  shall  be  given  by  the  Lord,  the  right- 
eous judge,  to  all  them  who  have  here  followed  and  fought  for 
Him. 

To  have  been  therefore  even  a  private^  in  some  one  regi- 
ment— of  some  one  battalion,  in  some  one  army,  in  some  one 
campaign,  and  to  have  fought  and  fallen  in  some  one  battle 
for  the  truth — will  insure  an  immortality  of  fame,  and  a  name 
written  on  the  Lamb's  Book  of  life.  But  to  have  been  more  than 
this ; — to  have  been  a  captain  in  the  Lord's  host — to  have  won 
the  hearts  of  some  brave  and  loyal  company — to  have  drawn 
them  to  me,  to  Christ,  and  to  one  another ; — to  have  imbued 
them  with  love  to  Christ  and  inspired  them  with  zeal  and  devo- 
tion to  this  cause — to  have  marshalled  them  among  the  Sacra- 
mental hosts  of  God's  elect — to  have  led  them  to  the  high  places 
of  the  field — to  have  shared  in  their  dangers  and  endured  their 
privations  and  been  an  example  of  suffering  affliction  and 
patience ; —  to  have  fallen  at  their  head  with  the  Sword  of  the 
Spirit  in  hand,  the  face  to  the  foe,  and  words  of  victory  and 
cheer  on  the  tongue — this  is  glory  enough  for  any  mortal. 

Surveying  thus  the  whole  history  of  this  mysterious  earthly 
warfare — as  I  shall  one  day  from  heaven's  mount  of  vision,  I 
feel  that  the  past  and  the  present  and  the  future  are  alike 
interesting  to  me  and  that  I  am  alike  interested  in  each.  It  is 
one,  and  the  glory  and  the  grandeur  of  the  whole  and  the 
everlasting  blessedness  resultant  from  it  are  mine  as  much  as 
they  are  any  others.  I  will  soon  die  and  my  works  too.  But 
I  shall  not  all  die,  nor  all  of  them.  And  as  I  can  look  back 
upon  the  past  and  rejoice  that  a  place  was  given  me  in  the 

'See   Bunyan's   "Holy  War." — Ed. 

^See  Sermon  "The  Christian  Soldier,"  vol.  VII,  p.  563,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 

[15] 


226 

ranks  of  Messiah's  friends,  so  I  can  look  forward  to  the  future 
and  rejoice  that  His  course  is  onward,  and  His  cause  trium- 
phant, and  that  His  Kingdom  is  an  everlasting  Kingdom — 
and  that  I  shall  share  a  glorious  part  in  His  inheritance  among 
the  Saints  in  light. 

Favourable  Nothing  can  be  more  grateful  to  a  pupil  than 

comment  from  the  praisc  of  his  preccptors.  This  enjoyment  is 
Princeton  mine  and  in  this  I  have  recompense  for  the  toil 

and  elsewhere.  ,  ,.,  -  ,,..  ^-N,--r^ 

and  expenditures  of  my  publications.  Of  Dr. 
Miller's  opinion  I  have  several  written  evidences.  (See  after- 
wards and  in  my  wife's  copy  a  long  letter,  &c) 

I  also  give  the  original  of  Dr.  James  W.  Alexander's'  com- 
munication from  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  while  on  his  dying 
bed  and  near  his  end,  to  the  effect  that  having  been  appointed 
to  the  Professorship  of  Church  Government,  after  examining 
all  the  works  within  his  reach,  he  had  concluded,  had  he  lived, 
to  adopt  my  work  as  the  text  book  for  Princeton. 

Dr.  McGiir  while  at  Columbia,  told  me  that,  but  for  its  ex- 
pensiveness  and  rarity  he  would  adopt  it  for  the  same  purpose. 

Dr.  Hodge"  has  expressed  his  concurrence  with  me  on  the 
points  in  which  I  differed  from  Dr.  Miller,  which  he  said 
occasioned  Dr.  M.  much  regret ; — I  refer  particularly  to  the 
Scriptural  official  meaning  of  the  term  Preshuteros  as  not  ap- 
plying to  ruling  Elders,*  an  opinion  I  still  hold ;  he  concurred 
with  me  also  on  the  nature  and  proper  Scriptural  basis  of  that 
office  and  on  the  expediency  of  rotation  in  it.  See  also  the 
expressed  approval  of  this  view  by  Dr.  William  Breckenridge.' 

Dr.  MacMaster*  in  his  letter  gives  concurrence  also  to  these 
views. 

Dr.  Addison  Alexander  expressed  himself  kindly  of  my 
works,  and  said  "he  did  not  think  my  works  had  been  properly 
appreciated,  but  that  they  would  be  valued  more  highly  long 
after  my  decease."  He  and  Dr.  Hodge  may  have  been  together 
and  concurred  in  this  statement,  which  was  uttered  at  Prince- 
ton. 

^Tage  268.— Ed. 

^Alexander  Taggart  McGill,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.,  who  had  been  and 
was  again  a  professor  at  Allegheny  Seminary,  was  at  Columbia 
Theological  Seminary  in  1852-3.  He  was  afterwards  for  years  at 
Princeton. — Ed. 

"Pp.  283,  etc.— Ed. 

'See  vol.  IV,  p.  301,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

^Letter  not  to  be  found. — Ed. 

*See  letter,  p.  247. — Ed. 


327 

Dr.  R.  J.  Breckenridge  communicated  to  me  through  Dr. 
Thornwell  that  I  had  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  church 
by  my  writings,  and  this  after  I  had  in  his  own  magazine, 
opposed  his  views  of  Boards  and  Agencies. 

Perhaps   the  most  grateful   testimony  to   their 
o.!!°!a      ^      worth  was  the   fact  and  the  manner  of  my   re- 

gree,   1043.  _    _  -' 

ceivmg  my  doctorate  degree  from  the  College  of 
Princeton  in  the  year  1843,  when  but  35  years  old,  and  only 
12  years  out  of  the  Seminary.  The  whole  thing  was  unknown, 
undreamed  of  by  me  until  announced.  It  was  proposed  as  will 
be  seen  from  my  brother's  letter,^  by  the  President  of  the 
Board,  Roswell  L.  Colt  Esq.,  and  seconded  by  Dr.  Miller  with 
the  remark,  as  reported  by  Mr.  Colt,  that  "the  degree  had  not 
for  twenty  years  been  more  deservedly  conferred."  The  stand- 
ing rule  requiring  nomination  at  one  meeting  and  action  at 
another  was  also,  with  unanimity,  suspended,  and  the  degree 
instantly  conferred.  Dr.  Miller  also  was  so  much  pleased  and 
interested,  as  to  write  me  while  sitting  on  the  Board. ^ 
LLD  from  ^  ^^'^^^  heve  also  record  that  through  the  agency 
Glasgow  not  of  the  Rcv.  Dr.  Reid  (the  Historian  of  the  Pres- 
conferred.  bytcrian  Church  in  Ireland  who  shewed  me,  while 
easons  given.  .^  Qlasgow,  much  of  his  preparations  for  his  third 
volume  then  in  a  state  of  forwardness,  and  who  expressed  the 
very  highest  estimate  of  the  value  and  ability  of  my  works,) 
the  motion  was  made  in  the  Senatus  of  the  University  by  him, 
seconded  by  Dr.  Cunningham,  Dr.  Candlish,  Dr.  Brown  (au- 
thor of  Discourses  on  Peter,  Romans,  &c.  &c),  and  several 
others,  such  as  Dr.  Symington,  Dr.  Brown  (author  of  work  on 
the  Second  Advent  and  now  Professor  in  Free  Church  Col- 
lege,) Drs.  Cooke,^  Brown,  and  Stavely  of  Ireland  &c. — to  con- 
fer on  me  the  degree  of  LL.  D.*  On  a  return  visit  Dr.  Reid 
told  me  "the  motion  had  passed  through  the  required  pre- 
liminary stages,  and  would  no  doubt  be  conferred."  So  per- 
fectly confident  was  he  of  this  that  he  asked  me  to  put  into 
his  hands  the  fee  (i2o)  which  custom  required.  This  I  did. 
Within  three  months  he  died,  having  been  from  that  time  sick 
and  unable  to  attend  meetings.  Dr.  James  Thompson,  Prof,  of 
Mathematics  had  also  been  cut  off  by  cholera — (He  was  my 
Belfast  College  Professor,  High  School  early  teacher,  and  warm 
personal  friend,  who  had  me  at  times  to  sit  up  all  night  with 
him,  making  meteorological  observations  and  experiments ;  he 

^See  p.  238. — Ed. 

*See  p.  236. — Ed. 

^See  p.  266,  a  leader  of  the  Church  in  Ireland. — Ed. 

*See  letters,  p.  257,  etc. — Ed. 


228 

got  me  also  to  write  an  address  to  Dr.  Chalmers  when  he 
came  to  Belfast  to  open  the  Fisherweck  Presbyterian  Church 
to  which  he  had  attached  himself. —  See  also  his  letter  pre- 
viously given,  with  his  College  tickets  and  testimonials^). — 
Meanwhile  Dr.  Reid's  son,  also  a  Professor,  and  a  son-in-law 
of  Rev.  Dr.  King,"  was  led  perhaps  by  the  latter,  in  his  jeal- 
ousy of  my  Free  Church  partialities  (for  Drs.  Cunningham 
and  Candlish  told  me  that  had  prevented  their  doing  any  thing 
of  the  kind  before),  or  his  rabid  abolitionism  (having  just 
returned  from  Jamaica  and  New  England), — to  call  attention 
to  my  connection  with  Slavery,  and  to  a  passage  in  vindication 
of  the  South  in  the  American  edition — the  only  one  then  in 
print — of  my  Unity  of  the  Races,'  recommending  therefore  on 
the  ground  that  they  ought  not  as  a  University  in  any  way  to 
implicate  themselves  in  the  Slavery  question  (then  furiously 
exciting  Scotland  through  Frederick  Douglass  &c)^  and  on 
that  ground  alone,  that  the  motion  had  better  be  quietly 
dropped. 

(See  letters  of  Dr.  Reid,  one  written  within  three  weeks  of 
his  death,  &c.  This  will  explain  allusions  in  his  letters  in  his 
History  in  The  Smyth  Library.") 

This  conjecture  as  to  Dr.  King  is  only  my  surmise.  He  was 
very  kind  personally,  had  me  to  breakfast  and  at  his  study  &c. 

^Letters  not  found. — Ed. 

^For  full  name  and  description  of  Dr.  King  and  other  Scottish 
and  Irish  Ministers  mentioned,  see  p.  264. — Ed. 

'The  references  to  slavery  in  the  Edinburgh  edition  of  the 
"Unity  of  the  Races"  are  few  and  the  tone  not  defensive.  Dr. 
Smyth  takes  it  for  granted  that  the  intelligent  observer  sees  the 
improvement  in  the  type  of  the  negro  resulting  from  his  contact 
with  civilization  and  refers  to  the  curse  of  Ham.  See  Unity  of 
Races,  vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works,  pp.  no,  etc.,  128,  135,  150,  254, 
361.  The  N.  Y.  edition  of  1850,  chap.  XXII,  maintains  that  it  is 
uncharitable  to  hold  the  theory  of  a  plurality  of  origins  as  we 
should  see  in  every  man  the  image  of  God  and  the  features  of  a 
brother.  Dr.  Smyth  quotes  Judge  O'Neill's  Digest  of  the  Negro 
Law  of  S.  C.  to  prove  that  this  feeling  of  brotherhood  underlies 
slavery,  "the  first  law  of  slavery  being  that  of  kindness  from  the 
master  to  the  slave."  (O'Neill.)  The  So.  Pres.  Review  is  also 
quoted,  claiming  the  Tenth  Commandment  as  "sanctioning  the 
right  of  property  in  a  human  being"  but  defining  this  as  "the  right 
of  the  master  to  the  labour  of  the  slave  for  life,"  not  the  right 
he  would  have  to  a  brute. — Ed. 

^See  note  on  abolition,  1846. — Ed. 

*The  first  volume  of  this  history  in  the  Smyth  Library  is  miss- 
ing and  the  letters  with  it. — Ed. 


339 

and  expressed  a  very  high  appreciation  of  my  writings.     It 
explains  however  what  is  otherwise  inexpHcably  strange. 

The  following  letter  -fixes  the  date  of  the  publication  of  my 
first  Sermon  on  the  Eldership  preached  before  Presbytery  of 
Charleston  Union,  April  iSj6. 

ROMNEY,  HAMPSHIRE  COUNTY. 
VIRGINIA  Nov.  21,  1836. 
REV  AND  DEAR 

SIR, 
„.   ,  From  the  very  high  and  I  have  no  doubt  well 

First    sermon  •'  cj 

on  the  deserved  praise  bestowed  by  the  Editors  of  the 

ers  ip.  Biblical  Repertory,  which  you  may  have  seen  in 
the  October  no  for  1836 — I  am  induced  to  think  your  Ser- 
mon— "the  Eldership  of  the  Presbyterian  Church"  preached 
by  you  before  the  C.  Union  Presbytery  April  4th  1836  is  of 
no  common  order.  *  *  j  gee  that  Mr.  Miller  is  either  the 
printer  or  publisher,  if  you  and  he  would  consent  that  a  copy 
be  permited  to  be  printed  in  this  section  of  Country  for  sale — 
I  will  attend  to  it,  not  I  assure  you  from  any  hope  or  wish 
to  make  one  cent,  but  the  object  and  the  only  object  for  pro- 
posing to  you  the  matter  of  having  some  hundred  printed  and 
sold  through  this  section  of  Virginia,  is  that  the  American 
Tract  Society  have  a  large  Depository  in  Winchester  Va., 
Daniel  Gold  agent  or  superintendent:  the  object  I  have  in 
view  is  helping  to  bring  into  notice  that  which  I  suppose  very 
likely  to  do  good :  such  a  work  I  presume  your  sermon  to  be 
and  its  wide  circulation  should  be  an  object  with  every  Chris- 
tian— a  line  and  a  Copy  or  two  of  the  Sermon  refered  to  you 
will  please  forward  on  Receipt  of  this  by  mail  and  oblige 
greatly  your  unknown  Christian  friend  and  brother 

ANDREW  WODROW. 

Director  of  This  is  to  Certify  that  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth 

American  by  a  coutribution  of  One  Hundred  Dollars  by  the 

ociety.   ^j^jj.^^   Presbyterian   Church  and   Congregation   of 
Charleston  S.  C.  is  a  Director  for  Life  of  the  American  Tract 
Society. 
New  York,  May  4th,  1838. 


330 

PRINCETON,  March  i6,  1838. 
REVD  &  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr.    Samuel  "'■  ^'^ceived  your  kind  letter,  by  way  of  Philadel- 

Miiier  com-  phia,  together  with  the  Pamphlets  on  the  Loss  of 
mends  work.  ^^^  Hofue^  ou  the  Orphan  Asylum,'  &  on  the 
Theatre,^  which  you  were  so  good  as  to  send  me.  The  perusal 
of  them  gave  me  peculiar  pleasure.  I  have  seldom  read  oc- 
casional sermons  with  so  much  interest  and  satisfaction. 

The  manner  in  which  you  vindicated  yourself  against  the 
Episcopal  attack  is  able,  dignified  &  conclusive.  In  my  opinion 
you  not  only  have  the  best  of  the  argument,  but  have  con- 
ducted your  share  of  it  in  a  manner  worthy  of  high  praise. — - 
I  am  sure  there  would  not  have  been  so  much  sensitiveness, 
&  so  much  evidence  of  painful  feeling,  if  there  had  [not]  been 
a  deep  consciousness  that  the  Episcopal  citidal  was  vulnerable, 
&  stood  in  need  of  defence.     *     *     * 

I  hope  yott,  will,  by  all  means,  be  a  delegate  to  the  Assembly, 
It  is  a  matter  of  immense  importance  that  Body  be  made  up, 
as  far  as  possible,  of  the  friends  of  truth  &  order;  men  who 
will  be  wise,  firm,  punctual  in  attendance,  &  ready  to  vote 
right  with  steadfast  &  fearless  uniformity. — • 

I  am  interrupted,  &  must  conclude  with  assuring  you  that  I 
am  with  affectionate  salutations  to  Mrs.  Smyth,  &  your  ven- 
erable Father-in  law. 

Your  cordial  friend  &  brother, 

SAM^  MILLER.' 
Revd.  T.  Smyth. — 

^Vol.  V,  p.  235,  Smyth's  Works;  many  details  are  given. — Ed. 

'Vol.  V,  p.  405,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

^Vol.  V,  p.  303,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

*No  one  interested  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  should  be  igno- 
rant of  the  great  influence  of  Dr.  Miller  of  whom  with  Dr.  Arch- 
ibald Alexander,  Dr.  W.  H.  Johnson  says  "Princeton's  history  is 
but  the  lengthening  shadow  of  these  two  men."  Dr.  Smyth  speaks 
of  him  (see  vol.  IV,  p.  280)  as  "this  venerable  man  whom  we 
loved  as  a  man,  an  instructor,  a  correspondent,  and  a  generous 
personal  friend,"  and  Dr.  Francis  L.  Patton  describes  him  as  "a 
courtly  gentleman  of  elegant  scholarship  and  wide  reading,"  "a 
stalwart  defender  of  the  great  principles  of  Presbyterian  doctrine 
and  polity."  For  twenty-six  years  Dr.  Miller  filled  the  chair  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government  at  Princeton 
Seminary. — Ed. 


231 

PRINCETON,  July  20,  1838. 

REV^  &  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Yours  of  the  18*"  ult.  reached  me  on  the  25*". 
Eccies.  Gate-  The  extreme  heat  of  the  weather,  together  with 
chism  and  Urgent  engagements,  has  prevented  me  from  re- 
notes  on  plying  until  now. 

Confession.  t    r     ^  n       •      i    i        i  o-        r 

i  feel  really  mdebted  to  you,  my  dear  bir,  for 
your  suggestions  respecting  the  supply  of  fnanuals  for  the  use 
of  your  young  people.  Every  one  that  you  propose  is  much 
needed;  &,  if  well  executed,  would  be,  I  have  no  doubt,  emi- 
nently useful. 

That  /  should  undertake  all,  or  even  the  greater  part  of  the 
4  you  have  proposed,  is  out  of  the  question.  If  my  life  & 
health  be  spared,  I  will  think  seriously  of  undertaking  the  i" 
that  you  speak  of — viz  a  "Historical  Catechism."  The  rest, 
you  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  undertake  yourself.  I  know  of 
nobody  else  likely,  or  disposed,  or  qualified  to  do  the  work. 
As  you  cannot  do  them  all  at  once,  I  would  propose,  &  re- 
spectfully urge  that,  as  soon  as  you  receive  this  letter,  you 
should  immediately  go  to  work  in  preparing  the  2*  ivork  that 
you  mention,  viz :  an  "Ecclesiastical  Catechism,"  on  the  plan 
you  suggest.  I  think  such  a  work  would  be  of  incalculable 
use. — 

All  of  my  associates  here  are  such  busy  men,  that  I  have 
no  hope  of  any  one  of  them  undertaking  any  one  of  these 
works.  I  earnestly  wish  you  without  delay — to  set  about  the 
task  I  have  assigned  to  you.  I  believe  it  will  not  be  done, 
unless  you  undertake  it.  The  Rev**.  Dr.  McLeod,  of  New 
York  published  an  "Eccies'  Catechism,"  which  if  you  wish  for 
it,  can  be  had  at  any  time  in  the  book  stores  of  that  city.  It 
is  a  thin  duodecimo,  of  120  or  150  pages. — 

When  you  have  finished  No.  II,  which  appears  to  me  most 
urgently  in  demand,  you  can  then  go  on  to  numbers  III  &  IV, 
which  I  hope  you  will  undertake  &  complete  in  2  or  3  years. — 
Compends  of  this  kind  require  to  be  executed  slowly  and  with 
care. — 

I  fully  agree  with  you,  my  dear  Sir,  in  deprecating  "Ortho- 
dox dictators,"  as  well  as  "heretical  radicals."  May  we  be 
saved  from  both! 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  when  convenient,  I  am.  Rev".  & 
dear  Sir, 

affectionately  your  brother, 

SAMi'  MILLER. 


332 

"(Note  T.  S.)    I.  Historical  Catechism. 

2.  Ecclesiastical  Catechism. 

3.  An  Edition  of  the  Confession  of  Faith,  with  His- 

torical Introd"  &  Notes.— 

4.  An  Exposition  of  the  Confession  of  Faith  after 

the  manner  of  Bp.  Bennet. — 

This  letter  from  Dr.  Miller  shows  i^*,-  his  desire  for  my 
coming-  to  N.  Brunswick;  2"",  my  engagement  in  preparing 
my  Ecclesiast'.  Catech.,  and  a  review  afterwards  published 
which  was  very  highly  estimated  by  Mr.  Lowrie,  Sec.  of  Bd. 
of  For.  Miss"^  &  which  led  the  Am"  Tract  Soc.  to  alter  ''Mam- 
mon," then  passing  through  the  press ;  and  3'''^  his  kind  per- 
sonal feelings. 

PRINCETON  Oct.  27,  1838: 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

Approves  re-  Yours  of  the  22"**  reached  me  on  the  second 
view  of  Raid's  day  after  its  date.  I  earnestly  wished  to  send 
History.  |.j^g    jj^^j^    packet    which    accompanies    this  early 

enough  to  reach  you  before  you  sailed  for  Charleston,  but 
found  this  to  be  impossible.  As  I  intend,  if  the  Lord  will,  to 
go  to  Philadelphia  to-morrow  morning,  I  propose  to  leave  my 
communication  with  Mr.  Peabody,  to  be  conveyed  by  Mr. 
Fleming,  as  you  mention. — 

As  I  have  no  other  copy  of  Dr.  McLeod's  catechism  than 
that  which  I  send,  I  will  thank  you  to  return  it  by  some 
careful  hand,  when  you  shall  have  made  use  of  it.     *     *     * 

As  to  your  coming  to  N.  Brunswick  I  can  only  say  that 
all  my  wishes  are  strongly  in  favor  of  it.     *     *     * 

I  thank  you  for  your  offer  about  Reviews  for  the  Repertory. 
The  first  mentioned,  on  Mammon  &  Anti-Mammon,  is  a  very 
interesting  subject;  &  I  am  confident  that  a  spirited 
Review  of  it  would  be  very  acceptable  and  useful.  In 
regard  to  Dr.  Reid's  "History  of  Presbyterianism  in  Ireland," 

^Of  the  three  subjects  on  this  list  which  Dr.  Smyth  was  to 
undertake  he  shortly  a^fter  published  the  first  mentioned,  the  "Ec- 
clesiastical Catechism."  Four  MS.  volumes,  two  entitled  "Notes 
on  the  Confession  of  Faith"  and  two  "Annotations  on  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith,"  are  on  the  shelves  of  the  Smyth  Library.  In 
them  the  detached  pages  of  the  printed  "Confession"  alternate 
with  Dr.  Smyth's  notes.  This  work  which  was  done,  in  part  at 
least,  before  1839,  was  probably  resumed  in  the  later  fifties,  for 
it  was  at  this  time  he  put  his  son  Augustine  to  work  on  a  con- 
cordance of  the  "Confession"  which  was  half  finished  before  the 
boy  left  for  college  in  1859. — Ed. 


233 

I  also  hope  you  will,  without  hesitation,  undertake  it/ 
And  in  the  exercise  of  that  paternal  freedom  which  you 
have  always  allowed  me  to  take,  permit  me  to  suggest  what 
appears  to  me  the  best  course  for  managing  that  Review.  * 
*  *  My  plan  would  be  to  draw  from  the  work  a  rapid  sketch 
of  the  introduction  of  Presbyterianism  in  Ireland — of  the 
revival  of  religion  there  under  Blair''  &  his  coadjutors— &  an 
account  of  the  dreadful  persecutions  which  y^  Presbyterians 
endured.  These  3  topics,  if  strongly  exhibited,  would  be 
highly  interesting  to  Presbyterian  readers  on  this  side  the 
Atlantic.    *     *     * 

I  am  constrained  by  engagements  to  close.  May  God  guide 
and  bless  you,  my  dear  Sir.  Unfeignedly  your  friend  & 
brother 

SAMi^  MILLER. 

PRINCETON,  Jmf  2,  1839. 
REV°  &  DEAR  BROTHER 

Dr    Miller  Yours  of  the  22°*  ult.  readied  me  two  days  ago. 

approves  ac-  *  *  I  caunot  longer  delay  thanking  you  for 
tion  in  your  last  two  communications,  &  replying  to  your 

res  y  ery.        queries. —  *     *     My  judgment  hastily  expressed, 
on  the  several  points  presented,  is  as  follows : 

I.  I  think  the  separation  of  the  minority  of  the  Charleston 
Union  Presbytery,  from  the  majority,  &  their  formation  of  a 
new  Presbytery- — as  "the  true  C.  U.  P.  in  connection  with  the 
Gen^  Assembly,"  was,  in  my  opinion,  orderly  &  right,  &  just 
what  was  required  in  such  cases,  by  the  acts  of  the  last  As- 
sembly. In  fact  I  do  not  see  what  the  sound  men  in  the  Pres- 
bytery could  have  done  otherwise.     *     *     * 

I  cannot  doubt  for  a  moment  that  the  General  Assembly  in 
May  next,  will,  without  hesitation,  receive  the  commissioners 
from  your  Presbytery.  All  that  will  be  necessary  to  secure 
this,  will  be  a  short  statement  of  the  circumstances  attending 
its  formation.     *     *     * 

Dr.  Miller's  ^    ^cc    nothing    in    your    steps    in    regard    to 

suggested  slavevy  which  I  do  not,  rebus  sic  stantibus,  en- 

slavery   policy,     ^j^gjy   approve. 

I  beg  however  that  you  will  not  favor  any  resolution  or 
measure  which  would  involve  an  application  to  the  next  As- 

*Dr.  Smyth  carried  out  the  intention  of  reviewing  this  History. 
'Robert    Blair   of    Bangor   who    with    others    did    a   great   work 
in  the   Presbyterian   Church  about   1630. — Ed. 


334 

sembly  to  repeal  their  act  of  1818.'  I  do  not  believe  that  a 
majority  would  consent  to  do  that.  *  *  This  would  lead 
to  long  and  protracted  debate,  and  divide  old  school  men  into 
parties  among  themselves.  Whereas  I  think,  if  no  such  pro- 
posal be  made,  the  Gen'  Assembly  will  send  all  proposals,  re- 
quests, resolutions,  etc  on  the  subject  of  slavery  to  y"  Com- 
mittee of  Overtures,  who  will  immediately  report,  that  no 
order  whatever  ought  to  be  taken  on  them. 

Any  report  from  the  Synod  of  Cincinnati  on  this  subject, 
will,  I  think,  be  treated  in  the  same  manner — 
Dr.  Miller's  What    you    Say    in    your    letter    in    answer    to 

opinion  of  the   Lcgarc,  in  relation  to  the  Act  of  1818,  is  so  just 

Act     of     tRtS 

and  strong,  that  I  think  that  act  ought  never  to 
be  brought  up  again.  It  certainly  would  not  now  be  passed; 
but  its  formal  appeal  is  another  affair. 

I  think  a  minority  of  congregations  claiming  property,  in 
the  manner  you  suggest,  would  stand  on  strong  ground,  and 
would  probably  succeed.  But  I  question  whether  it  would  be 
politic  to  make  a  noise  respecting  such  a  question  just  now. 
Would  it  not  alarm  public  feeling,  and  operate  against  us  in 
our  law  suit  in  Philad"?  People  w**  say — "If  y''  old  school 
gain  their  cause,  such  will  be  y"  consequence  in  hundreds  of 
cases." 

Affectionately  yours 

SAM^  MILLER. 

P.  S.  I  think  I  see  now  that  it  would  not  by  any  means 
have  done,  for  you  to  quit  Charleston.  In  the  mean  time  I 
pity  y^  poor  Brunswick  people.  What  they  will  do  I  do  not 
know. — 

*"The  General  Assembly  of  1818  unanimously  resolved  that 
'slavery  w^as  a  gross  violation  of  the  most  precious  and  moral 
rig-hts  of  human  nature'  "  etc.,  but  after  the  Abolition  movement 
had  become  prominent,  "the  positive  opposition  of  churches" 
both  North  and  South  "soon  followed.  *  *  The  import  of  all 
this  is  unmistakable  and  this  'about-face'  of  religious  organiza- 
tions on  the  question  of  the  morality  of  slavery  has  no  parallel  in 
all  the  history  0|f  Christian  churches.  Its  significance  cannot  be 
overstated.  It  took  place  North  and  South.  It  meant  opposition 
to  a  movement  that  was  outside  the  Church,  and  with  which 
religion  could  have  no  concern  except  in  so  far  as  it  was  a  vital 
assault  on  the  State." — Herbert's  Abolition   Crusade. 


235 

PRINCETON,  June  6,  1840. 
REV^  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Approves  YouT  letter  of  the  4*"   inst.   dated   in   Philad% 

views  on  the    reached  me  two  days  ago.     *     *     * 
Sonship  of       J  ^j^  astonished  at  that  gentleman's  charging  you 
with  agreeing  with  Prof  Stuart  in  regard  to  the 
Sonship  of  Christ.     He,  surely,  cannot  be  aware  what  Stuart's 
opinions  are. 

I  have  expressly  declared  in  my  "Letters  to  Prof  Stuart"° 
on  that  subject  that  *  *  *  jf  any  one  grants  that  the 
Sonship  of  Christ  was  eternal; — i.  e.  that  the  2,^  Person  of  the 
Trinity  bore  a  relation  to  the  i'*  which  the  Scriptures  des- 
ignate by  the  title  of  Son — anterior  to  his  incarnation — strictly 
from  eternity,  he  grants  enough  for  me.  I  neither  feel  able — 
nor  do  I  wish  to  push  the  inquiry  further.     *     *     * 

I  am  my  dear  sir,  very  cordially  yours 

SAM^  MILLER. 

P.  S.  *  *  If  you  hold  the  Sonship  of  Christ  to  be  eter- 
nal, in  any  sense,  you  differ — toto  coelo,  from  Professor 
Stuart. — 

As  to  agreement  with  fne  it  is  a  matter  of  small  moment. 
But  I  should  imagine,  if  you  hold  the  relation  in  question  to 
be  strictly  eternal,  no  orthdox  man  will  be  disposed  to  quarrel 
with  you. 

The  Rev^  Thomas  Smyth — ■ 

°The  editor  applied  for  information  on  this  point  to  the  Rev. 
Joseph  H.  Dulles,  of  Princeton  Seminary,  who  makes  the  follow- 
ing statement: 

"Prof.  Moses  Stuart  was  a  professor  of  Sacred  Literature  in 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  and  the  author  of  several  valuable 
books,  commentaries  etc.     He  was  born  in  1780  and  died  in  1852. 

"As  to  the  views  of  Prof.  Stuart  on  the  sonship  of  Christ, 
which  were  disputed  by  Prof.  Miller,  Prof.  Stuart  did  not  believe 
in  the  eternal  generation  of  Christ  and  was  charged  by  Dr.  Miller 
with  advocating  a  practical  tri-theism.  On  the  other  hand  Dr. 
Stuart  maintained  that  the  doctrine  of  eternal  generation  was 
inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ.  This  in 
substance  was  the  matter  of  dispute  between  them." 

Dr.  Alexander  said  of  Princeton  "we  are  not  disposed  to  think 
every  man  a  heretic  who  differs  in  some  few  points  from  us." 

For  Dr.  Smyth's  views  on  the  Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of 
Christ,  see  a  series  of  articles  under  those  heads  in  vol.  IX, 
Smyth's  Works.  The  charge  was  brought  by  the  New  School 
party  of  the  Charleston  Union  Pres. — Ed. 


286 

Letter  from  Dr.  Miller  announcing  my  degree  of  D.  D. 

PRINCETON,  Sep.  26,  1843. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  inform  you,  that 

Degree 


the   Board   of  Trustees   of  the   College   of   New- 


Jersey  have  this  day  conferred  on  you  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Divinity.     I  write  this  hasty  line  sitting  in  the 
Board — &  am  unfeignedly  gratified  in  announcing  it. 
In  great  haste. 

Sincerely  and  affectionately. 
Yours 

SAM^  MILLER. 

Extracts  from  Critical  notice  of  Presbytery  and  not  Prelacy 
and  Ecclesiastical  Republicanism,  by  Dr.  Sam,uel  Miller. 

Presbytery  "^    considcr   it,    in    its   great   outline,    as    clear, 

and  not  learned,    powerful,    and    altogether   conclusive   in 

Prelacy.  ^j-^g    refutation    of    Prelacy   and   establishment   of 

Presbyterianism.  It  takes  a  more  comprehensive  and  com- 
plete view  of  the  whole  Controversy  than  is  to  be  found  in  any 
single  volume  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  *  *  The  au- 
thor has  not  suffered  himself  to  write,  as  too  many  of  the 
ignorant  and  arrogant  advocates  of  the  sect  which  he  opposes 
have  done,  without  an  acquaintance  with  more  than  his  own 
side  of  the  question.  I  doubt  whether  there  is  another  individ- 
ual in  the  United  States  who  has  read  so  extensively  on  this 
subject,  and  especially  who  has  made  himself  so  familiar  with 
the  works  of  the  highest  and  best  authorities  of  the  Episcopal 
denomination.  Mr.  Smyth  is  undoubtedly  entitled  to  the 
character  of  an  able  advocate  and  benefactor  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  With  regard  to  every  important  Episcopal 
claim,  he  has  not  only  shown  that  it  has  no  support  whatever 
in  the  Word  of  God,  but  that  it  has  been  given  up  as  untenable 
by  the  most  learned  and  venerable  authorities  among  Prelatists 
themselves. 

Ecclesiastical  The  sccoud  work  *  *  merits  the  same  gen- 
Repubiicanism.   gj-^|  character  as  it  larger  companion. 

PRINCETON,  Nov  25.  43. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  feel  mortified  when  I  look  at  your  letter  of  the  17"  ult. 
I  ought  to  have  answered  it  4  weeks  ago.  But  such  was  the 
pile  of  letters  unanswered  about  the  time  of  its  arrival — &  such 


237 

the  torpor  &  forgetfulness  of  a  man  of  75,  that  I  hope  you 
will  forgive  my  tardiness. 

The  copies  of  your  "Presbytery  &  not  Prelacy;"^  and  of 
your  "Eccles'  Republicanism"^  which  you  were  kind  enough 
to  destine  for  me,  reached  my  hands  in  a  few  days  after  my 
last  letter  speaking  of  their  non-arrival.  I  thank  you  heartily 
for  this  testimonial  of  remembrance  &  friendship.  The  friends 
of  our  Church  have,  indeed,  reason  to  thank  and  honour  you. 

5{S  ^  ^ 

You  request  me  still  to  keep  an  eye  on  your  Catechism,  with 
a  view  to  improvements.  I  intend,  Deo  volente,  to  do  so,  & 
shall  take  pleasure  in  doing  it. 

Dr  Miller  on  '^^^  delay  of  this  letter  enables  me  to  embrace 
"The  Free  in  it  an  acknowledgement  of  your  highly  interest- 
Kirk  of  ^^  ing  Discourse  on  the  "Exodus  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,"  which  has  just  arrived.  (I  thank  you 
for  this  new  favour  to  that  Church  and  to  the  great  Cause  of 
fidelity  to  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom.  It  is  worthy  of  the  oc- 
casion, &  of  your  pen. — 

In  great  haste,  yours 

very  affectionately 

SAMi'  MILLER. 


delight    in 
controversy. 


"Doctor  Smjrth,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  rather 
7^'_il"_  ^  delighted  in  controversy,  and  many  clever  things  are 
told  of  his  adroitness,  pertinacity,  and  honesty.  His 
forte  was  history,  and  many  an  unready  antagonist 
learned  to  dread  his  thunder-bolt  which  he  hurled  with  skill  from 
the  armoury  of  the  fathers." — The  Christian  at  Work. 

Dr.  Francis  L.  Patton  in  his  sermon,  "Princeton  Seminary  and 
the  Faith,"  preached  before  the  graduating  class  of  1912  (of  which 
Dr.  Smyth's  grandson  was  one,)  during  the  Centennial  celebra- 
tion, says:  "In  the  early  days  *  *  theological  controversy  was 
largely  of  an  interdenominational  sort.  We  discussed  Presby- 
terianism  versus  Prelacy;  and  infant  baptism  in  opposition  to 
those  whr*  denied  its  Scriptural  warrant.  We  had  debates  on  the 
Trinity  and  the  Divinity  of  Christ.  We  fought  over  again  the 
battle  between  Calvinism  and  Arminianism."* — Editor. 

^Vol.  II,  Smyth's  Works. 

=Vol.  Ill,  Smyth's  Works. 

■•Princeton  Seminary  Centennial,  p.  348. — Ed. 


238 

PRINCETON  N.  J.  Sept.  28.  1843. 
TO  THE  REVEREND 

THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D. 
DEAR  SIR, 

I   have   the   pleasure   to   inform   you   that   the 
Doctor's  Trustees   of  the   College  of  New  Jersey,  by   an 

Degree.  unanimous  vote,  have  conferred  on  you  the  De- 

gree  of   Doctor   in   Divinity   in   consideration    of 
your  attainments  in  Theological  Learning  and  of  your  labours 
in  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
With  great  respect 

Yrs  in  Christian  bonds 

JAMES  CARNAHAN,  President  of 
the  College  of  N.  Jersey.^ 

PATERSON,  28  September,  1843. 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

josepij  The  news  I  have  this  time  to  communicate  is 

Smith's  of  a  much  more  pleasing  nature  than  the  last,  and 

account.  ^^^  which  I  offcr  you  my  hearty  congratulations, 

and  participate  with  you  in  the  proud  satisfaction  that  your 
arduous  labors  have  not  passed  unrequited. 

Mr.  Colt*  has  just  returned  from  Princeton  and  requests  me 
to  write  that  you  were  yesterday  made  a.  D.  D. 

It  requires  6  months  notice  before  this  honor  can  be  con- 
ferred according  to  the  ordinary  rules,  but  in  the  present 
instance  these  were  suspended. 

Mr.  Colt  made  the  motion  which  was  seconded  by  Dr.  Miller 
who  took  occasion  to  remark,  that  no  degree  had  been  more 
honourably  conferred  for  the  last  20  years — it  was  then  passed 
Nem  Con. 

After  which  the  same  honour  was  conferred  on  your  old 
friend  and  fellow  student  I  believe,  Houston  of  Ireland' — Let 
not  the  enquiry  hereafter  be  made  "Can  any  good  thing  come 
out  of  Ireland." 

To  my  great  astonishment  John*  told  me  last  night  that  he 
had  nearly  made  up  his  mind  to  go  and  spend  the  winter  with 
you.     Will  you  encourage  him  in  this  outrageous  proceeding? 

^President  of  Princeton   College  from   1823  to   1843. — Ed. 

*Mr.  Roswell  L.  Colt.     See  letter,  p.  248.— Ed. 

'Rev.  Thomas  Houston  D.  D.  of  Belfast  who  taught  Dr.  Smyth 
in  boyhood  and  continued  a  friendly  interest  in  him  always.  See 
letters. — Ed. 

*John  O.  Smith  remained  a  devoted  admirer  of  his  uncle  to 
the  end. — Ed. 


239 

I  am  afraid  you  would  make  a  D.  D.  of  him  before  you  let 
him  away.  He  intends  to  go  round  by  a  packet;  when  is  the 
best  time  to  sail?  We  are  all  well.  With  love  to  Margaret 
and  James  and  respects  to  Miss  Adger 

I  remain  affectionately 

JOSEPH  SMITH. 

There  was  ice  in  Mr.  Colt's  grounds  this  morning.  Flannels 
and  Hickory  wood  now  possess  the  greatest  attractions —  On 
Monday  last  the  thermometer  stood  at  92,  this  morning  34° — 

Oct  4,  1843. 

REVEREND  SIR, 

*     *     * 

Concerning  When  I  first  learned,  that  you  were  about  writ- 

"Presbytery  ing  ou  this  topic,  I  thought,  and  possibly  may 
and  not^^  have  Said,  that  your  project  was  a  work  of  super- 

reacy.  erogatiou,  uncalled  for  and  unnecessary,  at  least 

as  far  as  the  community  of  Charleston  were  concerned.  But 
subsequent  developements  have  fully  satisfied  me  that  even  in 
relation  to  our  own  immediate  region,  your  effort  is  by  no 
means  premature.  Had  you  not  undertaken  such  a  work  the 
time  has  arrived  when  it  needed  to  be  done  by  some  one,  in 
one  or  other  of  the  divisions  into  which  the  church  has  been 
unhappily  split.  And  whether  it  would  have  been  done  better 
or  even  as  well  by  some  other  pen,  admits  at  least  of  question. 
So  far  as  acknowledgements  wnll  go  toward  remunerating 
you  for  your  extensive  research  and  successful  exhibition  of 
the  matter  you  undertook  to  discuss,  I  request  hereby  to  make 
my  personal  acknowledgement  and  I  cannot  doubt  that  the 
constitutional  brethren  generally  will  sympathize  with  me  on 
this  subject.  Not  that  either  they  or  myself  are  prepared  to 
adopt  your  views  entire  and  in  detail :  but  in  reference  to 
leading  points  which  embrace  all  those  divisions  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  which  you  have  specified  by  name  as  interested  in 
and  affected  by  the  matters  in  your  book,  all  who  are  opposed 
to  an  arrogant  hierarchy,  in  the  language  of  Dr.  Miller  are 
"indebted"  to  you  and  are  bound  to  say  so.     *     * 

Sincerely  yours 

B.  M.  PALMER." 

"Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer  Sr.  was  one  of  the  opposition  in  the  division 
of  the  Charleston  Union  Presbytery.  Upon  receipt  of  this  a  copy 
of  "Presbytery  and  not  Prelacy"  was  presented  by  Dr.  Smyth  to 
Dr.  Palmer,  who  acknowledges  it  with  greater  cordiality.  About 
two  years  later  Dr.  Palmer  in  indignation  at  some  publication  of 


240 

Extract  of  letter  from  Scotland  dated  the  5  Dec.  1840,  writ- 
ten me  hy  Charles  Edmonston  Esq.  of  Charleston. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

The  Free  Many   thanks    for   the    Observer  you    sent   me 

Kirk  of  and  believe  me  its  receipt  imparted  no  little  delight 

Scotland.  ^^  myself  and  many  other  sincere  (however  hum- 

ble) friends  of  our  poor  free  Kirk. 

Your  backing,  so  little  expected,  at  least  to  such  an  extent, 
is  most  seasonable  and  highly  encouraging — all  I  looked  for 
was  a  little  private  sympathy,  and  in  testimony  of  it  perhaps 
a  few  dollars,  from  those  friendly  to  the  cause; — instead  of 
which  there  comes  a  public  testimony  of  great  weight  in  behalf 
of  the  principles  that  are  being  contended  for  in  this  country — 
and  bearing  along  with  it  a  most  gratifying,  and  I  trust  as 
strong  as  gratifying,  proof  that  the  citizens  of  Charleston 
merit  in  some  degree  the  commendations  that  are  bestowed  on 
the  people  of  Berea  (Acts  17&11).     *     *     * 

Dec.  28.  As  requested,  I  some  time  since  forwarded  the 
deed  of  separation  accompanied  by  a  few  pamphlets  bearing 
on  the  question,  and  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  furnish  any  other 
information.     *     *     * 

Feby  i,  1844 

The  parcel  from  Dr.  Smyth  *  *  was  duly  forwarded — 
his  Reverence  will  I  am  persuaded  be  gratified  to  learn  that  his 
able  discourse  on  the  claims  of  the  "free  church"  was  so  much 
thought  of  here  and  considered  so  likely  to  prove  useful  in 
promoting  the  good  work,  that  we  have  had  it  reprinted  with 
a  few  prefatory  remarks  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  F.  G.  Lori- 
mer  and  we  hope  this  voice  from  across  the  Atlantic  will  get 
into  very  general  circulation. 

The  prefatory  remarks  of  Dr.  Lorimer,  with  the  sermon  on  the 
Exodus  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  (delivered  at  a  general  meeting 
of  the  people  of  Charleston,  held  at  the  Depository  Building, 
when  $2,000.00  was  contributed;)  accompanied  by  very  interesting 
appendices  appears  twice  in  Dr.  Smyth's  revised  Works.  (See 
vol.  Ill,  pp.  479,  etc.,  and  vol.  V,  pp.  193,  etc.) 

Upon  the  acceptance  by  the  Free  Kirk  of  this 
Abolitionist  subscription  a  determined  assault  was  made  in 
opposition.  ,  .  ,     .  .      .  IT-.  iTTMf 

America  upon  their  commissioner,  the  Rev.    William 

Chalmers,  endeavouring  to  make  him  commit  himself  to  the  con- 

Dr.  Smyth's  bearing  on  the  division  of  the  Presbytery,  returned 
the  books,  with  such  a  disagreeable  letter  as  can  be  accounted  for 
only  by  his  broken-down  nervous  condition,  for  he  died  soon 
after. — Ed. 


241 

demnation  of  Slavery.  As  the  Abolition  party  in  the  United  States 
was  strongly  anti-Church,  anti-Clergy  and  anti-Sabbath,  claiming 
to  be  the  only  true  Christians,  Dr.  William  Chalmers  had  nothing 
in  Common  with  them  and  carefully  avoided  their  meetings.  In 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  the  emancipation  societies  of  Edin- 
burgh, Glasgow,  Belfast  and  London  were  much  excited,  and  for 
several  years  the  Free  Kirk  was  made  an  object  of  abuse  and 
attack   of   every   kind.      Further   letters    show   the    effect   this    had 

upon  Dr.  Smyth's  career.     See  letter  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  1844,  p .— , 

letters  of  1846,  p ,  etc.,  and  letters  of  1850,  pp ,  etc.     The 

following  quotation  gives  an  interesting  view  of  the  transaction. — 
Editor.  ' 

"The  secession  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
Abolitionist  *  *  in  1843  *  *  involved  the  voluntary  aban- 
donment of  State  support  *  *  and  made  neces- 
sary the  raising  of  a  Sustentation  Fund.  Before  the  date  in 
question  therefore  Dr.  Chalmers  had  arranged  for  an  oecumenical 
collection,  of  which  the  American  contingent  was  not  to  be 
despised.  Charleston,  the  cradle  of  lovers  of  freedom — in  the 
abstract,  was  very  prompt  to  respond  to  this  appeal.  Seven  dif- 
ferent Evangelical  denominations  begged  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth 
D.  D.,  to  preach  a  sermon  on  it  and  pass  the  contribution  box  in 
his  Presbyterian  church,  which  he  did,  with  many  touching  refer- 
ences to  tyranny  and  oppression,  and  many  tropes  in  which  Liberty 
cut  a  pretty  figure.  And  so  pleased  was  the  schismatic  pastor  of 
Free  St.  David's,  Glasgow,  that  he  reprinted  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth's 
unmoral  rhetoric,  with  a  prefatory  note.  To  his  surprise,  how- 
ever, a  well-informed,  but  irreverent  Glasgow  editor  exposed  the 
flashing,  high-sounding,  unmeaning  words  of  the  Charleston  divine; 
and,  hoping  that  the  money  had  not  yet  arrived,  looked  to  see  the 
Free  Church  treasurer  send  it  back  by  return  of  steamer,  as  blood- 
stained, together  with  a  sermon  suited  to  the  circumstances  of 
slaveholders,  for  the  special  benefit  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth." — Life 
of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  150-151. 

BALT.  Fehv  5.  41. 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

Prelacy  and  Evcn  if   I   were   Capable,   which   I   am   not,   to 

Apostolic  perform   for  you,  the  service  you  suggest,    (for 

Succession.  ^]^q  jg  better  versed  than  yourself  in  our  polity?) 
the  state  of  my  health  would  render  it  impossible. 

I  rejoice  at  your  activity  &  diligence,  in  holding  up  our 
principles,  polity  &  action,  before  the  public  mind ;  and  pray 
the  Lord  to  give  you  great  &  constantly  increasing  success. — 
will  you  allow  me  to  suggest  tivo  thoughts  which  have  always 
appeared  to  me  conclusive  against  Prelacy? — i.  We  have  no 
account  in  the   New  Testament  of  any   man's  haveing  been 


[16] 


243 

ordained  more  than  one  single  time!  Ergo  a  Presbyter — & 
no  more!  2.  If  the  Prelates,  are  in  any  sense  successors  to 
the  apostolles  in  their  apostolical  office;  then  they  are  in  that 
sense,  whatever  it  is,  appostles;  but,  no  man  could  be  an 
apostle,  in  any  sense, — who  had  not  seen  the  Lord ;  &  then  he 
must  work  miricles  for  proof!  But.  if  these  Prelates,  are  suc- 
cessors &c.  only  in  the  ordinary  [  ?]  and  not  in  the  Apostolical 
office;  then  they  are  again  only  Presbyters! —  I  never  could 
imagine  a  fair  answer  to  either  of  these  arguments. 
With  best  wishes,  most  truly, 

R.  J.  BRECKINRIDGE.' 

Mr.  Frazer  ("Capt."  he  was  called)  lived  till  he  was  93  or 
94  and  during  his  last  year  actually  read  through  my  work 
on  Apostolical  Succession !  !  !  And  what  is  more  he  declared 
he  found  it  interesting.  But  he  was  a  Scotch  Highlander  of 
the  Cameronian  Stock. 

From  the  Rev.  John  Bachman,  D.  D.,  of  the  German  Lutheran 

Church,  Charleston,  S.  C. 
1843. 

"My  Dear  Sir : —  To  my  mind  your  Lectures  on  the  Apos- 
tolical Succession  covers  the  whole  ground,  and  is,  without 
exception,  the  most  triumphant  vindication  of  our  views  on 
this  subject,  that  I  have  ever  read.  I  regard  the  work  as  the 
most  valuable  contribution  that  has  ever  been  made  to  the 
Southern  Church." 

From  the  Honorable  Mitchell  King,  of  Charleston,  S.  C. 

"Rev.  and  Dear  Sir : —  You  have  done  a  lasting  service  to 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  by  the  publication  of  your  work  on 
the  Prelatical  Doctrine  of  the  Apostolical  Succession.  The 
question  which  you  there  discuss  has  assumed  in  our  times  a 
renewed  importance,  from  the  efforts  recently  made  to  claim 
for  particular  bodies  of  Christians  an  exclusive  right  to  the 
benefits  of  that  covenant  of  grace,  which  Christ  came  to  make 
with  all  true  believers.  The  question  was,  as  you  and  I  believe, 
long  ago  settled  by  the  thorough  investigations  and  conclusive 

^Dr.  Breckinridge  had  been  the  leader  of  the  Old  School  party 
in  1837  and  was  a  very  important  man  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
as  a  preacher,  editor,  and  professor.  He  disagreed  with  Dr.  Smyth 
on  the  Eldership  and  other  questions.  His  brother  John  was  the 
Princeton  professor  and  his  brother  William  also  a  Doctor  of 
Divinity. — Ed. 


243 

arguments  of  men  worthy,  if  mortal  men  can  be  worthy,  of 
the  great  cause  in  which  they  were  engaged;  who  were  influ- 
enced solely  by  the  love  of  truth,  and  followed  that,  wherever 
it  might  lead  them,  without  regard  to  merely  human  author- 
ity; and  many  of  whom  sealed  their  testimony  with  their 
blood.  These  times  have  passed  away.  But  earnest  endeavors 
have  been  lately  made,  to  shake  the  confidence  of  many  Chris- 
tians in  the  principles  of  their  fathers,  and  to  overthrow  their 
faith  in  that  Church,  which  we  believe  to  be  founded  on  the 
words  of  everlasting  life.  Your  work,  therefore,  I  consider 
as  most  seasonable  and  valuable,  as  reviving  and  spreading 
the  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  truths  on  which  our  Church 
rests.  It  contains  a  fuller  review  of  the  reasonings  and  au- 
thorities on  this  subject  than  any  other  work  with  which  I  am 
acquainted,  and  will,  I  am  persuaded,  henceforth  be  an  armory 
in  which  the  defenders  of  Presbyterianism  can  find  weapons 
of  proof  ready  prepared  for  them.  That  you  may  go  forward 
in  the  course  which  you  have  so  honorably  begun,  and  that 
the  Great  Head  of  the  Church  may  follow  your  labors  with 
his  rich  blessing,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of,  Rev'd  and  Dear  Sir, 
yours  very  truly 

M.  KING." 

MY  DEAR  SIR 

Judge  King  Your  uotc  this  evening  accompanied  by  your 

on  the  Eccies.  Ecclcsiastical  Catcchism,  was  handed  to  me  an 
Catechism.  hour  or  two  ago.  I  have  since  occupied  myself  in 
examining  the  Catechism,  and  it  gives  me  sincere  pleasure 
that  I  can  with  great  truth  say  to  you  that  I  am  much  pleased 
with  it  and  think  that  you  have  made  a  valuable  present  to 
our  church.  *  *  You  will  all  I  trust  be  with  me  on 
Wednesday.^ 

I  have  been  quite  disappointed  at  not  having 
cciesiastica      ^^^^  ^^     ^^  ^^  ^^  earlier  day,  as  I  had  promised 

Repubncanism.  -'  -^  '  ^ 

myself  to  do — such  hints  as  have  occured  to  me, 
on  the  harmony  between  the  discipline  of  our  church,  and  our 
political  institutions.  I  had  made  a  rather  copious  collection 
of  references  and  authorities.  *  *  When  I  this  evening 
went  with  confidence  to  find  it  *  *  my  brief,  by  which  I 
set  such  store  is  gone — and  I  can  now  therefore  only  refer 
you  to  one  or  two  authorities.  In  McCrie's  life  of  Melville* 
you  will  find  an  interesting  account  of  the  conduct  and  bold- 

^The  literary  club  to  which  both  of  them  belonged. — Ed. 
*Life   of  Andrew   Melville  by   McCrie,   published   in    Edinburgh 
in  1819. — Ed. 


244 

ness  of  the  Scottish  ministers  when  they  were  called ,  up  to 
London  soon  after  the  Hampton  Court  conference.  This 
account  may  furnish  you  with  some  good  hints. 

You  will  at  once  see  the  full  import  of  James'  saying  ''No 
Bishop  no  King" — the  foundation  of  that  policy  which  in  part 
brought  his  son  Charles  to  the  block  and  finally  drove  his 
unfortunate  family  from  the  English  throne. 

The  Hampton  Court  Conference'  is  full  of  materials  that 
may  aid  you.  A  good  account  of  it  is  given  by  DTsraeli  in  his 
character  of  James  the  First  which  has  been  recently  pub- 
lished with  his  Miscellanies  of  Literature.     *     *     * 

I  am 
My  Dear  Sir 

Very  truly  yours 

M.  KING. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth.  26.  Ap'l  1842. 

This  refers  to  the  Literary  Club'  of  which  I  had  been  in- 
vited to  become  a  member  and  in  which  I  found  Society, 
appreciation,  candour,  and  a  means  of  Social  recognition  and 
public  favour.  I  continued  in  the  Club  till  1857  when  health 
seemed  to  require  absence  on  account  of  very  late  hours. 

''Conference  of  Presbyterian  Ministers  and  English  Bishops 
called  by  James  ist  to  cloak  his  abandonment  of  the  Scottish 
Kirk  which  he  had  begun  to  persecute  before  coming  to  the  Eng- 
lish throne.  Andrew  and  James  Melville  were  the  leaders  of  a 
small  band  who  persisted  in  holding  a  General  Assembly  in  St. 
Andrews  about  three  years  later  and  were  brought  to  England 
and  tried:  the  Melvilles  were  imprisoned.  See  3rd  vol.  D'Israeli, 
edition  of  1841.  These  suggestions  were  for  "Ecclesiastical  Re- 
publicanism" dedicated  in  1843  to  Judge  King  who  as  a  Scot  and 
a  Presbyterian  was  deeply  interested,  vol.  Ill,  Smyth's  Works. — 
Ed. 

°This  club,  spoken  of  in  Dr.  Smyth's  preface  to  his  "Unity  of 
Races"  as  the  Literary  Conversation  Club,  was  the  Literary  and 
Philosophical  Society  of  Charleston  and  comprised  among  its 
members  many  of  the  most  intelligent  men  of  Charleston.  They 
met  every  Wednesday  evening  at  the  houses  of  the  dififerent  mem- 
bers in  turn:  the  host  of  the  evening  opened  the  discussion  by 
reading  a  paper  on  a  subject  of  his  own  choosing,  after  which  the 
subject  was  open  to  the  club.  An  address  prepared  by  Dr.  Smyth 
for  this  club  on  the  Necessity  of  Literature  and  Men  of  Letters  to 
the  Stability  and  Happiness  of  a  Republic,  may  be  found  in  vol.  X, 
pp.  511,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


245 
MY  DEAR  M^  SMYTH 

The  Literary  Until  I  this  evening  received  your  kind  note  of 
Conversation  the  4'"  Instant,  and  the  Book  and  papers  which 
^^^^'  accompanied   it,   I   was   not   aware  that  you  had 

returned  home.  I  very  sincerely  congratulate  you  on  being 
again  in  the  midst  of  us — bringing  with  you — as  I  am  sure  you 
do,  a  great  accession  to  your  former  high  reputation — and  as 
I  do  trust,  a  renewed  stock  of  health  and  vigor  to  enable  you 
to  go  on  with  your  deeply  interesting  pursuits. 

Since  I  got  your  note  I  have  learned  that  you  arrived  some- 
time last  week.  Had  I  been  before  informed  of  it  I  should 
assuredly  have  done  myself  the  pleasure  of  calling  on  you. 
But  in  truth  I  know  exceedingly  little  of  what  occurs  in 
town — For  I  am  so  much  engrossed  with  professional  duties — 
at  home  amidst  my  books — that  I  seldom  leave  the  house  and 
a  solitary  student  hears  no  news. 

For  sometime  past  I  have  proposed  an  excursion  by  the 
Steam  Boat  to  the  head  of  Cooper  River — and  since  yesterday 
it  has  been  all  arranged  that  two  or  three  of  us  are  to  go 
tomorrow — Had  I  been  aware  of  your  return  I  think  I  should 
have  postponed  my  trip  with  the  view  of  making  certain^-so 
far  as  I  can  make  certain — .that  I  shall  meet  you  at  the  Club 
tomorrow  evening.  But  as  the  matter  stands  I  cannot  well 
change  the  arrangement  or  withdraw  myself  from  it.  My 
promise  is  that  we  shall  be  back  in  town  before  dark  which, 
as  we  are  so  near  the  Equinox,  means  I  suppose,  about  7PM 
■ — I  do  hope  that  they  will  keep  their  promise  and  that  I  shall 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you. 

Dedication  of  ^  ^^  ^^^  ^^Y  ^  word  about  your  late  publica- 
Ecciesiasticai     tions — They  are  quite  too  important  to  be  talked 

Republicanism.    q£   j^^   ^  ^^^^  j-j^^  ^j^|g_      y^^^  profoundly   do   I   fccl 

the  compliment  which  you  have  paid  to  me  in  the  dedication 
of  your  Ecclesiastical  Republicanism — I  promise  myself  great 
gratification  from  the  perusal  of  these  publications  and  that 
they  may  do  all  the  good  that  you  intended,  and  that  your 
heart  would  desire  is  the  earnest  wish  of 
My  Dear  Mr.  Smyth 

with  the  truest  respect  and  esteem 
Yours  very  faithfully 

M.  KING. 
Charleston  Tuesday  Eveng. 
5  Sept  1843. 


246 
MY  DEAR  DR  SMYTH 

Confirmation  Permit  me  to  return  to  you  my  sincere  thanks 
and  Ruling  for  the  Very  handsome  copies  of  your  late  works 
Elders.  Qj^   ''Confirmation'"  and  "Ruling  Elders'"  which 

you  sent  me.  The  former  I  have  read  with  great  pleasure  and 
with  entire  assent  to  the  doctrine  which  it  is  meant  to  main- 
tain. The  latter  I  shall  have  to  reserve  until  I  have  more 
time.  *  *  The  present  state  of  the  church  makes  it  almost 
more  than  ever  necessary  that  every  Protestant  that  contends 
for  the  right  of  private  judgment — for  the  liberty  of  proph- 
esying— should  have  at  hand  the  means  of  giving  an  under- 
standing reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him. 

Towards  that  end   and   in  that  portion  of  the  church   of 
Christ  of  which  we  claim  to  be  members — you  my  Dear  Sir, 
have  largely  contributed  and  I  pray  that  the  spirit  of  Grace 
may  ever  prosper  your  efforts. 
I  am 

With  great  respect  and  Esteem 
My  Dear  Doctor 

very  truly  yours 

M.  KING. 
Revd  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth.  Saturday,  28  June  1845, 

Dr.   Smyth's  -'-  "^^Y  Hicntion  hcrc  that  for  my  general  im- 

unprofessionai  provcmcut  and  the  gratification  of  a  cherished 
studies.  taste  for  the  sciences,  I  attended  lectures  at  the 

Medical  College  at  Charleston  for  two  seasons  and  pursued 
the  study  privately. 

I  read  also  Blackstone  and  some  other  law  books. 

I  continued  a  course  of  classical  reading  and  general  science. 

In  the  Literary  Club  of  which  I  early  by  invitation  became 
a  member,  I  had  the  delightful  opportunity  of  widening  the 
circle  of  study  and  the  resources  of  knowledge. 

I  also  commenced  a  translation  and  reading  of  the  earliest 
Fathers  in  which  I  made  some  progress. 

Dr.  Smyth  was  asked  to  accept  a  chair  in  this  University  in 
1846.  It  was  through  Prof.  Stewart  that  he  heard  in  1844  of  the 
approval  of  "Ruling  Elders"  by  Dr.  W.  L.  Breckinridge,  "a  great 
concession  from  the  brother  of  Robert  J." — Ed. 

'See  vol.  Ill,  p.  219,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
«Vol.   IV,   Smyth's   Works.— Ed. 


347 

NEW  ALBANY  (INDIANA),  Dec.  2  1845 
REV.  &  DR.  SIR 

Permit  me  to  make  you  my  acknowledgements 
art  commands  ^o^  the  package^  you  sent  me  containing  your 
"Eldership"  "Forni  of  Marriage"^  and  other  pamphlets.  I 
and  other  havc  read  them  with  much  interest  and  one  of 
them  I  carry  constantly  in  my  hat.  I  mean  the 
collection   of   "Doxologies  and   Benedictions."" 

These  as  in  duty  bound  I  notice  first,  but  I  am  under  much 
more  obligation  to  you  for  what  yoii  have  written  on  the 
"Office  and  duties  of  the  Eldership".  It  is  precisely  what  I 
should  be  glad  to  see  carried  out  in  every  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  land.  For  years  I  have  felt  the  evils  of  making  the 
office  permanent  in  its  functions.  And  I  am  satisfied  if  your 
Book  has  the  effect  of  modifying  the  sentiment  of  the  church 
on  this  point,  you  will  have  done  a  great  work  for  the 
interests  of  Presbyterianism. 

The  articles  you  wrote  for  the  Pres.  Herald  were  published. 

*  *  My  principal  object  in  writing  you  is  to  make  an 
enquiry  about  your  work  on  the  Republicanism  of  Presby- 
terianism.* We  are  anxious  to  circulate  this  work  if  possible 
(by  colporteur.)     *     *     * 

I  have  been  waiting  to  see  your  sermons  on  Benevolence.'' 
The  Editor  of  the  Presbyterian  of  the  West  cheerfully  con- 
sents to  give  them  publicity.     *     *     * 

Will  you  not  when  you  find  yourself  sufficiently  at  leisure 
make  your  views  on  Baptism"  public?     *     *     * 
With  much  respect 
,  I  am  &c 

DANE.   STEWART. 

OXFORD,  OHIO,  Dec.  22,  1845. 
REV  &  DEAR  SIR, 

*     *     I  have  read  the  volume'  attentively.  *     * 

^^'         Its  main  conclusion  is  one,  to  which  I  came  some 

ten  years  ago.     *     *     In  respect  to  the  famous  "proof  text," 

I  Tim.  5:  17,'  I  think  with  you.     *     *     i  think  however  that 

'See  vol.  IX,  p.  531,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed.     , 
°See  vol.  IX,  p.  717,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
'See  vol.  Ill,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

"See  vol.  VII,  Christian  Charity,  p.  255,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
"See  vol.  IX  and  X,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

'The  Eldership.  Dr.  MacMaster  was  at  that  time  President 
of  Oxford.— Ed. 

'See  vol.  IV,  p.  250,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


248 

the  nature  and  extent  of  the  powers  of  this  office  need  to  be 
further  elucidated  &  defined.     *     *     * 

I  regret  to  see  in  the  newspapers  that  Mr.  Adger  is  about 
to  return  from  the  East  on  account  of  disease  of  the  eyes.     He 
is  an  old  College  friend  of  mine,  of  whom  in  his  deeply  inter- 
esting work  I  have  of  course  never  lost  sight.     *     *     * 
Yours  very  truly  in  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel, 

E.  D.  MACMASTER. 

RICHMOND,  Feb  lo,  1846. 
DEAR  BROTHER  SMYTH, 

An  elder  in  the  county  to  whose  communica- 
coiTectfons  ^^°"  "'■  ^^^^^  alludc  this  week  is  very  solicitous  that 
you  should  have  your  article  on  charitable  collec- 
tions' published  by  the  Board  of  publication.  This  elder  is  a 
lawyer  by  the  name  of  Watkins  living  at  Farmville,  near 
Prince  Edward.     *     *     * 

My  heart  rejoiced  in  the  accessions  to  your  church.  May 
God  grant  that  they  may  be  greatly  increased.  *  *  In 
reference  to  the  ministers  almost  all  over  the  South,  I  heard 
an  aged  clergyman  remark  the  other  day  that  he  believed 
their  trial  sermons  were  their  best  sermons — They  'did  not 
study — Very  few  indeed  imitate  your  example — Can  you  not 
write  a  rousing  article  upon  this  subject?  Or  if  not  upon 
this,  upon  some  other  subject?  Keep  up  a  fire — regular — ef- 
fective— and  give  no  rest  to  any  one  that  is  settling  down 
upon  their  lees. 

Present  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Smyth  and  family,  and 
inquiring  friends'.     *     *     * 

Yours  very  fraternally 

B.  GILDERSLEEVE.' 

Roszvell  L.  Colt  of  Paterson  N.  J.,  a  warm  personal  friend. 

MY  DEAR  SIR. 

My  thoughts  have  recently  been  called  to  the 
aptism.  rights    of    Baptized    persons.      My    son   Roswell 

when  a  child  was  regularly  baptized.  Now  he  is  married  and 
is  a  father  and  tho'  not  a  communicant  of  the  Church,  which 
I  regret,  is  very  anxious  to  have  his  child  baptized.  Our 
pastor  declines  at  present  to  administer  this  ordinance,  I  think 
more  out  of  deference  to  the  practice  of  his  Brethren  in  this 
quarter  than  to  firm  conviction  of  right,  and  on  the  first  con- 

^See  vol.  VII,  p.  279,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

"Dr.   Gildersleeve  had  not  long  le,ft   Charleston. — Ed. 


249 

sideration  of  the  subject  I  was  inclined  to  think  he  was  right 
in  his  objections,  but  on  referring  to  our  Confession  of  Faith 
I  find  he  has  no  right  to  demand  any  pledges  whatever  from 
the  Parents  on  this  subject — all  members  of  the  Visible  Church 
have  a  right  to  claim  membership  for  their  children.  The  ques- 
tion is  who  are  members  of  the  Visible  Church — the  answer 
to  me  seems  to  be,  those  who  are  admitted  as  such  by  con- 
fession and  their  Baptised  Children — if  these  Baptized  Chil- 
dren, are  members  of  the  Visible  Church,  how  then  can  you 
deny  baptism  to  their  children  when  demanded  unless  you  put 
them  under  church  discipline ;  in  this  case  you  prohibit  them 
from  the  enjoyment  of  the  church  ordinances  and  I  think 
wrongfully — it  seems  to  me  the  church  officers,  do  not  do  their 
duty,  they  ought  to  call  up  at  stated  periods,  all  baptized 
children  and  examine  them  as  to  their  knowledge  of  their 
duties  toward  God  and  towards  their  fellow  men,  and  then 
at  a  proper  period  to  insist  on  their  joining  the  communion 
table,  under  the  penalty  of  church  discipline  if  they  do  not; 
in  this  last  case  of  course  the  delinquent  could  have  no  right 
to  demand  that  his  child  should  be  considered  as  entitled  to 
admission  into  the  Visible  Church — this  admission  we  know 
does  not  imply  membership  with  the  Church  invisible  and 
triumphant,  for  Judas  Iscariot  was  certainly  a  member  of  the 
Visible  Church,  and  partook  of  the  supper  of  the  communion 
table,  but  no  one  for  a  moment  supposes  he  was  a  member 
with  those  redeemed  by  the  Blood  of  Christ  our  Saviour,  and 
as  such  are  members  of  the  invisible  Church. 

I  ardently  desire  my  dear  Sir  if  you  think  this  subject 
worthy  of  serious  consideration — you  would  give  me  a  full 
and  free  answer,  such  as  I  can  publish,  unless  you  would 
yourself  prefer  letting  it  come  out  under  your  own  super- 
vision,^ when  I  will  most  cheerfully  and  thankfully  pay  the 
charges. 

^See  two  series  of  articles  on  Baptism,  especially  one  entitled 
"The  Infant's  Right  to  Baptism  pleaded  against  Unbelieving  Par- 
ents." vol.  X,  pp.  363,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works;  also  Rule  X  in  Spirit- 
ujal  Government,  vol.  V,  p.  98,  which  is  found  in  the  Church 
Manual  published  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  1837,  in  substance: — "where  at 
least  one  parent  is  a  member  of  the  church  in  good  standing, 
or  to  such  as  are  in  the  opinion  of  the  pastor,  fit  subjects."  In  1858 
Dr.  Smyth  baptized  Mary  Isabella  Allan,  infant  of  James  and 
Amey  S.  Allan,  before  either  parent  was  a  communicant.  The 
editor  has  not  tried  to  establish  other  cases  but  has  this  on  the 
authority  of  the  mother.  This  matter  is  frequently  referred  to 
by  Dr.  Smyth's  correspondents,  and  "Irenseus"   (Dr.  S.  J.  Prime) 


250 

I  hear  that  your  brother  Mr.  Agar  [sic]  is  about  return- 
ing from  Smyrna — if  not  too  late  I  wish  you  would  desire  him 
to  procure  some  cuttings  of  the  best  eating  grapes  of  Con- 
stantinople— Smyrna — some  of  their  best  kind  melon  seed  both 
water  and  citron,  as  also  of  cucumber  seeds  &  letuce  &c. 

I  beg  to  be  most  respectfully  remembered  to  Mrs.  Smyth, 
who  I  fear  will  not  thank  me,  for  calling  your  attention  to  a 
subject  which  may  give  you  some  thought  &  careful  attention 
&  to  believe  me  Ever  truly  yours 

ROSWELL  L.  COLT. 

Paterson  5  fehy  46. 

Slavery* 

AM  S.  S.  UNION. 
PHILADELPHIA,  Sept  3,  1847. 
REV  DR  SMYTH, 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 
Attitude  to-  Your  several  favours  of  August  21,  30  and  31 

wards  Slavery  reached  me  nearly  at  the  same  time — as  I  was  ab- 
of  s.  s.  ggj^t  from  the  city  and  returned  only  last  evening. 

I  have  not  had  either  letter  or  either  paper  in  my 
possession  twelve  hours — >  I  say  this  that  I  may  not  seem  to 
have  neglected  your  attent's. —  I  have  also  a  letter  from  our 
friend  Edwester  [  ?]  on  the  same  subject  which  I  will  answer 
soon.— 

What  I  say  now  is  of  course  in  my  individual  character,  as 
I  have  no  time  to  receive  instructions  as  to  what  reply  to  make, 
but  as  the  simple  truth  is  all  any  one  would  desire  to  be  given 
I  have  only  to  say  that  the  book^  to  which  the  Charleston 

writing  in  the  New  York  Observer,  July  22,  1871,  speaks  of  his 
recent  article  "The  rights  of  Baptized  Children  to  Baptism."  It 
was  a  custom  of  Dr.  Smyth  to  vary  the  title  of  his  sermons  or  add 
sub-titles  and  the  editor  cannot  identify  this  one  positively. — Ed. 

*This  heading  is  by  Dr.   Smyth. — Ed. 

°In  the  book  referred  to,  "Jacob  and  his  Sons,"  slaves  were 
defined  as  poor  creatures  sold  like  beasts  who  could  be  cruelly 
treated,  beaten,  starved,  and  killed  because  they  had  no  one  to 
help  them.  A  correspondent  indignantly  calls  attention  to  this 
in  the  Charleston  Mercury  of  Aug.  21,  and  recommends  the  with- 
drawal of  Southern  subscribers  from  the  S.  S.  Union.  On  July 
16,  the  Mercury  had  quoted  editorially  a  letter  from  an  ofificer  of 
the  S.  S.  Union  to  "a  gentleman  of  this  city"  dwelling  on  their 
efforts    to   publish    only   what   was    suitable    and   acceptable    to    all 


251 

papers  allude  was  published  nearly  20  years  ago,  before  the 
question  involved  in  the  obnoxious  extract,  was  at  all  debated 
as  it  is  now  and  while  none  of  us  felt  the  necessity  of  strict 
impartiality  and  of  abstinence  from  discussing  or  alluding  to 
subjects  not  properly  within  our  province  as  a  National  Pub- 
lishing Society —  It  was  prepared  for  us  by  Rev.  Mr.  Gallau- 
det  of  Hartford  whose  nativity  and  early  associations  might 
be  supposed  to  furnish  a  guaranty  against  any  justly  offensive 
expressions  on  the  subject  of  Slavery. —  The  book  was  re- 
printed from  the  English  press  at  a  time  when  it  was  difficult 
to  get  books  of  that  class  and  was  highly  commended  to  us 
by  several  friends. —  We  did  not. seek  this  book  but  Mr.  G. 
sent  it  to  us —  It  was  on  the  tapis  a  long  time  and  never  "took" 
with  us  or  with  the  public — 

For  myself  I  feel  bound  to  say  that  I  always  maintained — 
as  an  Editor  (in  political  life)  and  as  a  citizen,  that  the  com- 
pact between  the  13  colonies  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  bind 
us  to  respect  their  domestic  institutions  as  much  as  it  did 
them  not  to  coin  money  or  to  run  a  State  mail — Right  or 
wrong,  wise  or  unwise,  it  was  a  bargain — and  the  Confed- 
eracy under  which  we  have  lived  and  prospered  never  ivould 
have  been  accomplished  but  for  this  concession —  It  was  not 
more  of  a  concession  than  any  other  State  required  in  other 
things. —  Hence  so  far  as  I  am  individually  concerned,  I  would 
never — (as  I  never  did — )  interfere  contrary  to  the  time 
intent  and  meaning  of  that  act  of  Confederacy  directly  or 
indirectly  with  Southern  views  or  institutions. —  My  visit  to 
the  South  only  confirmed  me  in  these  views  and  led  me  to 
feel  that  with  all  the  respect  and  fidelity  with  which  we  could 
possibly  regard  our  Constitutional  Contract  the  Southern  citi- 
zen had  still  the  hardest  of  the  bargain. — 

The  book  to  which  your  papers  allude  was  sent  to  us  in 
August  1829 — I  had  then  been  here  sixteen  and  a  half  weeks — 
Knew  little  of  my  rights  or  duties  and  still  less  of  my  re- 
sponsibilities.—  I  can  assure  you  and  your  friends  and  any, 
that  such  a  sentence  as  has  been  animadverted  upon  in  your 
papers  would  not  be  published  now  nor  at  any  time  within  15 
years  past — 

I  know  the  views  of  our  publishing  Committee  on  that  sub- 
ject—  Whatever  private  views  they  may  entertain,  as  individ^ 

sections.  The  editor  presumes  that  Dr.  Smyth  was  the  "gentleman 
of  this  city"  as  there  are  many  letters  to  him  from  Mr.  Packard, 
and  he  would  have  thus  felt  personally  responsible.  A  later  let- 
ter tells  Dr.  Smyth  that  the  book  has  been  dropped  from  the 
catalogue. — Ed. 


252 

uals  they  would  set  their  faces  as  flint  against  involving-  the 
name  and  influence  of  the  Society  directly  or  indirectly  in  the 
subject  in  question.  We  have  full  enough  to  do  to  inculcate 
sentiments  and  principles  which  all  good  and  wise  men  admit 
to  be  true  and  all-important. 

In  this  hasty  letter  I  can  only  throw  out  these  general 
thoughts —  They  will  enable  you  to  understand  our  position 
which  is  one  of  entire  neutrality  on  the  subject  of  which  you 
speak. — •  Our  Society  does  not  and  will  not  take  any  men, 
views  or  principles  in  a  sectional  or  party  light —  As  a  National 
Society  we  feel  bound  to  respect  alike  the  interests  and  rela- 
tions of  all  parts  of  the  Country,  and  we  would  not  knowingly 
do  anything  which  should  impair  our  legitimate  influence  as 
the  Am.  S.  S.  Union  in  any  State  or  County  of  the  country. — 
I  shall  of  course  bring  the  subject  of  your  letters  to  the  notice 
of  our  Committee  at  their  next  weekly  meeting  on  Monday 
next  and  will  advise  you  of  their  action  on  the  same. — 

Please  remember  me  to  Mrs.  Smyth  and  to  your  little  son — 
and  also  to  Mr.  Adger's  family  whom  I  remember  with  much 
affection. 

Truly  your  friend 

FRED.  A.  PACKARD. 

I  have  written  amidst  incessant  interruptions  but  think  best 
to  send  my  sheet  as  it  is  rather  than  keep  you  in  suspense — 
I  should  have  taken  time  had  it  been  for  the  public  eye. — 

Letter  from  Chancellor  Johnston^  suggesting  to  me  to  re- 
ply to  Dr.  Breckinridge. 

NEWBERRY,  Sept.  27th,  1849. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Having  just  closed  my  official  work,  which  has 

ai^^EXcation"   engaged  me   incessantly   since  last   November,   I 

snatch  a  moment  to  invoke  your  pen  to  a  task 

of  very  deep  importance.    I  mean  christian  education, — educa- 

^Chancellor  Job  Johnston,  born  in  1793,  was  as  his  letters  show 
a  very  unusual  man.  After  having  "read  voraciously"  in  his 
youth  and  studied  both  law  and  medicine  he  rose  rapidly  to  high 
honours.  His  church  life  was  remarkable  for  its  earnest  devotion. 
Admitted  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  age  of  forty-one,  he 
immediately  organized  a  church  in  Newberry  of  which  he  became 
an  elder  and  to  which  he  contributed  one-half  of  its  support.  His 
family  government  including  his  slaves  was  most  paternal.  In 
his  latter  years  he  took  refuge  on  his  veranda  with  his  books  and 


253 

tion  by  the  church,  or,  if  any  one  prefers  the  term,  denomina- 
tional education.' 

I  know  the  value  of  your  labours  on  this  subject,  having 
read  what  you  have  written,  and  approved  it.  But  the  Swiss  [  ?] 
job  lately  done  by  Dr.  Breckenridge,  in  the  columns  of  the 
So.  Presbyterian  Magazine,  requires  an  answer;  and  no  one  is 
so  well  qualified  as  yourself  to  give  it.  Fortunately  he  has 
unguardedly  touched  upon  the  true  ground ;  which  renders  it 
easier  to  undo  all  he  has  done, — except  one  thing,  which  no 
one  would  desire  to  undo, — I  mean  some  really  fine  writing, 
and  some  passages  of  really  eloquent  declamation. 

The  true  question  is  whether  the  educational  apparatus 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  State,  or  in  the  hands  of  the 
Church.  There  is  no  middle  ground.  And  I  am  one  of  those 
who  think  the  church  has  every  thing  to  do  with  it,  and  the 
State, — nothing. 

This  will  be  the  more  apparent  if  we  consider  the  proper 
function  of  State,  or  Civil,  Government,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  true  mission  of  the  Church,  on  the  other.  God,  in  His 
wisdom,  has  instituted,  and,  I  think,  has  recognized,  no  other 
agencies  for  the  government  of  men  but  these  two.  Each  has 
its  separate  and  independent  sphere  of  duty.  It  is  a  breach  of 
Liberty  to  unite  them.  It  is  a  violation  of  Order  to  com- 
mingle their  action,  to  any  extent,  whatever.  They  cannot  act 
concurrently,  upon  any  one  subject,  without  confusion,  and 
without  injury  to  that  subject,  to  themselves,  and  to  each 
other. 

What,  then,  is  the  division  between  them? 

The  State's  function  is  to  deal  with  Externals,  in  their  tem- 
poral aspect. 

The  Church  is  charged  with  the  Moral  and  Intellectual 
power  of  men,  in  their  spiritual  and  eternal  hearings. 

God  has  delivered  his  human  creatures  into  the  hands  of 
these  two.  The  one  constitutes  the  kingdom  of  this  world ; 
and  the  other  his  moral  or  spiritual  kingdom.  If  you  can 
ascertain  the  boundaries  of  the  first,  it  is  easy  to  discover  the 
province  of  the  last ;  for  it  consists  of  every  thing  not  right- 
fully falling  to  the  other.  I  say  these  two  are,  between  them, 
to  perform  the  whole  work,  each  in  its  proper  place:  and  I 
go  the  length,  that  there  is,  in  God's  scheme,  no  provision  for 

a  few  trusted  friends."  Howe's  Hist  of  Pres.  in  So.  Ca.,  vol.  II, 
pp.  712-720.  Dr.  Smyth  tells  of  Chancellor  Johnston's  conversion 
of  his  Episcopal  wife  to  Presbyterianism,  by  reading  to  her  the 
"Confession  of  Faith"  one  rainy  Sunday  morning. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  V,  p.  529,  Smyth's  Works.    Article  published  1846. — Ed. 


254 

supplementary  aid  from  neutral  or  foreign  quarters,  such  as 
voluntary  societies, — whether  Abolition,  Agrarian,  Anti-Chew- 
ing Tobacco,  Anti- Foppery,  Magdalene,  Anti-Adultery,  or 
Anti-anything-else,  invented  by  Skeptics  and  Socialists,  and 
imposed  upon  weak  minded  Christians  and  mistaken  philan- 
tropists.  Their  interference  is  impertinent  and  injurious. 
The  province  ^  come  back,  uow,  to  define  the  true  duty  and 
of  Civil  province  of  Civil  Government.    I  have  said  it  was 

Government.  ^^  ^^g^^  ^,j^j^  externals.  Its  duty  involvets  no 
control  over  the  minds  of  men.  It  has  nothing  to  do  in  mould- 
ing opinions,  or  in  training  men  to  the  entertaining  of  this  or 
that  opinion  or  system  of  philosophy.  It  has  no  right  to 
meddle  with  the  mind.  It  has  no  right  to  inculcate  morals. 
There  is  a  surer  and  better  and  more  effectual  machinery  for 
that.  Its  function  is  to  protect.  Its  charge  is  the  preservation 
of  life,  liberty,  and  property,  and  in  the  performance  of  this 
duty,  it  is  not  only  confined  to  externals,  but  its  legitimate 
action  is  negative. 

Let  us  find,  if  we  can,  a  single  instance,  in  which  any  gov- 
ernment, ancient  or  modern,  without  detriment  has  taken  un- 
der its  care  the  morals  of  a  people,  or  their  intellectual  im- 
provement, or  has  undertaken  to  act  affirmatively  in  the 
advancement  of  their  business  interests.  Either  the  Govern- 
ment, just  so  far  as  it  has  undertaken  these  tasks,  was  not  a 
free  government, — and  liberty  has  suffered,  or  it  has  bungled 
the  interests  it  intended  to  promote. 

It  was  a  notion,  which  all  the  suffering  it  has  occasioned 
has  just  only  begun  to  explode,  that  it  was  the  function  of 
government  to  promote  (not  negatively  protect  merely,  but 
promote)  the  industry  of  its  subjects.  Well,  it  has  been  tried 
in  all  forms, — ^by  navigation  laws,  sumptuary  laws,  tariff  of 
protection,  (with  a  vengeance!) — and  what  has  it  all  come  to? 
Just  so  many  invasions  of  free  trade,  and  the  attendant  re- 
pression and  discouragement  of  industry,  by  extinguishing 
personal  activity  in  the  individual.  Commercial  finance  has 
been  taken  into  Government  hands. —  Government  banks  es- 
tablished. The  consequence?  Read  it  in  two  words, — and 
they  are  an  epitaph, — Nicholas  Biddle! 

Then,  with  regard  to  education.  Can  a  State  educate?  Oh, 
yes,  we  are  told  of  the  schools  of  Scotland,  and,  better  than 
all,  the  schools  of  Prussia !  Are  men  mad, — are  they  incapable 
of  thinking,  when  they  tell  us  of  these  things?  Well,  then, 
let  us  go  with  them  to  these  countries,  and  see  how  the  thing 
is  done.  Is  it  the  State  that  educates  either  in  Scotland  or 
Prussia?    No,  it  is  the  Church  and  State  united, — it  is  a  gov- 


255 

r 
ernment  in   which  the   Church  is  established.  .   Without  the 

Church,  the  education  could  not  have  been  moral;  and  with 
it,  though  the  education  be  moral,  the  people  are  not,  and  can- 
not be,  free.  If  you  wish  to  see  a  specimen  of  State  educa- 
tion, purely  and  properly  so  called,  you  must  go  to  France, 
and  to  the  days  of  Robespierre :  and  then  you  will  behold  a 
people  wallowing  in  Atheism  and  Blood  and  training  up  a 
posterity  (for  they  had  no  marriage,  &  therefore,  no  children 
in  those  days)  to  Blasphemy  and  Murder. 

Give  education, — give  the  intellect,  into  the  hands  of  Civil 
Government,  and  realize,  if  you  can,  before  they  come  upon 
you,  the  tremendous  consequences.  Not  only  may  the  morals 
be  debauched,  not  only  m.ay  the  religious  liberty  of  the  parent 
be  trodden  under  foot, — but  what  better  contrivance  for  per- 
petuating the  faction  accidentally  in  power  at  the  time?  To 
what  purpose  guard  the  Freedom  of  the  Press  from  the 
political  power  of  Government,  if  Opinion,  which  it  is  the 
office  of  the  press  to  mould  and  to  rectify,  be  in  the  persons  of 
all  the  rising  generation,  put  utterly  beyond  its  reach,  and 
hardened  into  an  incurable  obduracy? 

Government  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  Mind  of  Man. 

All  his  intellectual,  all  his  moral  powers,  are  assigned  by 
God  to  a  different  department. 

It  may  be  asked,  if  I  go  the  length  of  asserting  that  in- 
dividuals may  not  educate  apart  from  the  Church.  They 
must  be  left  free  to  do  so,  if  they  choose.  The  kingdom  of 
Christ  is  not  a  tyranny.  But,  nevertheless,  it  extends  to  every 
degree  of  intellectual  preparation  for  moral  &  religious  duty ; 
and  those  who  recognize  His  scheme  should  not  lightly  set  it 
aside. 

It  may  be  asked,  again,  if  the  State  may  not  advantageously 
train  up  its  citizens  to  a  recognition  of  their  civil  duties? 
Those  who  ask  the  question  don't  understand  it.  The  duty 
to  observe  order  in  the  state  is  a  moral  duty.  Submission  to 
law  is  a  moral  duty.  The  foundation  of  moral  obligation  is 
religion.  And  the  sanctions  of  Religion,  in  relation  to  Civil 
Government,  are  better  inculcated,  and  more  effectually  im- 
pressed by  the  Church,  than  by  all  the  Civil  governments  on 
earth  put  together. 

Is  there,  then,  no  place  for  State  education?  Why,  not 
absolutely,  now.  But  the  extent  to  which  it  may  educate  is 
very  limited.  There  is  a  class  of  society  that  is  derelict.  The 
paupers.  These  fall  upon  society  at  large ;  which  is  repre- 
sented by  the  Civil  power.     And  for  its  own  sake,  this, — it 


256 

may  educate,  and  if  it  be  bound  to  take  charge  of  the  class,  is 
bound  to  educate.    I  can  see  no  further  right. 

These  same  subjects,  by  the  way,  the  Church  is  under  im- 
perative obhgation  to  care  for,  and  to  educate, — if  permitted 
by  the  civil  power. 

I  find  I  have  written  a  very  long  letter,  when  I  intended  to 
have  written  a  very  short  one.  I  close  it  by  requesting  that 
it  be  kept  confidentially  to  yourself.  There  are  those  on  the 
watch  for  anything  I  say  or  do,  that  they  can  turn  against  me. 
In  the  same  confidence,  however,  I  would  be  glad,  if  it  comes 
in  the  way,  that  Mr.  Mitchell  King,  should  see  it,  whose  opin- 
ion, as  well  as  the  high  qualities  of  the  man,  I  respect.  If 
there  is  a  flaw  in  the  argument,  none  so  capable  as  he  to  point 
it  out ;  and  none  more  ready  than  I  to  be  shewn  where  the 
error  lies. 

With  sentiments  of  sincere  respect.  &c., 

J.  JOHNSTON. 

P.  S.  Does  Dr.  Breckenridge  believe  that  the  early  christians 
placed  their  children  at  the  public  schools  under  the  direction 
of  the  Roman  government?  or  that  they  would  have  tolerated 
the  idea  of  such  a  sacrifice  of  their  souls? 

I  was  anxious  to  comply  with  Chancellor  Johnston's  sug- 
gestion that  I  should  reply  to  Dr.  Breckinridge's  article ;  I 
was  fully  prepared  to  do  so  and  have  such  preparation  now 
among  my  papers,  but  immediate  demands  interrupted  &  pro- 
crastinated until  it  seemed  too  late.  Besides  controverting  his 
views  of  the  relative  function  an5  sphere  of  the  Church  and 
the  State,  I  am  prepared  to  shew  his  inconsistency  with  him- 
self, &  to  disprove,  by  his  former,  his  then  promulged  senti- 
ments. 

On  the  publication  of  my  pamphlet  on  Denom- 
-Dr.  Palmers     jj^^^jQ^al    Education.  Dr.   Palmer    expressed    his 

views.  ^ 

warm  concurrence  and  told  me  also  that  Dr. 
Thornwell  was  very  much  impressed  with  the  argument  for 

it.  He  (the  latter)  told  me  himself  that  his  posi- 
Dr    Thorn-       ^j^^  j^  ^j^^  college  prevented  him  acting  &  speak- 

well  s   opinion.  o-r  ^  iiii- 

ing  as  freely  as  he  otherwise  would,  but  that  his 
mind  was  not  determined  to  any  opposition.  That  it  was 
afterwards  so  strongly  determined  as  to  lead  him  to  solicit 
the  article  from  Dr.  Breckinridge  &  write  as  he  has  done,  I 
could  not  but  attribute  to  the  unconscious  influence  of  position 
and  public  opinion.  Dr.  B.'s  article  he  thought  conclusive, 
while  to  me  and  many  it  seemed  dogmatic,  superficial,  and 
most  inconclusive. 


257 

Dr.  Thornwell  has  changed  radically,  as  on  the  subject  of 
Theological  Seminaries,  which  at  one  time  he  altogether  dis- 
approved of;  and  his  severely  analytical  mind  carries  him  to 
positions  and  holds  him  there  and  makes  him  regardless  of 
all  consequences — 'Hat  justitia  et  Veritas  ruat  cesium.  But 
wherever  his  head  is,  his  heart  is  right  and  his  charity  warm 
and  though  I  have  always  differed  with  him  on  some  points, 
though  increasingly  fewer,  I  have  always  loved  him  as  a  man, 
admired  him  as  profound,  able,  and  eloquent,  and  reverenced 
him  as  a  christian. 

His  views  on  Seminaries,  originated  by  abstract  conclusions 
and  want  of  a  fair  experimental  knowledge  of  them,  led  me 
to  prepare  as  an  inaugural  Discourse  at  the  installation  of  Dr. 
Leland  as  Professor  a  very  elaborate  defense  of  them.  *  * 
Of  this  discourse  which  he  heard  Dr.  Thornwell  was  pleased 
to  express  himself  in  the  warmest  manner.  *  *  It  was 
prepared  with  very  great  care,  after  very  extensive  research 
and  long  thought,  and  was  designed  early  for  the  press.  But 
it  pleased  God  to  permit  it,  together  with  others  of  my  then 
most  valued  discourses,  papers,  and  books,  to  be  lost  in  our 
wreck  in  the  William  Gibbons  in  1836. 

The   following  letters  were  found  in  an   old  blue 
e  G  asgow     wrapping  paper,  addressed  to  Dr.  Smyth  and  marked 

degree. 

"Papers  found  in  Orangeburg — Saved  from  Sher- 
man's Army."  In  the  manuscript  of  this  book  is  a  blank  page 
headed  "Papers  relating  to  the  degree  of  L.L.  D.,"  with  a  line 
below  in  pencil  "now  in  possession  of  Mr.  Simonton."  Col.  C.  H. 
Simonton  had  married  a  Miss  Glover  of  Orangeburg.  It  is  there- 
fore permissible  to  suppose  that  these  letters  were  carried  with 
her  husband's  papers,  by  Mrs.  Simonton  to  Orangeburg  for  safety. 
They  relate  to  an  unsuccessful  effort  made  by  Dr.  Smyth's  friends 
to  obtain  a  degree  0|f  L.L.  D.  from  Glasgow.  They  could  not 
however  overcome  the  prejudice  created  against  him  by  the  Scot- 
tish Anti-Slavery  Society. — Ed. 

These  are  the  Professors  in  the  General  Assembly's  Theo- 
logical College  in  Belfast,  Ireland. 

To  the  Senatus  Academicus  of  the  University  of  Glasgow — 

GENTLEMEN— 

We,  the  undersigned,  beg  respectfully  to  direct  your  atten- 
tion to  the  Rev**  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D.  of  Charleston  U.  S. 
as  an  author  on  whom  you  may  worthily  bestow  the  distinc- 
tion of  L.  L.  D.  There  are  very  few  living  divines  who  have 
contributed  more  largely  to  our  Stock  of  theological  literature 

[171 


am 

than  Dr.  Smyth;  &  the  repubHcation  of  his  works  in  this 
country,  as  well  as  in  America,  Sufficiently  attests  the  estima- 
tion in  which  they  are  held  by  the  religious  public.  His  recent 
publication  on  the  "Unity  of  the  Human  Races'"  is  a  new 
testimony  to  the  extent  of  his  literary  attainments,  as  well  as 
to  the  Soundness  of  his  theological  views,  Sz  gives  him,  we 
humbly  conceive,  a  new  and  special  claim  to  the  mark  of  res- 
pect which  we  hereby  solicit  from  your  ancient  &  distinguished 
University. 

JOHN  EDGAR,  D.  D.  Prof,  of  Divinity. 
ROBERT  WILSON,  D.  D.  Professor  of  Bible 
Literature,   General   Assembly's   College,   Bel- 
fast. 
W.  D.  MILLER,  D.  D.  Prof  of  Ecc.  Hist.  Gen' 

Ass'"'  College,  Belfast.     ' 
JAMES    G.    MURPHY,    L.    L.    D.    Prof,    of 

Hebrew,  Belfast. 
WILLIAM  GIBSON,'  Prof.  Christ"  Ethics,  As- 
sembly's College. 
G.  DICKIE,  L.  L.  D.  Prof.  N.  History,  Q.  C, 

Belfast. 
JAMES  MCKNIGHT,  L.  L.  D.  Editor  of  "The 
Banner  of  Ireland." 
Belfast,  June,  1850. 

BANGOR,  June  19/1850. 
MY  DEAR  SIR 

I  have  heard  from  some  friends  of  the  Rev.  Dr. 
to  vir  °ReM  Smyth  of  Charleston,  who  is  now  in  this  country, 
that  some  of  his  literary  acquaintances  in  Scot- 
land have  been  bringing  his  name  before  the  Senatus  of  your 
University  as  not  unworthy  to  receive  the  degree  of  LL.  D. — 
Although  it  may  appear  somewhat  presumptuous  in  me  to 
volunteer  a  testimony  to  the  literary  attainments  of  one  who 
in  this  respect  is  so  far  ahead  of  myself — yet  from  a  long  and 
most  intimate  personal  acquaintance  with  Dr  Smyth,  as  well 
as  from  a  careful  study  of  his  numerous  &  valuable  publica- 
tions, I  am  in  some  measure  entitled  to  tender  an  opinion  of 
his  talents  and  acquirements. — 

He  was  a  fellow  student  of  mine  during  the  whole  of  his 
undergraduate  course  in  the  Belfast  College,  though  about 
one    session   my   Junior,    and   notwithstanding   distinguished 

'See  Dr.  Smyth's  Works,  vol.  VIII.— Ed. 

"Dr.  Smyth's  college  friend  and  rival  in  Logic  and  Moral  Phil- 
osophy.— Ed. 


259 

competition  with  classfellows,  some  of  whom  have  since  risen 
to  high  eminence  in  their  professions,  he  carried  off  in  almost 
all  his  classes  the  first  prizes —  Since  that  time  he  has  been  a 
most  unwearied  student,  and  his  voluminous  works  bear  tes- 
timony to  the  extent  and  variety  of  his  literary  &  theological 
attainments —  Though  his  works  hitherto  published  are  mostly 
on  topics  connected  with  his  own  profession,  yet  they  indicate 
an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  literature  of  theology,  and 
display  profound  research  as  well  as  sound  &  extensive  schol- 
arship—  His  last  work,  on  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Races, 
which  I  presume  you  have  seen,  appears  to  be  a  solid  and 
satisfactory  demonstration  of  that  important  truth,  and  seems 
to  me  to  place  its  author  among  the  first  rank  of  men  of 
Scholarship  and  Science — 

I  hope  you  will  feel  yourself  at  liberty  to  commend  my 
friend  to  the  notice  of  your  brethren  in  the  University  as 
worthy  to  receive  the  distinguished  honor  of  a  degree  in  Laws 
from  your  famed  and  ancient  seat  of  learning — 

I  write  from  Bangor  where  my  family  are  enjoying  the 
benefits  of  this  beautiful  weather  at  the  sea  side. 

I  am  Dear  Sir  with  kind  regards  to  Mrs.  Reid,  yours 
.very  truly 

H.  JACKSON  DOBBIN. 
Rev.  J.  S.  Reid,  D.  D. 

Rev.  Dr.  Dobbin,  Moderator  of  Irish  Assembly. — T.  S. 

KNOCKBRACKEN,  BELFAST, 

5  July,  1850. 
REV.  DEAR  SIR, 

Having  lately  heard  that  some  friends  are  about 
to  make  application  to  the  Senatus,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Glasgow  to  obtain  for  you  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws,  I  take  the  liberty  of  adding  my  humble  testimony  to  the 
many  more  valuable  recommendations  which  I  am  sure  you 
can  obtain,  as  a  candidate  for  this  honour. 

My  acquaintance  with  your  literary  career  began  early ;  and 
from  the  responsible  situation  which  I  occupied  under  the  late 
lamented  Dr.  Thompson  in  the  College  in  which  you  studied, 
I  enjoyed  the  best  opportunities  of  knowing  your  abilities,  and 
proficiency  in  Study.  I  can  freely  attest  that  at  a  very  early 
period,  you  discovered  distinguished  talents ;  your  acquaint- 
ance with  the  different  subjects  embraced  in  the  Collegiate 
Curriculum  was  solid  &  extensive ;  and  you  occupied  the  front 
rank  among  the  ablest  students  in  competing  for  Collegiate 
honour.     My  impression  formed  at  that  time  concerning  you 


260 

was  that  the  vigorous  exercise  of  your  high  mental  powers — 
your  habits  of  close  investigation  and  severe  study — &  your 
correct  taste  and  facility  of  composition  were  laying  the  foun- 
dation of  future  eminence.  In  this  expectation  I  have  not  been 
disappointed. 

Since  you  began  to  occupy  a  public  position  in  the  church  in 
America  &  became  an  author,  I  have  taken  a  deep  interest  in 
your  literary  pursuits,  and  have  perused,  I  can  truly  say  with 
advantage,  the  greater  portion  of  your  numerous  publications. 
Your  larger  works  especially — the  "Lectures  on  Apostolical 
Succession" — the  volume  on  "P'resbytery  &  Prelacy" — and 
your  recent  work  on  the  "Unity  of  the  Human  Race,"  while 
they  treat  on  subjects  of  absorbing  interest,  display  an  amount 
of  reading  and  research  and  an  ability  in  argument  which  are 
very  rarely  to  be  met  with  even  in  the  first  class  of  publications 
of  our  day.  They  are  deservedly  regarded  as  authorities  on 
the  subjects  on  which  they  treat,  and  I  doubt  not  that  they  will 
be  used  as  references  long  afterwards  by  those  who  are  called 
to  discuss  important  principles  relating  to  the  polity  of  the 
church,  and  the  origin  of  the  human  family. 

I  have  perused  your  last  work — a  British  Edition  of  which 
I  rejoice  to  learn  is  in  course  of  publication,  with  much  satis- 
faction. While  it  ably  vindicates  the  doctrine  of  Divine 
revelation,  and  exposes  the  dogmatism  &  sophistry  of  the  op- 
ponents of  truth,  it  contains  much  true  philosophy,  and  displays 
an  intimate  &  very  extensive  acquaintance  with  writings  that 
treat  on  the  same  or  kindred  subjects,  and  with  topics  con- 
nected with  the  origin,  dispersion,  and  unity  of  the  human  race, 
the  origin  of  language,  and  early  civilization.  I  know  of  no 
other  work  which  contains  a  fuller  and  more  satisfactory  dis- 
cussion of  an  important  question ; — I  regard  it  as  a  valuable 
contribution  to  the  illustration  of  the  Evidences  of  Divine 
revelation. 

Your  minor  works,  such  as  the  "Life  &  Character  of  Cal- 
vin"'— the  "Historical  Sketch  of  the  Westminster  Assembly"^ 
— Treatise  on  the  "Eldership" —  &  on  "Confirmation,"  display 
a  profound  knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  history,  a  just  appre- 
ciation of  character,  and  the  rare  capacity  of  discussing  con- 
troversial topics  and  great  questions  of  public  and  permanent 
interest  in  a  calm,  philosophical  &  convincing  manner.  I  have 
likewise  read  with  much  pleasure,  many  papers  contributed  by 
you  to  leading  Periodicals  &  Reviews,  on  a  great  variety  of 
subjects — and  I  am  free  to  say  that  these  productions  of  your 

^Vol.  Ill,  p.  319,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 
""See  vol.  IV,  page  385,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


261 

laborious  study  and  fruitful  pen  have  always  evinced  sound 
judgment  &  extensive  learning;  and  that  their  uniform  ten- 
dency has  been  to  advance  the  interests  of  morality,  philan- 
thropy, and  true  religion. 

There  are  few  public  characters,  who  for  solid  attainments 
in  learning,  profound  scholarship,  and  the  able  and  successful 
vindication  of  important  truths,  are  equally  entitled  to  literary 
honours  as  yourself,  and  none  will  more  sincerely  rejoice  than 
I  in  the  increased  and  deserved  celebrity  of  your  name  &  writ- 
ings. 

I  wish  to  divest  myself  of  the  partiality  of  friendship  in 
giving  my  public  recommendation ;  and  I  assure  you  that  I 
feel  how  inadequate  is  anything  that  I  have  here  said  to  ex- 
press my  sense  of  your  merits. 

With  best  wishes  for  the  restoration  of  your  health  &  vigour, 
&  earnest  desires  that  you  may  be  long  spared  for  extensive 
usefulness, 

.  Believe  me  to  be 

My  Dear  Sir, 

Ever  yrs.  Mo.  faithfy. 

THOMAS  HOUSTON. 

Author  of  "Parental  Duties,"  ''Youthful  Devotion,"  Editor 
of  "Life  &  Letters  of  Living' — Editor  of  "Covenanter" — 
"Monitor"  &c.' 

In   addition   to   the   letters   given   above   there   are 
Further  f^^j.    others.     The   first,    dated   Rothesay,    (Scotland) 

June  13,  1850,  is  from.  Dr.  William  Hanna,  (author  of 
the  Life  of  Christ)  the  son  of  Dr.  Hanna  of  Belfast  of  whom  Dr. 
Smyth  speaks  in  his  early  recollections,  and  the  son-in-law  of  Dr. 
Chalmers — as  well  as  author  of  his  life.  Dr.  Hanna  speaks  of 
Dr.  Smyth  as  an  old  schoolfellow.  The  second  letter,  dated 
Dublin,  June  27,  1850,  is  from  Dr.  Richard  Dill  who  refers  to  his 
close  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Smyth  through  Mrs.  Magee.  The 
third  letter,  from  Bushyfield,  Ireland,  June  22,  is  signed  Robert 
Stewart.  Dr.  Smyth  says  "Dr.  Stewart,  for  a  long  time  the  leader 
of  the  Irish  Assembly  and  a  distinguished  controversialist."  Dr. 
John  Brown  writes  the  last  on  September  10.  They  all  speak 
highly  of  Dr.  Smyth  as  an  author  and  are  addressed  to  Dr.  James 
Seaton  Reid.  Dr.  Smyth  refers  several  times  to  letters  from  Dr. 
Reid  but  the  only  letter  found  is  from  his  son  Dr.  Edward  Reid, 
dated  June  3,  1852,  which  refers  to  his  father's  unexpected  removal 
preventing  the  plan  from  being  carried  out,  and  to  Dr.  Smyth's 
order  for  a  set  of  Dr.  Reid's  books.  Dr.  Smyth  must  have  been 
acquainted  with  Dr.  Reid  before  coming  to  America,  for  in  some 

"Note  by  Dr.  Smyth.— Ed. 


262 

of  the  early  letters  (omitted),  reference  is  made  to  Dr.  Smyth's 
having  been  at  Carrickfergus  about  1829  at  the  time  that  Dr.  Reid 
was  minister  of  the  church  there.  Dr.  Smyth  has  elsewhere  ac- 
counted for  the  failure  of  his  friends  efforts,  by  his  unpopularity 
in  Glasgow  caused  by  his  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Free  Kirk, 
as  well  as  his  pro-slavery  views. — Editor. 

Letter  from  Rev.  Dr.  McCosh*  author  of  The  Method  of  the 
Divine  Government  &c. 

BRECHIN,  Aug  19,  1850. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr.  McCosh  *     *     I  do  not  believe  that  any  testimonial  of 

on  "Unity  of  mine  can  be  of  any  use  to  you —  You  are  already 
the  Races."  favourably  know^n  by  many  in  this  country  who 
have  scarcely  heard  of  my  name —  But  if  you  think  it  of  any 
value  you  are  welcome  to  my  testimonial,  which  from  the 
cursory  glance  I  have  taken  of  your  work  I  am  sure  will  be 
favorable.  I  hope  to  have  your  volume  read  in  a  fortnight 
from  this  date — and  I  will  then  write  you — or  should  you  be 
left  the  country  by  that  time  I  can  write  to  Johnstone  &  Hun- 
ter. Should  you  wish  the  letter  before  that  time  please  write 
me  &  I  can  quicken  my  reading.     *     *     * 

If  I  do  not  hear  from  you  you  may  expect  to  hear  from 
me  the  week  after  next 

I  am 

yours  truly 

■    JAMES  McCOSH. 

P.  S.  Have  you  read  the  papers  of  Professor  E.  Forbes  (not 
Prof.  James  Forbes  of  Edin.)  of  this  country  on  the  distribu- 
tion of  plants — and  on  the  distribution  of  fishes —  The  topics 
discussed  by  him  should  throw  light  on  your  topics — He  is  one 
of  the  most  eminent  of  the  rising  naturalists  of  Britain —  A  few 
years  ago  he  was  an  infidel.     I  do  not  know  what  he  is  now. 

Revd  Dr  Smyth 

(of  Charleston) 
Messrs  Brown  Shipley  &  Co 
Liverpool. 

*In  1852  Dr.  McCosh  applied  to  Dr.  Smyth  for  testimonials; 
he  was  appointed  by  the  Crown  to  a  professorship  in  Queen's 
College  Belfast,  becoming  president  of  Princeton  University  in 
1868.  He  continued  always  a  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth,  visiting  him 
in  Charleston  probably  in  the  year  1854.  Dr.  McCosh  left  Scot- 
land in  that  year  and  says  of  his  journey  "I  was  wearied  and  I 
put  my  feet  into  a  ship  to  take  me  to  America.     I  travelled  some 


263 

BRECHIN,  Sept  1851. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  often  been  wondering  during  the  past  year,  what  was 
become  of  the  proposed  repubHcation  of  your  excellent  work 
on  the  Human  races.  I  applied  to  our  mutual  friend  Prof 
Gibson  in  May  last  for  information,  but  he  could  give  me 
nothing  specific.  I  am  glad  to  learn  from  yourself — that  it  is 
now  on  the  point  of  shewing  its  face  before  the  British  Public. 

If  I  thought  that  no  other  party  was  preengaged  for  the 
work  I  would  offer  to  the  Editor  to  write  a  notice  of  your 
work  in  the  Free  Church  Magazine.  I  will  also  notice  it  in 
our  local  paper —  I  lent  your  work  to  the  Free  Church  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity  and  to  a  minister  in  Aberdeen  both  of  whom 
were  greatly  delighted  with  it,  and  thought  it  very  satisfactory. 
Possibly  Professor  MacLagan — the  professor  referred  to, 
might  notice  the  work  in  one  of  the  Aberdeen  papers  if  the 
publishers  would  send  him  a  copy  and  let  me  know  that  they 
had  done  so. 

I  have  not  been  gratified  with  anything  in  connexion  with 
my  work — so  much  as  v/ith  the  reception  it  has  met  with  in 
America.  I  am  under  deep  obligations  to  you  for  helping  me 
to  a  favorable  introduction  to  the  United  States. 

I  should  like  to  be  able  to  complete  my  work — by  a  treatise 
on  the  Divine  Government  SPIRITUAL  and  SUPERNAT- 
URAL. But  I  fear  I  may  never  be  able  to  write  more  than 
fragments  of  it.  The  subject  is  not  only  vast — but  very  recon- 
dite. An  article  on  Typical  Forms  in  the  last  number  of  the 
North  British  review  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  fragments. 

In  this  country,  there  is  a  strong  current  set  in,  towards 
materialism  or  materialistic  views  of  every  thing — opposed  to 
this — we  have  only  in  the  present  day  a  metaphysics  of  high 
pretensions  proceeding  from  many,  which  while  it  exercises 
an  amazing  power  over  a  few  minds,  sends  back  the  majority 

thousands  of  miles  in  that  country  and  visited  some  of  the  most 
important  colleges  and  theological  seminaries."  His  visit  to 
Charleston  was  a  great  pleasure  to  Dr.  Smyth.  One  of  his  sons, 
a  mere  boy  at  the  time,  says  that  Dr.  McCosh  preached  at  Glebe 
St.  Church.  He  was  naturally  expected  to  deliver  a  very  learned 
discourse  but  instead  preached  a  simple  and  tender  sermon  from 
Rev.  V.  6  "And  I  beheld,  and  lo,  in  the  midst  of  the  throne  a  Lamb 
as  it  had  been  slain."  When  Dr.  Smyth's  eldest  grandson  entered 
Princeton  in  1880,  his  father  and  he  were  guests  of  Dr.  McCosh 
for  several  days.  Brechin,  the  town  in  Scotland  from  which  these 
letters  are  written,  is  ten  miles  from  Montrose  and  was  one  of  the 
centres  of  the  Jacobite  rising  of  1745.  Here  Dr.  McCosh  and  his 
colleague.  Dr.  Foote,  had  1415  communicants. — Ed. 


264 

of  British  Physicists  to  materialism.  I  long  most  earnestly  to 
be  able  to  help  to  set  the  British  Public  right  by  a  work  on  the 
Method  of  Induction  applied  to  the  Human  Mind: —  But.  . .  . 
But.  .But,  life  is  short,  and  the  most  of  my  life  is  necessarily 
taken  up  with  pastoral  work — 

I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  when  at  any  time  you  have 
a  leisure  half  hour — meanwhile 

I  am 
Yours  truly, 

JAMES  McCOSH. 
Revd.  Dr.  Smyth,  London. 

P.  S.  Perhaps  Mr.  Longmuir  of  Aberdeen  would  be  a 
more  likely  person  to  notice  it  in  the  Aberdeen  papers.  I  will 
correspond  with  Johnstone  &  Hunter  on  the  subject. 

One   of  the   small   pamphlets   included  among  the 
Notices    o  letters   and  papers  preserved  in  this   collection  com- 

Unity      of  .  ,._  1      ar^      •      ■  f        ^ 

Races."  prises      introductory   Letters     and     Opmions   of  the 

Press"  on  Dr.  Smyth's  "Unity  of  the  Human  Race." 
The  originals  of  many  of  these  letters  are  included  in  the  MSS 
collected.     They  are  as  follows: 

From  WILLIAM  CUNNINGHAM  D.  D.,  Pro,f.  of  Divinity  and 
Church  History,  New  College,  dated  Edinburgh,  Oct.  28, 
1850. 

"  ROBERT  S.  CANDLISH  D.  D.,  dated  Edinburgh,  Nov.  15, 
1850. 

"  ALEXANDER  DUFF  D.  D.,  of  Calcutta,  dated  Cargill  by 
Perth,  Aug.  20,  1850. 

"  JAMES  HAMILTON  D.  D.,  English  Pres.  Church,  Regent 
Square  London,  dated  7  Landsdowne  Place,  July  9,  1850. 

"  JOHN  BROWN  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Theology  to  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  dated  Edinburgh,  Arthur's  Place, 
Newington,  June  10,  1850. 

"  WILLIAM  SYMINGTON  D.  D.,  of  Glasgow,  dated  Aus- 
field  Place,  Glasgow,  October  8,  1850. 

"  The  REV.  DAVID  KING,  L.L.  D.,  of  Glasgow,  dated  Glas- 
gow, August  4,  1850. 

"  The  REV.  HENRY  COOKE  L.L.  D.,t  of  Belfast,  dated 
Belfast  October  25,  1850. 

"  ROBERT  HALLEY,  D.  D.,t  of  Manchester,  dated  Man- 
chester, August  15,  1850. 

"  LEONARD  BACON,  D.  D.,  of  New  Haven,  United  States, 
dated  Dalton,  November  6,  1850. 

"  The  REV.  JAMES  McCOSH,t  Author  of  "the  Method  of 
the  Divine  Government,  Physical  and  Moral,"  Brechin, 
Sept.,    1850. 

tSee  letters  following. — Ed. 


265 

From  The  REV.  DAVID  BROWN,  Glasgow,  author  of  a  work 
on  the  Second  Advent  &c.,  dated  Glasgow  October  lo, 
1850. 

"  The  REV.  J.  H.  FOWLES,  Episcopal  Minister,  Philadel- 
phia, United  States,  dated  Philadelphia, '  September  23, 
1850. 

"       J.  G.  LORIMER,  D.  D.,  St.  David's  Free  Church,  Glasgow. 

"  J.  PYE  SMITH,  D.  D.,t  F.  R.  S.,  Author  of  Geology  and 
Scripture,   &c.,   &c. 

"       R.  G.  LATHAM,  Esq.,  M.  D.f 

The  book  spoken  of  in  the  following  letters  grew  from  a  discus- 
sion with  Prof.  Agassiz  in  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of 
Charleston  in  1846.  Three  discourses  written  in  1849  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  book  and  his  argument  was  strengthened  by  Dr. 
Bachman's  ready  assistance.  It  was  favourably  reviewed  by  Hugh 
Miller  in  the  "Edinburgh  Witness"  of  July  13th  1850,  see  quota- 
tions pp.  40,  50,  75,  T],  199,  vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works. — Editor. 

From  the  Rev.  James  M'Cosh,  author  of  "The  Method  of 
the  Divine  Government,  Physical  and  Moral." 

MY  DEAR  SIR,— 

I  have  carefully  read  your  work  "On  the  Unity  of  the  Hu- 
man Races,"  and  I  have  risen  from  the  perusal  with  a  deep 
impression  of  its  value  and  importance.  The  reading  of  the 
author  is  evidently  extensive,  and  the  treatise  is  well  written 
and  well  reasoned.  In  the  biblical  and  historical  department, 
it  seems  to  me  to  be  particularly  successful.  I  am  not  ac- 
quainted with  the  views  of  Agassiz,  who  seems  unfortunately 
to  have  broached  of  late  opinions  adverse  to  the  Unity  of  the 
Human  Races ;  but,  with  the  assistance  of  Prichard  and  Bach- 
man,  you  have,  in  natural  history,  effectually  disposed  of  the 
old  objections.  You  have  thus  furnished  a  valuable  defence  of 
a  portion  of  truth,  which  has  several  most  important  bearings 
both  on  religion  and  morality. 
[Septemher  1850]  JAMES  M'COSH. 

From  the  Rev.  Henry  Cooke,  LL.  D.,  of  Belfast. 

BELFAST,  October  25,  1850. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH,— 

Your  work,  "On  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Races,"  I  have 
read  with  attention,  and,  I  trust,  with  profit.  So  early  as  the 
year  1807,  my  thoughts  were  turned  to  the  subject  by  reading 
Kame's   "Sketches   of  the  History  of  Man ;"   and   since  that 

tSee  letters  following. — Ed. 


266 

time,  I  have  occasionally  examined  some  of  the  writers  who 
support  the  theory  of  various  origins.  The  doctrine  of  the 
unity  of  origin  I  believe,  not  merely  because  I  find  it  unequiv- 
ocally taught  in  the  divine  Scriptures,  but  also  because  I  find 
it  supported  by  such  numerous  analogies,  in  the  cases  of  plants 
and  animals,  which  are  so  wonderfully  influenced  and  extern- 
ally changed  by  climate,  habitat,  and  human  management;  and 
still  farther,  by  such  a  Baconian  induction  of  facts,  that  it 
seems  to  me  impossible  to  admit  the  soundness  of  the  Baconian 
principles  of  philosophizing  without  arriving  with  you  at  the 
same  conclusions. 

I  believe,  that  by  this  work,  you  have  done  the  cause  of 
truth  and  humanity  a  great  and  lasting  service,  not  lessened 
by  the  candour  with  which  you  have  treated  your  opponents, 
while  it  is  enhanced  by  the  potent  research  and  lucid  arguments 
by  which  you  have  illustrated  and  confirmed  your  own  views. — 

Yours  in  the  gospel, 

H.  COOKE. 

From  the  Rev.  Robert  Halley,  D.  D.,  of  Manchester. 

MANCHESTER,  August  15,  1850. 
MY  DEAR  SIR,— 

I  have  read  your  work  "On  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Races" 
with  great  interest  and  delight.  I  think  the  argument  is  con- 
ducted with  great  ability,  and  the  illustrations  admirably  se- 
lected, and  very  appropriate.  It  is  a  work  of  great  importance 
at  the  present  time,  and  will,  I  think,  obtain  the  circulation  it 
so  well  deserves. —  Yours  most  truly, 

ROBERT  HALLEY.' 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

From  the  Rev.  J.  Pye  Smithy  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  Author  of 
Geology  and  Scripture,'  &c.  &c. 

This  work  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth  I  have  perused  with  much 
satisfaction.  He  has  collected  a  vast  variety  of  arguments  and 
evidences,  which  establish,  with  accumulated  force,  his  posi- 
tion— ^the  Unity  of  the  Human  Races,  as  to  both  species  and 
origin.     I  think  it  impossible  for  an  upright  mind  to  refuse 

^This  letter  must  have  been  of  great  value  to  Dr.  Smyth  as  a 
proO|f  of  his  having  successfully  conquered  any  prejudice  that  may 
have  been  left  in  the  mind  of  Dr.  Halley  by  the  episode  of  High- 
bury College.  See  quotation  Dr.  Halley  in  vol.  X,  Baptism,  p. 
425.— Ed. 

^See  Unity  of  Races,  p.  126. — Ed. 


267 

acquiescence  in  his  conclusion.  With  him,  too,  I  agree  that 
there  are  difficulties,  as  in  all  science,  which  we  cannot  at 
present  remove ;  but,  weighed  against  the  positive  arguments, 
they  cannot  rationally  arrest  our  conviction.  It  is  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  progress  of  observation  and  the  augmentation 
of  accurate  knowledge  in  meteorology,  actinology,  terrestrial 
magnetism,  and  probably  some  agencies  in  natural  history  not 
yet  thoroughly  understood,  will  contribute  much  to  the  re- 
solving of  the  perplexity.  There  may  also  have  been  some- 
thing preternatural  in  a  judicial  infliction  upon  Ham.  Gese- 
nius  tells  us  from  Plutarch,  that  this  term,  in  the  old  Coptic, 
denotes  both  heat  and  blackness.  It  might  be  a  case  somewhat 
analogous  to  that  of  Gehazi.  (2  Kings  VI.  2j?)  The  want  of 
scholarship,  the  presumptuousness,  the  irreverence,  the  impiety, 
with  which  some  writers  in  the  United  States  treat  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  disgusting. 

It  appears  that  the  able  and  pious  author  has  been  hurried 
and  distressed  in  the  composition  of  this  very  desirable  work. 
He  probably  employed  persons  to  collect  materials  for  his  num- 
erous references,  who  were  either  uninformed  or  careless :  and 
evidently  the  book  was  printed  far  from  his  eye.  A  revised 
edition  would  be  a  welcome  acquirement. 

Yet,  if  this  be  not  obtained,  the  work,  in  the  hands  of  candid 
readers,  earnest  for  TRUTH,  will  be  found  a  treasure. 

J.  PYE  SMITH,  D.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
GUILDFORD,  Dec.  23,  1850. 

Dr.  Smyth  was  a  prominent  member  of  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. — Editor. 

From  R.  G.  Latham,  Esq.,  M.  D.,  Member  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Ethnological  Society,  London,  and  author  of  works 
on  the  "Varieties  of  Mankind" — "The  English  Language"  &c. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  been  so  much  in  locomotion  for  the  last  fortnight, 
that  your  kind  and  gratifying  letter  has  only  just  reached  me. 

Your  book,  too,  which  you  have  so  courteously  favoured  me 
with,  has  yet  to  be  read  with  due  care.  I  have  as  yet  only  had 
time  to  get  a  general  view  of  its  principles,  and  the  learning 
and  ingenuity  which  supports  them.  I  am  glad  that  the  doc- 
trine of  what  I  call  the  Mutiplats  Protoplasts'  [sic]  has  been 

"Dr.  Smyth  in  his  book  states  that  he  had  been  allowed  to 
obtain  an  early  copy  of  Dr.  Robert  Gordon  Latham's  "Varieties 
of  Mankind"  and  quotes  from  it  frequently.  The  doctrine  of 
"Multiplats   Protoplasts"    (held   by  Agassiz)    is  treated   on  pp.  63, 


268 

fairly  grappled —  Though  bearing  importantly  upon  natural 
history  in  general,  the  Ethnologist  must  be  the  chief  investi- 
gator of  it.  I  think  it  not  likely  to  find  much  difference  in  our 
views  on  the  point. 

Till  November  I  shall  be  in  Old  White  House  Lodge, 

Fleet  in  Holbeach 

Lincolnshire. 
After  that  in  London.     I  mention  this  because  I  hope  that  if 
business  or  inclination  take  you  in  either  direction  that  I  may 
have  the  pleasure  of  a  personal  interview, 
remaining 

My  dear  Sir 

Ever  more  faithfully  yours 

R.  G.  LATHAM. 

P.  S.  A  line  stating  that  a  copy  of  my  "Varieties  of  Man" 
of  which  I  beg  your  acceptance  has  reached  you  safely  will 
oblige. 

29  Upper  Southwick  Street 
Hyde  Park  Square 

London,  April  11,  1850. 

Dr.  Archibald  Alexander's  opinion^  of  my  book  on  Presby- 
tery and  Prelacy. 

N.  Y.  Nov  II.  1851. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

My  sole  purpose  in  writing  is  to  communicate 
de^'     Tnion     ^  remark  made  to  me  by  my  father  on  his  dying 

ers  opinion.      ^^^ 

"When  I  found  Ch.  Govt  on  my  hands,"  said  he,  "I  looked 
around  for  a  text-book;  &  on  examining  the  others  settled  on 
Dr.  Smyth's  Presbytery  &  Prelacy^  as  the  best,  &  determined 

113,  116,  227,  302,  355.  Agassiz  maintained  that  the  Bible  referred 
to  the  origin  of  the  white  race  only,  but  that  there  was  a  sep- 
arate creation  ,for  each  race.  Dr.  Smyth  does  not  use  the  hybrid 
Greek  phrase. — Ed. 

*Dr.  Archibald  Alexander  was  an  acute  thinker,  not  content 
to  teach  simply  a  system  of  doctrine,  but  endeavouring  to  send 
out  men  capable  of  refuting  erroneous  faiths  wherever  found. 
His  influence  was  continued  by  his  sons:  Dr.  James  W.  Alex- 
ander held  the  chair  of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Gov- 
ernment from  1849  to  1851  and  Dr.  Addison  Alexander  was 
connected  with  the  Seminary  all  his  life. — Ed. 

^See  vol.  II,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


269 

to  introduce  it  at  once."  I  think  he  added,  "I  wish  Dr.  S.  to 
know  this." 

I  hope  you  are  better;  I  have  been  much  indisposed.  Re- 
gards to  Mrs.  S.  &  the  boys. 

Yours  fraternally 

J.  W.  ALEXANDER. 

BALTIMORE  Jan  22.  52. 
REV  &  DEAR  BROTHER, 

j)f   r   Q  I  sent  your  work  on  baptism  by  mail  a  few  days 

Backus'  com-  since,  &  thought  that  it  was  accompanied  by  a 
ment  on  notc,  which  I  afterwards  found  had  been  left  out. 

^^  *^°^'  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  its  perusal. 

It  is  to  my  mind  far  the  most  satisfactory  writing  on  that  side 
that  I  have  seen.  Still  I  cannot  say  that  I  see  my  way  clear 
to  act  upon  its  principles.  I  wish  very  much  that  it  could  be 
published,  and  that  the  whole  subject  could  be  thoroughly 
canvassed. 

I  am  truly  rejoiced  to  learn  that  your  health  is  so  much 
improved — &  trust  that  you  may  long  be  spared  to  serve  the 
Church  of  God. 

With  very  many  thanks  for  your  kindness  in  giving  me  the 
perusal  of  your  MSS.  &  with  very  respectful  regards  to  Mrs. 
Smyth,  believe  me  to  be 

very  sincerely 

Your  friend  &  bro  : 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth  JOHN  C.  BACKUS." 

Charleston 

S.  C. 

Dr.  Smyth  to  Dr.  Charles  Hodge,  about  the  possible  purchase 
of  his  library  for  Princeton. 

CHARLESTON,  May  9,  1852. 
REV.  &  DEAR  SIR, 

I  received  yesterday  a  letter  from  Dr.  McCosh, 
author  of  The  Method  of  Divine  Government  &c, 
stating  that  he  is  a  candidate  for  the  chair  of  Moral  Philosophy 
in  the  University  of  Edinburgh  which  is  to  be  filled  on  June  8 
prox. — &  requesting  testimonials  analogous  to  the  enclosed 
from  some  of  our  literati.  As  I  know  your  very  high  apprecia- 
tion of  his  merits  may  I  request  you  to  draw  up  such  an  one 

°A  director  of  Princeton  Seminary  of  which  he  was  a  graduate. 
—Ed. 


270 

at  once  &  procure  the  signatures  of  as  many  of  your  associated 
professors,  both  in  College  &  the  Seminary,  as  possible. 

Will  you  also  forward  it  as  soon  as  possible  to  his  address 
&  care  to  Mess''^  Sutherland  &  Knox, 
Booksellers, 

George  St, 

Edinburgh,  Scotland. 
I  am  about  the  same  in  health.     We  are  very 
Ass^embiy"^'^*      ^^^^  ^"  preparation  for  the  Assembly  &  sorry  you 
do  not  come. 
Will  Dr.  Addison  Alexander  come? 

There  is  much  interest  here  now  on  the  subject  of  Popery 
&  we  hope  he  will  come. 

We  added  28  to  our  church  (14  coloured)  on  Sabbath. 

By  the  way,  in  view  of  my  health  &  unfitness 
sgii^^Library.  ^^^  scvcrc  study,  I  havc  thought  of  at  once  dis- 
posing of  the  great  bulk  of  my  Library,  say  7500 
or  8000  vols.,  leaving  only  a  working  library  of  some  1000  or 
1500  vols.  &  these  the  more  common  works.  I  spoke  of  it  to 
Dr.  James  Alexander''  who  thought  Mr.  Lenox  or  others  would 
gladly  purchase  it  for  Princeton.  It  has  cost  me  (much  of  it 
free  of  duty,)  about  $23,000. 

To  see  it  at  once  where  I  wish  it  I  would  give  what  I  have 
mentioned,  including  all  the  rare  &  valuable  books,  for  $25,000 
&  if  our  Seminary  in  Columbia  will  not  at  once  take  it,  I  would 
like  to  see  it  in  Princeton. 

I  am  completing  a  full  Catalogue, 

Our  Assembly  ought  to  secure  liberty  at  once  to  hold  its 
Southern  Meetings  in  April  &  not  in  May  for  the  sake  of 
comfort  to  all  concerned  in  every  way. 

I  remain  very  aff'ly  &  respectfully, 
Yrs.  in  the  Lord 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

NEW  YORK,  Apr.  23.  1852. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr.  McCosh  When  I  received  your  letter,  which  I  very  much 

and  Princeton   prized,  I  bcstirrcd  myself  a  little  about  both  the 
Seminary.         matters  suggestcd  by  you.     In  regard  to  the  place 

'Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  wrote  on  May  4th  1852,  to  his  friend 
Dr.  John  Hall  of  Trenton  who  was  a  commissioner  to  the  General 
Assembly  to  meet  that  month  in  Charleston,  "Try  to  see  Dr. 
Smyth's  library."  See  "Familiar  Letters  of  James  W.  Alexander," 
vol.  II,  p.  173.  Mr.  James  Lenox  of  New  York  was  trustee  of 
Princeton. — Ed. 


271 

of  meeting  for  the  General  Assembly,  I  have  never  met  with 
an  individual  who  was  not  of  your  mind.  In  regard  to  Dr. 
McCosh,  I  did  not  find  the  same  concurrence.  Indeed,  beyond 
his  volume,  his  qualifications  could  scarcely  be  made  apparent 
to  our  electors,  in  any  such  degree  as  to  receive  the  tribute  of 
a  vote.  It  was  my  father's  opinion,  that  his  colleagues  ought 
not  to  be  active  in  regard  to  the  filling  of  his  place ;  and  they 
have  endeavoured  to  act  on  that  hint. 

Dr.  Addison  From  first  to  last,  I  have  believed  that  my 
Alexander  and  brother  Addison  ought  to  be  in  an  Exegetical 
Dr.  Green.  chair.  This  judgment  of  mine  is  well  known  at 
Princeton.  My  hands  have  therefore  been  tied ;  especially  as 
I  knew  (as  well  as  others)  that  he  was  perfectly  competent  to 
teach  History.  The  O.  T.  Exegesis  is  however  well  bestowed 
on  Mr.  Green,^  who  is  a  scholar  of  extraordinary  powers.  I 
have  no  scheme  therefore  to  propose.  My  prayer  and  hope  is 
that  the  new  professor  may  be  one  who  will  add  to  the  harmony 
of  the  existing  corps. 

My  health  is  suffering  from  the  severe  winter  &  from  un- 
usual labours.  I  do  not  flatter  myself  that  I  am  any  better 
than  I  was  a  year  ago. 

Present  me  with  Christian  regard  to  Mrs.  Smyth,  and  your 
boys.  God  grant  that  you  may  see  them  serving  Christ  in  his 
church ! 

I  am  your  friend  &  fellow  servant 

JAMES  W.  ALEXANDER. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

From  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hemphill  of  the  Seccder  Body  touching 
Psalmody.^ 

DUE  WEST,  S.  C.  Oct.  1853. 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 
Dear  Brother : 

I  regretted  very  much  to  see  it  announced  through  the  public 
prints,  during  the  Summer,  that  you  had  met  with  some  sud- 
den visitation  of  providence  which  was  likely,  either  to  impair 
very  much  your  usefulness  in  the  church  or  to  cut  off  that 
usefulness  entirely.  I  hope  however  that  your  health  has  been, 
or  will  soon  be  restored. 

'William  Henry  Green  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Old  Testament 
Exegetis,  was  one  of  the  most  important  men  Princeton  ever 
possessed. — Ed. 

*See  vol.  VI,  page  451.  Use  of  instruments,  pages  525  and  556, 
Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


272 

I  was  pleased  to  notice  that  at  the  last  Gen.  As- 
sembly you  proposed  to  make  such  an  improve- 
ment in,  or  addition  to,  the  Psalmody  of  your  Church  as  would 
meet  the  wants  and  the  wishes  of  the  Psalm-Singing  Churches 
and  enable  them  to  worship  with  you  with  more  satisfaction, 
than  they  are  able  to  do  at  present. 

I  wish  you  success  in  the  undertaking  and  look  for  much 
good  to  result  from  its  completion. —  Notwithstanding  our 
differences  there  is  a  kindly  feeling  among  the  Psalm-Singing 
churches  generally  toward  the  O.  S.  Presbyterians  which  it 
might  be  worth  while  to  encourage,  and  to  make  an  effort  to 
meet  their  views  and  wishes  on  the  Psalmody  question  is  the 
way  to  encourage  it. 

Very  truly  yours 

W.  R.  HEMPHILL. 

NEWBURGH,  N.  Y.  Nov.  26.  53. 
REV  &  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Dr.  Connelly  ^^  ^^^  miuutcs  of  the  last  Assembly  I  observed 
urges  Rouse's  that  you  offered  a  resolution  on  Psalmody  the 
version.  fmsX  actiou  on  which  was  postponed  to  the  next 

annual  meeting. 

As  reference  is  had  in  that  resolution  to  the  Psalms  of  David 
as  presented  in  the  Scotch  or  Rouse's  version  &  as  these  con- 
stitute the  Psalmody  of  our  Associate  Reformed  churches, 
your  resolution  will  of  course  excite  deep  interest  in  our  Zion. 

If  your  Gen.  Assembly  in  their  wisdom  &  forbearance  in 
love,  should  agree  to  print  in  their  Psalm  Book,  the  version 
referred  to,  as  it  is,  or  with  such  verbal  amendments  as  might 
be  agreed  upon  without  essentially  changing  the  character  of 
the  version,  I  should  anticipate  great  &  lasting  benefits  to  the 
orthodox  churches  &  to  the  church  generally,  from  such  a 
work. 

Members  from  Presbyterian  Churches  in  Europe  will  gen- 
erally be  attracted  by  the  name  &  character  of  your  assembly, 
but  many  will  experience  a  lack  in  edification  if  the  Psalms  of 
David  are  not  found  in  the  churches. 

Your  resolution,  if  I  understand  it,  will  do  much  to  remove 
that  lack. 

Many  of  our  Ass.  Ref.  ministers  are  debarred  from  the 
pleasure  of  occasional  interchanges  of  pulpits,  because  they 
cannot,  either  from  conscience  or  from  denominational  con- 
siderations, use  the  Psalm  &  Hymn  books  now  in  popular  use. 

Your  resolution  will  remove  this  bar  so  far  as  your  denomi- 
nation is  concerned.     And  if  this  ministerial  interchange  were 


373 

established  on  the  admitted  truth  that  there  was  by  it  no  com- 
promise of  principle  on  either  side,  it  would  do  much  towards 
bringing  about  a  sacramental  fellowship,  perhaps  an  organical 
union  between  the  churches. 

Sometime  ago  I,  with  the  approbation  &  patronage  of  the 
brethren  in  our  Asso.  Ref.  Synod  of  New  York,  published  a 
verbally  amended  edition  of  David's  Psalms  in  metre,  of  which 
I  send  you  herewith  a  copy.     *     *     * 

If  the  Psalms  are,  as  Bishop  Horn  says,  an  epitome  of  the 
Scriptures  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  devotion,  then  is  it 
worthy  of  the  churches  to  labor  much  in  order  to  present  them 
in  such  form  as  may  secure  their  universal  use. 

If  I  could  do  any  thing  in  your  Assembly  next  year  in  the 
way  of  procuring  a  committee  of  correspondence,  I  should 
gladly  attend. 

Sincerely  desiring  that  you  may  be  long  spared  to  promote 
the  peace  &  prosperity  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  I  am  yours  in 
the  gospel, 

H.  CONNELLY. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

Enclosed  in  a  letter  from  Dr.  Leland,  contrasting  Rouse's 
version  of  the  Psalms  with  the  version  of  Dr.  Watts. — Editor. 

The  following  is  Rouse's  version  of  Psalm  6th,  verse  6th: 

"I  with  my  groaning  weary  am, 
and  all  the  night  my  bed 
I  caused  for  to  swim ;  with  tears 
my  couch  I  watered." 

In  Watts'  version  we  have  the  following: 

"See  how  in  sighs  I  pass  my  days, 
And  waste  in  groans  the  weary  night: 
My  bed  is  watered  with  my  tears ; 
My  grief  consumes  and  dims  my  sight." 


Rouse.  "If  the  foundations  be  destroyed 

what  hath  the  righteous  done?" 


Ps  nth  V  3d 


Watts.  "If  government  be  once  destroyed, 

(That  firm  foundation  of  our  peace,) 

And  violence  make  justice  void, 

Where  shall  the  righteous  seek  redress?" 


[18] 


274  »    ■ 

Ps   12.  V  3d  &  4th 

Rouse.      3  "God  shall  cut  off  all  flattering  lips, 
tongues  that  speak  proudly,  thus, 
4     We'll  with  our  tongue  prevail,  our  lips 
are  ours :  who's  lord  o'er  us  ?" 

Watts.  "If  we  reprove  some  hateful  lie. 

They  scorn  our  faithful  word. 
'Are  not  our  lips  our  own,'  they  cry, 
'And  who  shall  be  our  Lord.'  " 


Ps  18.  V  8. 


Rouse.  "Up  from  his  nostrils  came  a  smoke, 

and  from  his  mouth  there  came. 
Devouring  fire,  and  coals  by  it 
were  turned  into  a  flame." 


Ps  19.  V  5 


"In  them  he  set  the  sun  a  tent. 

Who,  bridegroom-like,  forth  goes 
From  's  chamber,  as  a  strong  man  doth 
to  run  his  race  rejoice." 

Ps  22.  V  29 
"Earth's  fat  ones  eat,  and  worship  shall : 
all  who  to  dust  descend 
Shall  bow  to  him ;  none  of  them  can 
his  soul  from  death  defend." 

Ps  35.  V  8 
"Let  ruin  seize  him  unawares : 
his  net  be  hid  withal 
Himself  let  catch;  and  in  the  same 
destruction  let  him  fall." 

Ps  38.  V  5 
"My  wounds  do  stink,  and  are  corrupt: 
my  folly  makes  it  so." 

Ps  51.  V  19. 
"Then  righteous  off'rings  shall  thee  please, 
and  off'rings  burnt,  which  they. 
With  whole  burnt  off'rings,  and  with  calves. 
Shall  on  thy  altar  lay." 


275 

Ps  55.  V  5 
"On  me  comes  trembling,  fear  and  dread 
O'er  whelmed  me  withal." 


'At  ev'ning  let  thou  them  return, 
making  great  noise  and  sound. 

Like  to  a  dog,  and  often  walk 
about  the  city  round." 


Ps  59.  V  14 


Ps  66.  V  13 


"I'll  bring  burnt-off'rings  to  thy  house ; 
to  thee  my  vows  I'll  pay," 

How  admirably  suited  to  christian  worship  is  the  following 
stanza : — 

Ps  66.  15 
"Burnt-sacrifices  of  fat  rams, 
with  incense  I  will  bring; 
Of  bullocks  and  of  goats  I  will 
present  an  offering." 


Ps  68.  y  25 


Ps  69.  V  28. 


'Before  went  singers,  players  next 
on  instruments  took  way; 

And  them  among  the  damsels  were 
and  did  on  timbrels  play." 


"Out  of  the  book  of  life  let  them 
be  razed  and  blotted  quite ; 
Among  the  just  and  righteous 
let  not  their  names  be  writ." 

Ps  71.  V  13. 
"Confound,  consume  them  that  unto 
my  soul  are  enemies ; 
Cloth'd  be  they  with  reproach  and  shame 
that  do  my  hurt  devise." 

Ps  83.  V  4 
"Come  let  us  cut  them  off,  said  they, 
from  being  a  nation ; 
That  of  the  name  of  Isr'el  may 
no  more  be  mention." 


Ps  117 


276 

Ps  92.  V  3 

"On  a  ten-stringed  instrument 

upon  the  psaltery; 
And  on  the  harp  with  solemn  sound, 
and  grave  sweet  melody." 

Ps  98  V  5th  &  6th 
"With  harp,  with  harp,  and  voice  of  psalms, 
Unto  Jehovah  sing : 
With  trumpets,  cornets,  gladly  sound 
before  the  Lord  the  King." 

Ps  108.  V  9 
"Moab's  my  washing-pot;  my  shoe 
I'll  over  Edom  throw; 
Over  the  land  of  palestine 
I  will  in  triumph  go." 

1.  O  give  ye  praise  unto  the  Lord, 

all  nations  that  be; 
Likewise,  ye  people  all,  accord 
his  name  to  magnify, 

2.  For  great  to  us-ward  ever  are 

his  loving  kindnesses ; 
His  truth  endures  forever  more, 
The  Lord  O  do  ye  bless. 

Dr.  Watts"  version  of  the  same  psalm. 

I  "From  all  that  dwell  below  the  skies. 
Let  the  Creator's  praise  arise ; 
Let  the  Redeemer's  name  be  sung 
Through  every  land,  by  every  tongue. 

2.    Eternal  are  thy  mercies  Lord; 
Eternal  truth  attends  thy  word; 
Th)^  praise  shall  sound  from  shore  to  shore. 
Till  suns  shall  set  and  rise  no  more." 

Ps  137.  v  9 
Rouse.  "Yea,  happy  surely  shall  he  be, 

thy  tender  little  ones 
Who  shall  lay  hold  upon,  and  them 
shall  dash  against  the  stones." 

^See  article  "Dr.  Watts  not  a  Unitarian,"  vol.  IX,  p.  347,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 


•377 


"A  new  song  I  to  thee  will  sing, 
Lord  on  a  psaltery; 
I  on  a  ten-string'd  instrument 
Will  praises  sing  to  thee." 


Ps  144.  V  9 


Ps  149.  V  3 


"O  let  them  unto  his  great  name 
give  praises  in  the  dance; 
Let  them  with  timbrel  and  with  harp 
in  songs  his  praise  advance." 

Some  churches  belonging  to  our  General  Assembly  have  no 
objections  to  an  Organ  or  a  Bass  Viol  to  aid  the  music  in  pub- 
lic worship:  but  it  must  be  peculiar  to  the  Associate  Reformed 
Churches  to  have  a  whole  band  of  Music  and  a  dance  besides, 
as  in  the  following : 

Ps  150.  vs  3,  4th  &  5th 

3.  Praise  him  with  trumpet's  sound;  his  praise 

with  psaltery  advance : 

4.  With  timbrel  J  harp,  string' d  instruments ; 

and  organs  in  the  dance. 

5.  Praise  him  on  cymbals  loud ;  him  praise 

on  cymbals  sounding  high. 
Let  each  thing  brearthing  praise  the  Lord. 
Praise  to  the  Lord  give  ye. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  SMYTH, 

In  these  sheets  you  have  transcribed  by  Mr.  Stillman  a  few 
of  the  choice  flowers  of  Rouse's  version.  My  design  is  that 
these  several  extracts  should  be  accompanied  by  intervening 
remarks,  of  which  I  have  given  one  or  two  specimens. 

It  would  be  a  great  gratification  to  me  to  attend  Presbytery : 
but  under  present  circumstances  I  think  it  better  to  remain  at 
home.     My  best  respects  to  Mrs.  S.  and  Mr.  Adger's  family. 
With  christian  affection 
truly  yours 

A.  W.  LELAND. 

N.  B.  Let  this  be  published  as  appendix  to  my  articles  on 
Psalmody  when  printed.^ — T.  S. 

^This  request  was  overlooked  when  the  article  was  reprinted. 
—Ed. 


278 

ALLEGHENY  Jany  25.  18— 
REVEREND  &  DEAR  BROTHER, 

I  was  purposing  to  write  to  you  to  ask  of  you  the  favour  of 
such  a  recommendatory  notice  of  my  "Notes  on  the  Gospels" 
&  the  Questions  on  the  same,  as  you  may  feel  quite  free  to  give 
to  promote  their  use  in  the  Sabbath  Schools.  You  have  ex- 
pressed yourself  so  kindly  in  regard  to  them,  and  a  young  man 
who  ventures  to  comment  on  the  Scriptures  for  the  Churches 
has  so  fairly  to  furnish  vouchers,  that  in  this  peculiar  task  at- 
tended as  you  know  with  so  much  labour  &  expense,  I  may 
not  seem  obtrusive  or  selfish  I  hope  in  this  request.  I  am 
moved  to  it  the  rather  at  this  moment  because  of  receiving 
word  from  my  publisher  that  he  intends  issuing  a  circular  of 
the  very  favourable  notices  which  he  has  received. 

But  I  should  probably  have  let  pass  the  whole 

er  to  pur-     j^^^^gj-   now,  but  for  needing  to  write  you  of  our 

chase   Library.  /  '  _      o  j 

calamity  by  fire  of  which  you  have  doubtless 
heard.  Our  building  is  destroyed  &  we  are  without  a  house — 
Though  we  had  purposed  rebuilding  in  a  few  years,  we  were 
engaged  now  in  raising  Professors'  houses — &  in  the  midst  of 
this  effort  we  are  overtaken  by  this  immediate  and  serious 
demand.  Our  first  business  is  to  make  good  the  poor  students, 
some  of  whom  lost  everything  they  had  on  earth  to  lose  of 
temporal  effects.  What  shall  we  say  ?  Will  you  in  Charleston, 
move  singly  or  together  &  give  us  a  collection?  Our  Library 
too  is  seriously  broken  up.  I  wish  you  to  give  us  a  refusal 
of  your  Library,  at  such  amount  as  you  can  lowest  name. 

And  to  all  these  items  give  me  your  reply  my  dear  brother, 
at  the  earliest  moment.     The  Lord  reigneth. 

Yours  very  truly, 

M.  W.  JACOBUS. 
Rev  Dr.  Smythe. 

American  Tract  Society  Controversy  18^/  &  18^8. 

NEW  YORK,  July  9/57. 
REV.  DR.  SMYTH, 

RESPECTED  &  DEAR  SIR, 
Attitude  on  ^^  ^^^  7*^^  many,  many  obligations  for  your 

Slavery,  Am.  two  frank  &  esteemed  favors,  one  of  which,  we 
Tract  Soc.  understood  as  expressing  your  judgment  that 
neither  the  part  of  Dr.  Adger's  sermon,  nor  your  kind  letter, 

^The  fire  that  destroyed  the  buildings  of  the  theological  semi- 
nary at  Allegheny  occurred  in  the  winter  of  1854.  Dr.  Jacobus 
held  a  professorship  at  Allegheny  Seminary  until  1858. — Ed. 


279 

nor  any.  part  of  the  "Duties  of  Masters"*  ought  to  be  issued  in 
the  existing  state  of  things.  We  are  grateful  also  to  you  & 
your  Board  of  the  S.  C.  Branch,  partly  we  doubt  not  through 
your  influence,  for  their  calm  &  temperate  action. 

I  am  now  happy  to  state  that  our  publishing  Com.  have 
unanimously,  with  the  unanimous  sanction  of  our  Executive 
Committee,  laid  aside  the  "Duties  of  Masters" — assured  that 
no  publication  bearing  specifically  on  the  subject  of  Slavery  in 
any  of  its  aspects,  can  now  be  circulated  at  the  South.  I  have 
written  Mr.  Kerrison  informing  him  somewhat  more  fully  of 
this  decisive  action. 

What  we  have  to  say  to  sober  anti-slavery  men  at  the  North 
is  that  we  have  done  our  best  to  find  something  that  christians 
at  the  South  could  approve,  but  in  the  present  lamentable  col- 
lisions it  is  impracticable. 

With  great  respect  &  cordial  love, 
Yr.  Bro.  in  Christ, 
WM.  A.  HALLOCK,  Sec. 

NEW  YORK,  Dec.  14/57. 
REV.  DR.  SMYTH, 

RESPECTED  &  DEAR  SIR, 

We  have  received  &  carefully  examined  with  great  pleasure 
&  all  the  care  &  judgment  within  our  ability,  your  able  &  ex- 
cellent papers  for  the  New  York  Observer  on  the  shocking  and 
ruinous  position  taken  by  Dr.  Wayland.  It  has  been  ably 
reviewed  by  Chief  Justice  Shepley  of  Maine,  by  a  Clergyman 
of  Massachusetts  (Rev.  Joseph  Tracy)  &c.  but  your  article, 
as  by  a  Southern  Christian  &  appealing  to  his  brethren  at  the 
North  as  only  a  Southern  christian  can,  is  in  many  respects 
better  than  anything  we  have  seen  or  ourselves  written.  It  is 
just  the  thing  to  put  into  the  hands  of  a  speaker  who  is  to 
advocate  your  views,  &  ours  at  our  anniversary.  We  might 
talk  to  him  about  it,  but  yours  from  the  Southern  stand-point, 
reaches  the  heart,  &  makes  the  whole  subject  live  before  the 
reader.     *     *     * 

Yr.  Bro.  W.  A.  HALLOCK. 

^"Duties  of  Masters"  was  preached  by  Dr.  Thornwell  from  the 
text  Col.  IV:  i.  on  May  26,  1850,  at  the  opening  of  the  Anson 
Street  Chapel.  See  vol.  VIII,  p.  150,  Smyth's  Works.  The  other 
was  a  sermon  preached  by  Dr.  Adger  on  May  9,  1847,  "The 
Religious  instruction  of  the  Coloured  people,"  which  excited  great 
interest  in  all  denominations.  These  two  sermons  had  both  been 
published  at  the  South,  and  had  been  favourably  reviewed  by 
Dr.  Smyth.— Ed. 


280 

Dr.  Wayland's  position,  as  reviewed  by  Mr.  Tracy  in  the  N.  Y. 
Observer  of  Dec.  17,  1857,  was  that  all  members  of  evangelical 
churches  must  be  understood  by  the  Tract  Society  to  be  evangel- 
ical Christians,  and  that  as  tracts  on  "dancing,  theatrical  amuse- 
ments, intemperance,  lying,  and  perjury"  would  not  receive  the 
approbation  of  Church  members  who  erred  in  these  matters,  so 
tracts  on  slavery  were  not  welcome  to  such  as  sinned  in  that  way, 
but  were   none  the  less   to  be  published. 

In  many  letters  following  that  given  above,  Dr.  Hallock  refers 
to  a  letter  of  Dr.  Smyth's  published  in  the  Observer  under  the 
heading,  "Why  I  love  the  American  Tract  Soc,"  (See  vol.  IX,  p. 
451,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works.)  as  expressing  "kind  and  catholic  views." 
Dr.  Hallock  states  that  "what  the  Southern  brethren  ask"  is  what 
"the  Constitution  always  bound  us  to — you  and  we  are  one  against 
a  common  sectional  antagonist."  He  claims  that  their  views  are 
"the  same,  just  as  you  have  expressed  them"  and  congratulates  the 
Charleston  Branch  of  the  Society  on  its  position.  "Some  of  our 
ultra  papers  abuse  us  pretty  cordially  for  standing  by  our  Con- 
stitution but  all  right  &  truth  and  justice  bid  us  be  firm  and  im- 
moveable." "I  rest  assured  that  there  can  be  no  revolution  of 
the  Society  from  its  true,  catholic  basis.  I  believe  it  will  rest 
there  long  after  you  and  I  shall  have  done  with  time.  *  *  No 
friend  of  the  Society  has  done  more  than  yourself — at  once  to 
lull  alarm  at  the  South  and  to  show  the  fallacy  and  wrong  of  the 
violent  claims  of  the  ultra  men  North;  You  have  laid  the  Society 
under  a  debt  of  lasting  gratitude.  You  have  done  it  for  God,  & 
truth  &  He  will  graciously  accept  it  at  your  hands.  With  great 
respect  &  esteem.     Yours  in  Christ,  Wm.  A.  Hallock,  Sec." — Ed. 

COLUMBIA,  April  27,  1859. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

If  I  understand  a  curious  hieroglyphic  of  yours 
Articles  on       ^^  ^j^^  envelope,  you  ask  if  you  could  not  revise 

the   Trinity.  .    ^        i  ~    .     .         ,      ^ 

the  next  article  of  yours  on  Trinity  before  it  goes 
to  press.'  I  wish  you  had  proposed  this  in  time,  but  it  is  now 
too  late.  The  printer  is  pushing-  the  July  No.  on  as  fast  as 
possible  before  Court  meets  here,  for  he  will  be  much  occupied 
then,  with  their  printing.     Your  piece  will  go  to  him  at  once. 

^         ^         5^ 

I  owe  it  to  Augustine  to  say  to  you  and  to  Sister  M.  how 
much  he  helped  me  on  occasion  of  the  fire.'  I  wish  you  both 
joy  of  him- — I  see  great  and  steady  improvement  in  him. 

Your  aff.  Brother 

J.  B.  ADGER. 

^In  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Review,  see  vol.  IX,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 

®In  the  bedchamber  of  Mrs.  William  Adger,  who  lived  with 
Dr.  Adger.— Ed. 


281 

Friday  Night. 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

The  Revise  I  desiderated  was  of  the  proof  and  not  of  the 
MSS.       *     *     * 

Affec. 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

REVD  DR.  SMYTH 

DEAR  BROTHER, 

Dr.  Axson  Have    you     ever    publish'd     on    the    question 

concerning         whether  children,  the  Infant  offspring  of  Parents, 
Baptism.  neither  of  whom  are  Professors  of  Rehgion,  can 

legitimately  receive  the  Rite  of  Baptism?^ 

If  you  have  not,  can  you  put  me  in  the  way  of  getting  hold 
of  the  strongest  arguments  for  the  affirmative? 

So  far  as  I  have  been  educated,  &  so  far  as  I  have  thought 
upon  the  question  I  hold  the  negative. — ■ 

I  have  heard  recently  (&  authoritatively)  that  Revd  Dr. 
Kollock,  tho'  holding  the  current  creed  of  the  Presbyterian 
Chh :  on  this  point,  when  he  first  came  to  Savannah,  afterward 
changed  his  opinion  &  his  practice, — very  strongly  advocating 
the  right  of  children  to  Baptism,  irrespective  of  the  church 
connexion  of  their  parents — and  that  he  baptised  all  appli- 
cants.— 

There  are  several  such  applicants  now  on  hand  in  my  con- 
gregation—  But  with  my  present  views,  I  cannot  see  my  way 
clear  to  comply  with  their  request — 

Please  let  me  hear  from  you  on  this  point,  &  you  will  greatly 
oblige 

Yrs  most  truly 

I.  S.  K.  AXSON.  t 
SAVANNAH,  Fehy  24,  i860. 

EDINBURGH,  20  July,  i860. 
*  *  The  cordial  approval  you  have  given  of  the  proposal 
to  reprint  the  scarce  and  expensive  works  of  the  Puritan  Di- 
vines is  I  hope  a  sure  indication  that  in  the  States  as  well  as  in 
this  country  sufficient  encouragement  will  be  obtained  to  ensure 
the  accomplishment  of  the  object.     *     *     * 

'See  p.  249. — Ed. 

t  Pastor    of    the    Independent    Presbyterian    Church    of    Savan- 
nah.— Ed. 


•382 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  Engles'  to  ascertain  if  he  will  kindly 
act  as  agent  for  me.     *     * 

Very  faithfully  yours 
The  Rev.  fas.  Nichol. 

Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 

The  following  letter  is  bound  with  the  pamphlets  mentioned 
and  is  in  the  Smyth  Library. — Editor. 

REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D. 

CHARLESTON,  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 
ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  NORTHERN  ANTIQUITIES, 

COPENHAGEN,  April  21,  i860. 
Sir, 

In  a  letter  to  the  R.  S.  N.  A.  of  January  last  the 
Antiquides  ^^^-  Caleb  Davis  Bradlee,  after  having  given 
expression  to  his  satisfaction  at  witnessing  the 
sympathies  wherewith  our  Institute  embraces  the  studies, 
which  he  and  several  of  his  countrymen  are  pursuing  on  the 
Transatlantic  Continent,  invites  us  to  enter  into  closer  relations 
with  the  American  friends  of  historical  investigation  and 
research. 

On  the  list  of  his  collaborators  subjoined  by  him  your  hon- 
ored name  is  also  found. 

It  is  on  account  of  this  intimation  that  I  beg  leave  to  trans- 
mit to  you  on  account  of  our  Institute,  ''The  Northmen  in 
Iceland,"  a  Report  of  our  last  Anniversary  Meeting  at  the 
Palace  of  Christiansberg,  under  the  Presidency  of  His  Majesty 
the  King  of  Denmark,  an  Extract  from  the  Statutes  of  the 
Society,  and  Lists  in  Icelandic  or  Old  Northern  and  in  French 
of  its  Foundation  Fellows  or  "Membres  Fondateurs." 

Our  Society  as  you  will  remark,  having  made  the  illustration 
and  investigation  of  the  Ante-Columbian  History  of  America 
one  of  the  principal  objects  of  its  pursuits,  we  are  incessantly 
continuing  our  efforts  in  this  direction,  and  at  the  same  time 
we  cannot  but  be  extremely  pleased  at  witnessing  the  sym- 
pathy with  which  they  are  embraced  in  America. 

On  the  List  of  the  Fellows  of  our  Society  you  will  find  the 
names  of  more  distinguished  Americans. 

If  it  should  so  happen  that  you  also,  take  an  interest  in  the 
matters  which  form  the  scope  of  our  exertions,  it  will  give  us 
pleasure  to  propose  you  for  being  elected  a  Fellow  R.  S.  N.  A., 

^Probably  Joseph  P.  Engles,  Publishing  Agent  of  the.  Board  of 
Publication  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. — Ed. 


283 

and  should  the  proposal  meet  with  your  approbation,  we  beg 
to  be  favoured  with  your  full  name  with  the  view  to  the  prep- 
aration of  your  Diploma. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
Sir, 

your  obedient  Servant 
C.  C.  RAFN, 

Sec.  R.  S.  N.  A. 

Dr.  J.  Wm.  Flinn  in  an  Editorial  Note  in  "Theo- 
The  Eldership  ^.-^^^  ^f  ^-^^  Eldership,"  vol.  IV,  p.  278,  Smyth's  Works, 
contest,     i860.  .  ,,_,,        ....  ,. 

says  in  part:      Ihe  following  discussion  was  written 

.  in  the  years  i860  and  1861.  *  *  Drs.  J.  H.  Thornwell  and  John 
B.  Adger,  frequently  mentioned  in  the  discussion,  were  Professors 
in  the  Columbia  Theological  Seminary.  Drs.  Smyth  and  Adger 
were  brothers-in-law.  The  debate  in  the  Southern  Church  on 
these  subjects  continuing  until  about  1878,  was  a  battle  between 
giants.  Dr.  Smyth  was  the  leader  on  one  side.  He  showed  him- 
self a  skillful  warrior,  mighty  and  well-armed.  Many  believe 
that  though  the  votes  were  finally  against  him,  he  won  the  vic- 
tory on  the  field  of  truth  and  history  for  the  theory  he  defended." 
Dr.  Dabney*  was  the  leader  of  the  opposite  party. 

Dr.  Smyth's  first  work  on  the  Eldership  was  published  in  1836 
and  in  1845  he  added  to  this;  as  shown  by  Dr.  Hodge's  letters 
his  point  of  view  was  the  same  as  Dr.  Smyth  who  claims  to  agree 
also  with  Dr.  Samuel  Miller  on  most  points.  Dr.  Adger  goes  into 
some  discussion  of  his  views  in  his  volume  "My  Life  and  Times," 
p.  387,  etc. — Editor. 

PRINCETON,  Dec.  22,  1859. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  been  so  much  pressed  of  late  that  I  have  fallen  sadly 
in  arrears  with  my  letters.  As  your  proposed  contribution  to 
the  Princeton  Review  was  too  late  for  the  January  Number,  I 
felt  the  less  urged  to  answer  your  letter  immediately.  We 
shall  be  glad  to  receive  &  publish  your  article,  if,  as  you  say, 
it  is  in  accordance  with  our  past  deliverances.  It  of  course 
would  not  do,  to  come  out  on  'both  sides  of  the  same  question. 
To  let  you  know  how  one  branch  of  the  subject  lies  in  my 
mind,  I  inclose  a  little  pamphlet  written  some  eight  or  ten  years 
ago-— 

"Robert  L.  Dabney  D.  D.,  a  Virginian,  Prof,  of  Ch.  Hist., 
and  Government  in  Union  Seminary,  Va.  He  was  "Stonewall" 
Jackson's   chaplain. — Ed. 


284 

All  I  can  say  about  your  son  is  that  all  interested  in  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  will  be  g'lad  to  welcome  him  to  Prince- 
ton. 

very  sin'ly  your  friend 

CHARLES  HODGE." 
Rev.  Thorn.  Smyth  D.  D. 

PRINCETON,  Jan  i8,  i860. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

You  must  excuse  my  remissness  in  answering  your  letter. 
I  have  mighty  little  time  at  my  command.  You  can  forward 
your  article  to  me  as  soon  as  ready  through  Mr.  Peter  Walker, 
821  Chestnut  St.,  and  arrange  with  him  about  the  printing  and 
proof  sheets. 

Dr.  Hodge's  ^hc  little  article  signed  Geneva  was  never 
pamphlet,  printed  in  the  Repertory.     It  was  written  in  com- 

Geneva.  pliancc  with  the  wishes  of  a  friend,  who  requested 

me  to  give  him  in  the  compass  of  a  letter  my  views  of  the 
Eldership.  Dr  Boardman  happened  to  see  it,  and  had  it  printed 
and  circulated  at  the  time  the  Assembly  met  at  Louisville.  I 
had  nothing  to  do  either  with  the  printing  or  the  circulation 
of  it. 

Your  friend  etc 

CHARLES  HODGE. 

COLUMBIA,  Jan  28,  i860 
MY  DEAR  BRO. 

You  ask  whether  I  think  Rothe  has  proved  that 
r.     owe  on    ^j^    Seniores  of  the  North  African  Church  were 

Eldership. 

civil  or  municipal  magistrates.  I  have  read  over 
what  Rothe  says  with  care,  but  before  I  could  say  what  I  think 
he  has  proved  I  shoiild  read  the  passages  he  has  quoted  from 
the  Fathers,  in  their  connection  and  from  my  own  judgment  of 

"Dr.  Charles  Hodge  "the  gracious,"  is  spoken  of  as  a  "man  of 
massive  learning  and  sound  exegesis,"  fully  abreast  of  all  the  dis- 
cussions and  problems  of  his  time,  but  above  all  a  man  through 
whom  the  love  of  Christ  shone  upon  all  who  came  in  contact  with 
him;  that  "his  class  room  was  a  place  of  worship."  He  was  the 
third  professor  in  Princeton  Seminary  and  continued  his  work 
there  for  fifty-two  years,  with  two  sons  to  take  it  up  after  him. 
The  little  pamphlet  of  which  he  speaks  was  his  "Geneva."  Dr. 
Hodge  was  the  editor  of  the  "Biblical  Repertory"  or  "Princeton 
Review."  Dr.  Smyth's  son,  Augustine,  was  to  have  gone  to 
Princeton  College  after  a  time  at  the  South  Carolina  College,  but 
the  war  changed  these  plans. — Ed. 


385 

what  these  passages  mean/  *  *  In  all  these  passages  he 
says  "the  Seniores  are  without  controversy  laymen,  because 
they  are  distinguished  from  the  clergy,  and  in  part  set  over 
against  them;  they  are  evidently  no  other  than  the  civil  magis- 
trates of  the  parish  (or  Congregation)  and  the  respected  mem- 
bers of  the  same  in  general,  and  as  such  expressly  designated 
by  the  predicate  nohilissimi."  p.  237. 

I  confess  seeing  these  last  extracts  only  in  their  isolation  as 
here  presented,  I  should  form  a  judgment  otherwise,  and  be- 
lieve them  men  holding  office  in  the  Church  as  such,  ecclesias- 
tical rather  than  civil  rulers.     *     *     * 

I  can  do  nothing  further  without  making  these  quotations 
matters  of  special  study  in  the  connection  in  which  you  stand. 
And  I  am  afraid  I  have  kept  you  too  long  waiting  already. 

Yours  truly 

GEO.  HOWE. 

PRINCETON  Feh.  10.  i860. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

The  only  objection  which  I  have  to  your  plan  about  the 
Elder-Ship  discussion,  is  that  is  so  extended — &  makes  such 
distinct  reference  to  Dr,  Miller,  I  do  not  think  it  would  be 
decorous  or  proper  for  the  Princeton  Review  to  directly  con- 
trovert his  positions.  I  did  not  contemplate  this.  If  done 
indirectly  without  mentioning  his  name  or  bringing  distinctly 
before  the  public  mind  the  discrepancy  between  his  views  & 
ours,  there  would  be  less  objection.  He  was  very  much  hurt 
by  the  printing  of  the  little  pamphlet  "Geneva"  a  copy  of 
which  was  sent  you — although  it  was  not  formally  published — 
or  ever  recognized  as  coming  from  Princeton.  I  have  a  very 
tender  regard  for  the  dear  old  gentleman's  memory,  &  I  do 
not  like  to  do  any  thing  when  he  is  dead  which  would  give  him 
pain  if  living.  It  is  however  only  the  personal  bearing  of 
your  argument  which  I  object  to —  As  it  has  grown  to  such 
length  would  it  not  be  better  and  more  effective  to  make  a 
book  of,  at  once. — > 

The  death  of  Dr.  Addison""  has  overwhelmed  us  in  affliction. 
It  was  entirely  unexpected.  The  papers  will  give  you  more 
particulars  than  I  can  write. 

Very  truly  your  friend 

CHARLES  HODGE. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

^Dr.  Howe  here  gives  many  careful  references  and  quotations 
from  Rothe's   argument. — Ed. 

"Dr.  Addison  Alexander,  son  of  Dr.  Archibald  Alexander. — Ed. 


286 

Different  ^^-    Smyth's    reason    for    quoting    Dr.    Miller    was 

views  held  that  his  Opponent,  Dr.  Dabney,  claimed  to  agree  ab- 
of  the  solutely  with   Dr.   Miller,   and   Dr.   Smyth   considered 

Eldership.  j^    essential    to    disprove    this.      Dr.    Miller    used    the 

name  "Presbyter"  as  a  generic  term  for  both  ministers  and  elders, 
but  specifically  or  singularly  for  ministers,  recognizing  the  latter 
as  a  superior  class  of  the  same  order,  clothed  as  ministers  with 
all  the  power  given  for  the  government  of  the  Church.  He 
speaks  of  them  as  "clergy"  and  of  the  elders  as  "laity,"  denying 
the  right  of  the  elder  to  impose  hands  in  the  ordination  of  a 
minister  (see  "Christian  Ministry,"  Phila.  1840,  p.  74.)  but  main- 
taining this  right  in  the  ordination  of  other  elders. 

Dr.  Hodge  and  Dr.  Smyth  considered  the  office  of  the  Pres- 
byter or  minister  as  higher  and  of  earlier  appointment,  clothed 
with  all  authority;  the  elders  representatives  chosen  by  the  peo- 
ple, known  generically  as  "Presbyters,"  but  having  no  specific 
claim  to  that  name,  and  having  no  right  to  impose  hands  in  the 
ordination  of  a  minister.  Dr.  Smyth  states  that  while  he  has 
followed  Dr.  Miller's  views  in  the  ordination  of  elders  by  imposi- 
tion of  hands,  as  well  as  prayer,  he  can  find  no  precedent. 

Dr.  Dabney,  with  Drs.  Thornwell  and  Adger,  considered  the 
Ruling  elder  as  instituted  first  and  the  preacher  a  development  of 
this  office,  an  elder  with  the  preaching  function;  that  the  elder 
should  take  part,  not  only  in  the  ordination  of  an  elder,  but  in  the 
imposition  of  hands  in  the  ordination  of  a  minister.  That  both 
officers   were    equally   "Presbyters." 

Dr.  Smyth's  "Theories  of  the  Eldership"  gives  all  possible  ref- 
erences; Dr.  Miller's  "Christian  Ministry"  and  "Ruling  Elders" 
with  Dr.  Hodge's  "Church  Polity"  show  their  opinions. — Editor.^ 

NEWBERRY,  May  i,  i860. 
DEAR  DOCTOR, 

Chancellor  ^  ^^ng  to  cxpress  to  you  the  grateful  sense  which 

Johnston  on  I  feel  for  the  great  kindness  of  yourself  and  Mrs. 
the  Eldership,  g^iyth  ou  my  two  last  visits  to  Charleston,  in 
calling  for  me  and  taking  me  to  your  church,  to  which,  from 
the  present  state  of  my  health,  I  could  not  have  gone  but  for 
your  assistance.  It  was  too  far  for  me  to  have  walked.  I  do 
regard  it  as  a  great  privilege  to  attend  that  church,  rendered 
dear  to  me  by  so  many  associations.  It  was  the  church  of  Mr. 
Adger  and  his  family,  and  many  old  friends,  and  it  was  the 
church  of  such  portions  of  my  family  as  lived  in  Charleston, 
until  they  turned  away  from  the  worship  of  their  fathers,  and 
annexed  themselves  to  the  baptists, — from  which  nothing  but 
evil  has  accrued  to  them"  and  theirs, 

^The  editor  must  apologize  for  awkwardness  in  the  definitions 
given  above,  but  believes  them  accurate. 


28T 

I  trust  that  I  am  actuated  by  no  narrow  and  sectarian  spirit, 
when  I  declare  that  I  still  adhere,  with  my  whole  heart,  to  the 
organization  of  the  Scottish  reformers;  those  blessed  men,— 
some  of  my  ancestors  among  the  rest, — for  example,  Waring- 
ton  and  others,  who  laid  the  foundations  of  Liberty,  civil  and 
religious,  in  the  sure  ground  of  Bible  Truth;  and  giving  all 
merely  human  institutions  to  the  winds,  committed  them  solely, 
bodies  and  estates, — themselves  and  their  children, — to  the  gov- 
ernment of  God  and  to  the  grace  of  God,  as  He  makes  Himself 
known  in  revelation.  O,  for  more  of  the  spirit  of  such  men ! 
O,  that  their  mantle  could  only  fall  on  those  who  take  the  lead 
in  society  and  in  the  church  in  these  degenerate  days !  Well 
would  it  be,  if  this  spirit  actuated  society  in  the  present  day. 
(Have  you  any  idea,  by  the  way,  that  such  a  nest  of  vagabond 
politicians  as  met  the  other  day  and  is  perhaps,  still  in  session 
in  your  city,  (in  the  Sing-Sing  convention,! )  could  have  had 
an  existence  among  such  a  people?) 

I  have  read  with  much  pleasure  your  article  in  the  Prince- 
ton Review.  I  see  not  how  it  is  to  be  answered.  It  seerns  to 
me  to  exhibit  the  true  vipw  of  the  question.  The  confounding 
the  merely  lay  rulers  of  congregations,  appointed  by  them,  with 
the  clergy  appointed  by  the  higher  courts  of  the  church  with 
distinct  and  higher  functions,  by  assigning  to  both  classes  the 
same  grade  and  order,  does  appear  to  me  not  only  a  contradic- 
tion of  the  views  of  the  Scottish  reformers,  and  of  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Bible,  but  of  common  sense.  As  you  say,  the 
fundamental  principle  involved  in  the  dissemination  of  the 
Gospel  is  preaching  and  not  ruling.  The  normal  idea  is  that 
the  Gospel  is  sent  ab  astra  to  a  people  destitute  of  it.  They 
have  no  church  to  govern :  but  are,  first,  to  receive  the  gospel 
and  theji  become  organized.  It  is  only  after  the  gospel  is  im- 
planted that  organization,  and  of  course  government,  begins. 
When  the  Presbyter,  (the  minister,)  is  called  by  the  organized 
body,  to  take  the  oversight  of  them,  he  thereby  becomes  a  ruler 
am.ong  them.  This  makes  him  a  ruler  in  the  congregation,  by 
its  own  choice.  In  this  latter  capacity,  and  in  the  same  way, 
he  becomes  colleague  with  the  elders  whom  they  choose.  It  is 
only  in  this  particular  that  a  parity  exists  between  the  two 
classes.  This  is  my  view  of  the  matter :  and  I  believe  it  to  be 
the  view  of  Presbyterians  abroad,  and  generally  at  home. 

The  elders  when  deputized  to  represent  their  congregations 
in  the  higher  courts,  act  in  those  courts  only  as  representatives 
of  these  congregations.  Of  course,  when  sitting  there,  they 
have  a  voice  and  a  vote  in  the  proceedings  of  the  body ;  and, 

t  The  Democratic  Convention;  see  account  given  later. — Ed. 


288 

among  other  things  upon  the  licensing  or  censure  or  deposition 
of  ministers.  And  they  may  vote  upon  the  ordaining  of  a 
minister.  But  to  take  part  in  the  ritual  of  ordination  is  no  part 
of  their  function :  and  my  blood  runs  cold  when  I  see  them,  as 
I  have  seen  them,  join  in  the  laying  on  of  hands,  &c. 

In  all  this  I  may  be  wrong,  but  these  are  my  sentiments. 

On  the  Elder  Question,  which  agitated  the  church  in  this 
country  some  years  ago,  I  thought,  and  still  think,  there  was 
much  misplaced  excitement. —  Each  congregation  is  entitled, — 
if  it  chooses, — to  be  represented.  And  this  is  enough,  in  all 
reason,  to  secure  the  interests  and  safety  of  the  congregations. 
— of  the  people,  or  laos.  They  cannot  be  oppressed  unless  by 
their  own  neglect.  And  if  a  measure  injurious  to  them  should 
pass  at  a  presbytery  in  which  they  are  not  represented,  they 
have  only  to  take  the  alarm,  send  delegates  to  the  next,  and 
revise,  or  rescind  it.  What  more  can  be  demanded  by  them? 
That  they  should  claim  to  annihilate  a  presbytery,  by  the  mere 
vis  inertia  of  staying  away,  is  preposterous.  Can  they  ex- 
tinguish the  church  in  this  way  ?  In  a  region  of  country  where 
there  are  no  churches,  (and  of  course  no  elders)  surely  min- 
isters may  meet  as  a  presbytery :  and,  after  congregations  have 
sprung  up,  do  they  become  possessed  by  the  singular  privilege 
of  stopping  the  wheels  of  the  church,  and  taking  away  the 
rights  of  the  ministers  by  either  wilfully  or  negligently  ab- 
staining from  exercising  their  own? 

There  is  one  point  in  which  I  would  with,  deference,  differ 
from  what  I  understand  to  be  a  view  entertained  by  some  lead- 
ing men  in  the  church :  and  that  is  in  relation  to  the  tenure  of 
elders.  I  abhor  democracy  in  all  its  aspects :  and  would  not 
willingly  assent  to  the  periodical  election  of  elders.  It  would 
produce  evil,  and  only  evil,  continually.  Give  me  a  stable  rep- 
resentative government.  But  none  of  your  democracy,  or  Con- 
gregationalism in  church  or  state. 

I  believe  that  the  Congregationalism  of  New  England  is 
father  to  all  the  anarchy  of  which  we  have  had  such  bitter 
experience  in  the  civil  affairs  of  this  state  for  so  many  years, 
and  of  which  I  see  no  happy  end.  The  Independents  of  Eng- 
land ruined  the  noble  struggle  for  popular  government  there 
and  I  fear, — I  think  I  see, — that  the  Independents  of  New- 
England  are  ruining  the  noblest  structure  of  government  ever 
possessed  by  man,  in  America.  Lord  grant  that  I  may  be 
mistaken ! 

Dear  doctor,  I  find  that  I  have  inflicted  a  long  letter  upon 
you.  It  is  a  little  singular  that  one  so  averse  as  I  am  to  letter 
writing,  should  have  done  such  a  thing.     Perhaps  it  is  upon 


289 

the  principle  that  the  laziest  man  when  he  gets  to  work  does 
the  most, — or  that  the  biggest  coward,  when  hemmed,  fights 
hardest.  I  leave  you  to  decide;  and  quit  by  assuring  you  that 
I  am  ever 

Yrs.  truly—  J.  JOHNSTON. 

I  fear  you  can  not  decypher  this  scrawl,  but  I  can't  write 
plainer. 

At  the  General  Assembly  of  i860  in  Rochester  New  York,  there 
was  witnessed  a  mighty  dispute  between  Dr.  Hodge  and  Dr.  Thorn- 
well  on  the  question  of  Missionary  Boards  and  Church  Govern- 
ment. Dr.  Smyth  was  unfortunately  not  present.  The  debate 
lasted  four  days.  Dr.  Hodge's  views  were  those  advanced  by 
Dr.  Smyth  in  his  writings.  He  refused  to  admit  that  church  or- 
ganization was  a  part  of  our  revealed  religion  to  be  considered 
essential  to  Christianity,  but  held  that  the  church  must  develop 
with  the  progress  of  the  ages. — Editor. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  PRINCETON,  May  12,  i860. 

Your  interesting  and  instructive  article  on  the 
T>i,r^.  '^'-    ^'   eldership  I  am  sorry  to  learn  has  given  offense  to 

Miller  s  views.  r  j  o 

some  of  Dr.  Miller's  family.  They  feel  very  sen- 
sitive on  the  subject  of  his  opinions  and  are  pained  to  have  his 
doctrines  controverted  in  the  Princeton  Reviezv.  I  did  not  see 
your  Ms.  before  it  went  to  press,  &  think  that  it  would  have 
been  better  to  have  omitted  all  mention  of  Dr.  Miller's  name 
&  all  quotations  from  his  book.  The  whole  discussion,  could 
have  been  carried  on  as  well  without  as  with  such  reference. 
I  hope  you  will  follow  the  plan  of  not  mentioning  him  or 
quoting  from  him  in  what  remains.  It  would  be  very  desirable 
on  all  accounts  if  you  condense  into  40  pag'^s  all  you  have 
still  to  say.  The  article  is  made  much  longer  than  is  necessary 
for  the  full  exhibition  of  your  views  by  the  number  of  quota- 
tions &  references.- — • 

Very  truly  your  friend 

CHARLES  HODGE. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

From  Mr.  Walker  the  publisher — 
Article  on  Eldership. 

821  CHESTNUT  ST,  PHIL. 

REV  DR  SMYTH,  "^^^^^  "'  ^^^°- 

DR.  SR. 
I  send  you  proof  of  the  first  four  pages  of  your  article, 
which  please  return  as  soon  as  you  can. 

[19] 


290 

^^   jj^^  As  3^our  article  has  caused  some  commotion  Dr. 

Rochester  ^^  Hodge  requested  me  to  send  him  the  MS.  and  has 
had  it  with  him  at  Rochester  during  the  Assembly. 
Notwithstanding  Dr.  McGill's  regrets  he  has  returned  it  to  me 
without  any  alteration.  I  think  these  gentlemen  do  not  under- 
stand themselves,  and  I  believe  when  they  fairly  get  a  clear 
belief  it  will  be  only  what  your  article  teaches.'  I  hope  this 
discussion  will  cause  it  to  be  read  generally. 

Respectfully  yours, 

PETER  WALKER. 

*  *  Dr.  Hodge  intends  to  add  a  note  to  the  article  saying 
that  he  cordially  agrees  with  you  that  ministers  and  ruling 
elders  are  not  one  in  office,  *  *  and  has  no  doubt  that  the 
articles  will  prove  of  permanent  value.     *     * 

PETER  WALKER. 
Received  from  Mr.  Walker,  Publisher  of  the  Review,  at  Rock- 
bridge, Oct.  p,  i860,  with  proofs. 

PENDLETON,  Aug  6,  i860. 
DEAR  BR. 

Proposed  Your  notc  of  June  28  I  would  have  answered 

Semi-centen-  sooucr  if  I  had  fclt  prepared  to  say  either  yes  or 
niai  of  Second  ^o  to  your  proposal.  I  am  really  not  vet  prepared 
to  say  either.  If  you  go  on  &  go  through  with 
your  programme*  I  should  hate  to  be  the  only  one  missing,  and 
yet  for  several  reasons  I  do  not  see  my  way  clear  to  engage 
that  I  will  be  present.  One  difficulty  I  feel  arises  from  my 
great  repugnance  to  every  thing  like  display.  I  find  it  grows 
on  me.  Another  difficulty  is  the  number  &  the  pressure  of  my 
engagements  which  leave  me  never  at  leisure. 

I  will  say  frankly  that  I  do  not  fancy  the  idea  of  the  monu- 
ment." 

Smith  &  English  are  sending  me  a  package  of  books  in  a 
box  to  you.  If  sister  M.  can  bring  them  up  with  her  I  shall . 
be  glad — but  I  do  not  want  to  trouble  her  too  much.  I  would 
almost  as  soon  they  remained  at  your  home  till  I  get  back  to 
Columbia.  They  are  portions  of  Calvin's  works  to  complete 
my  set. 

*Dr.  Smyth  was  very  busy  at  this  time  planning  the  celebration 
of  the  Semi-Centennial  of  Second  Presbyterian  Church. — Ed. 

^This  is  apparently  a  reference  to  the  monument  which  was  to 
have  been  raised  to  the  founders  of  the  church  by  one  of  the  col- 
lections proposed  as  part  of  the  programme  mentioned  above. 
See  "Exercises  connected  with  the  One  Hundredth  Anniversary 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,"  page  40. — Ed. 


291 

We  are  corresponding  about  the  newspaper  *  *  My  idea 
is  that  besides  what  it  costs  to  buy,  we  shall  need  some  little 
capital  to  begin  with- — say  $5000.  Is  that  so?  And  is  that 
too  much?     *     *     * 

Can  you  give  me  any  useful  hints?  Can  you  get  us  any 
stockholders  ?    How  many  new  subscribers  can  you  get  us  ? 

I  am  reviewing  your  two  articles.     Shall  do  it 

ers  ip.  honestly  &  earnestly,  but  kindly,  I  hope,  &  in  a 

way  that  can  not  hurt  your  feelings,  except  as  I  may  succeed  in 
shewing  you  to  be  in  the  wrong.  By  the  way  there  is  a  very 
striking  similarity  of  thought  &  even  expression  in  Dr.  Hodge's 
last  article- — the  one  on  Presbyterianism — &  also  in  his  speeches 
in  the  Assembly,  to  some  of  your  paragraphs.  He  appears  to 
me  to  borrow  from  you  very  freely.  Unfortunately  so  far  as 
I  am  able  to  judge — it  is  just  where  you  are  yourself  wrong 
that  he  has  adopted  your  ideas  &  your  very  words. 

When  do  you  go  to  the  Springs?  Gus  has  just  been  here 
on  a  message.     All  well. 

Yours  very  truly, 

JNO.  B.  ADGER. 

NEWBERRY,  Sept  3,  i860. 
DEAR  DOCTOR, 
„,       ,,  I  received  some  time  ago  your  little  volume  of 

Chancellor  _  s 

Johnston  on      the  Well  in  the  Valley.      *     *     Sickness   in  my 
"Well  in     ^^      family,  by  which  we  lost  our  youngest  child,  im- 
^^'        peded    not    only    the    examination    of    the    little 
volume,  but  all  epistolary  correspondence  on  my  part. 

To  say  that  I  am  pleased  v/ith  it  would  be  a  very  faint  ex- 
pression of  my  opinion.  *  *  j  entirely  agree  to  all  you  have 
said  on  the  Eldership  in  the  Princeton  Review,  and  long  to  see 
what  you  have  yet  to  say  about  it. 

Solace  for  ''^y  poor  wifc  is  much  prostrated  by  the  loss  of 

Bereaved  her  swcct  nursHug.     I  really  have  apprehension;? 

Parents.  ^]^j^^  ]-^gj.  j^galth  may  suffer.     I  should  like  to  place 

in  her  hands  a  copy  of  your  Bereaved  Parents  Comforted,'  but 
our  little  book  store  does  not  contain  it.  I  would  feel  much 
obliged  to  you  for  a  copy.     *     * 

Sincerely  dear  Doctor, 

I  am  your  friend  and  admirer 
Dr.  T.  Smyth,  J.  JOHNSTON. 

Charleston. 

'See  vol.  VIII,  p.  395.  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
'See  vol.  X,  p.  141,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


292 

WOODBURY,  N.  J. 

REV.  &  DEAR  SIR.  ^^^^  ^^-  ^" 

We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Jos.  M.  Wilson,  that 
CaTerhism"^^^  you  havc  intimated  to  him  a  readiness  to  give  the 
Presbyterian  Historical  Society  the  plates  of  your 
Ecclesiastical  Catechism.^  I  am,  therefore,  directed  by  the 
Ex.  Com.  to  write  to  you  on  the  subject.  Will  you  favor  me 
with  a  line  informing  me  as  to  your  view  in  the  matter,  &  the 
precise  nature  &  conditions  of  your  proposed  transfer. 

This  matter  would  have  received  earlier  attention  but  for 
successive  failures  of  a  quorum  of  the  committee,  &  a  pro- 
tracted indisposition,  from  which  I  am  just  beginning  to  feel 
myself  relieved. 

With  grateful  acknowledgments  of  your  kind  intention  to- 
ward our  society,  I  am 

Yours  truly, 

SAMUEL  J.  BAIRD 

Cor.  Secy.  Presb.  Hist.  Soc. 

SAN  FRANCISCO. 
MY  DEAR  BRO.  ^9  Oct,  i860. 

I  have  your  note  &  return  many  thanks  for  it  & 

The    Well    in       ^^^    a^j^^   ^^^■^yy       j^   ^^^    -^^^    ^^^^    ^^    ^^^^        q^^ 
the    Valley.  ... 

willing,  I  will  give  it  attention  next  month.  I 
have  no  doubt  I  shall  be  pleased  with  it.  The  remembrance  of 
you  is  always  pleasant.  I  wish  you  would  visit  us — ^Come  and 
spend  next  summer  with  us. 

Prese/it  me  kindly  to  the  ladies — all — &  to  your  family — & 
Dr.  Adger.  Pray  for  these  ends  of  the  earth,  &  for  me.  God's 
blessing  be  with  you  forever. 

Youis  affectionately  in  toil  for  Christ's  crown  &  kingdom. 

W.  A.  SCOTT. 

BETHEL  RIVER  P.  O. 
YORK  DIS'T  S.  C. 
TO  DOCTOR  SMYTH:  Jan  26.  1861. 

REV  &  DEAR  SIR, 
I  hope  you  will  pardon  the  liberty  I  take  of  addressing  this 
note  to  you. 

It  is  simply  to  express  to  you  the  gratification 
Eldership.  which  I  havc  received  from  reading  your  articles 

on  the  Elder  Question  in  the  Repertory,  &  also  those,  thus  far, 

^Dr.  Smyth's  note  to  this  is  "Mistake."  He  wished  them  to 
republish  the  Ecclesiastical  Catechism,  not  to  give  the  plates. 
They  did  not  undertake  it. — Ed. 


393 

in  the  N.  C.  Presbyterian.  I,  &  many  others  doubtless,  are 
placed  under  lasting-  obligations  for  your  able  &,  I  think,  un- 
answerable defence  of-  Dr.  Miller,  against  the  advocates  of  this 
New  Theory.  I  heard  all  Dr.  M-s  Lectures — have  copious 
notes  of  the  same,  his  Book  on  the  Eldership,  &c;  and  it  was 
a  surprise  to  me  that  they  should  claim  him  &  will  be  now  to 
others  who  may  read  your  article.  I  regret  that  these  Articles 
will  not  be  seen  by  many  in  this  part  of  our  church  In  this 
section  where  I  was  born  &  in  adjacent  churches  in  N.  C.  where 
I  labored  for  a  Dozen  years,  I  presume  it  never  entered  the 
minds  of  Ministers  or  people  until  a  few  years  ago,  that  Elders 
were  Ministers!  And  where  this  idea  is  now  entertained,  it 
has  not  been  derived  from  the  Bible,  or  the  Confession  of 
Faith,  or  our  Form  of  Government. 

It  is  to  your  kindness  I  presume  that  I  am  indebted  for  the 
Numbers  containing  those  Articles.  For  this  I  thank  you. 
Having  one  son  in  Davidson  College  &  anothei  in  the  Semi- 
nary at  Columbia  I  cannot  indulge  in  the  purchase  of  Book  or 
the  luxury  of  reading,  even  religious  Periodicals  to  any  extent. 

That  your  Life  &  Health  may  long  be  continued  &  that  you 
may  yet  do  much  for  the  Building  up  of  the  Kingdom  of  our 
common  Lord,  is  the  prayer  of  your  fellow  Laborer 

S.  L.  WATSON.' 

FAYETTEVILLE  N.  C.  14  Feb.  1861. 
REV.  THOS.  SMYTH  D.  D.  CHARLESTON : 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  have  just  laid  down  the  N.  C.  Presbyterian 
^"  '^'  of  today  after  perusing  the  last  of  the  Series  of 
Articles  on  the  Eldership  from  your  pen.  Ten  thousand 
thanks  to  you  for  these  well  digested  Scriptural  articles.  You 
have  done  a  great  &  good  work.  The  article  in  the  Princeton 
Review  I  have  not  seen ;  being  a  country  Pastor  my  means  are 
too  scanty  to  subscribe  for  that  excellent  quarterly.  When 
the  first  two  articles  of  Dr.  Dabney  appeared  in  the  columns 
of  the  N.  C.  P.  I  saw  at  once  that  our  Church  was  drifting 
from  her  anchorage,  and  dreaded  the  effects  of  his  letters  upon 
our  Sion.  I  told  Bro.  McNeil,  one  of  the  Editors,  that  Dr. 
Dabney 's  theory  of  the  Eldership  was  entirely  wrong.  That 
if  Dr.  D's  views  were  correct  all  our  Elders  may  demand  a 
seat  ex  officio  in  our  Presbyteries  and  Synods  as  well  as  our 
Ministers.  I  am  a  Scotchman  by  birth  &  education  and  I  told 
Bro  Mac  that  Dr.  D's  new  light  theory  ignored  that  of  the 

*Rev.  Samuel  Lytle  Watson,  a  graduate  of  Princeton  in  1826. 
One  of  the  pillars  of  Presbyterianism  in  South   Carolina. — Ed. 


294 

Scotch  &  Irish  Presbyterian  Churches,  as  you  well  observed. 
Your  arguments  are  sound,  logical,  and  better  still  Scriptural, 
and  like  the  Derry  boys  unconquerable.  Your  besiegers  may 
sound  a  retreat,  for  you  have  zvon  the  battle. 

Returning  from  Synod  last  fall,  many  of  the  members  were 
with  me  on  the  cars  &  these  half  fledged  theologians,  who 
perhaps  have  never  spent  an  hour  in  chewing  the  cud  on  the 
subject,  began  to  applaud  Dr.  D's  theory  as  the  sine  qua  non 
view  of  all  that  have  been  written  on  the  subject.  I  listened 
till  my  Scotch  temper  could  bear  no  longer.  "Brethren,"  I 
said,  "  the  O.  S.  Presbyterian  Church  has  not  yet  come  up  to 
the  scripture  standard  for  they  had  Deaconnesses.  We  want 
that  office  introduced  into  our  Churches.  Our  Deacons  are 
not  now  the  deacons  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem.  The  func- 
tions of  the  office  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  the  twelve 
Jerusalem  Deacons  :  neither  are  our  Elders  according  to  Dr. 
Dabney,  the  Elders  of  the  Apostolic  Churches."  "He  is  a 
Scotchman,"  said  one  of  the  party,  "and  his  Scottish  views 
will  not  do  in  this  country."  I  was  much  afraid  that  no  one 
would  enter  the  field  with  Dr.  Dabney,  but  no  sooner  did  I 
see  your  name  in  the  N.  C.  Presbyterian  than  I  felt  satisfied 
that  justice  would  be  done  to  the  subject,  and  the  professor's 
theory  would  vanish  like  smoke  before  the  Old  Scottish  theory. 
There  are  many  who  will,  nay,  who  do  hold  your  views  in  our 
Synod. 

Your  brother  m  the  Gospel 

J.  C.  SINCLAIR. 

REV.  T.  SMYTH  D.  D. 

MEETING  STREET. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  regret  that  I  had  not  a  copy  of  the  Psalm  Book  to  send 

you  on  receipt  of  your  note.    I  have  just  received  it — and  I  beg 

your  acceptance  of  it.  ^r  ■  i 

•^  ^  Yours  smcerely 

JOHN  FORREST.' 
CHARLESTON.  January  lo,  1862. 

SAVANNAH. 

]jgc  20 — 
REV'D  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  favor  in  sending  the  Manuscript  of  the 
Dr.  Axson  on    ^^^.j^  ^^  Baptism,   I  thankfully  acknowledge.     I 

Baptism.  ^,  .  .  ,  .,    J  J., 

will  take  much  care  of  it  and  return  it  to  you  after 
a  while.     I  hope  there  will  be  an  opportunity  for  putting  it  to 
'The    Scottish    pastor    of    'the    First    Presbyterian    Church    of 
Charleston. — Ed. 


295 

press  before  a  great  while.  Dr.  Palmer  of  New  Orleans  told 
me  he  had  been  appointed  by  his  Presbytery  to  examine  this 
same  subject  and  prepare  a  paper  on  it. 

Yours  truly 

I.  S.  K.  AXSON. 

REV  DR  SMYTH :  ^-  ORLEANS,  Jan  i,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  BRO. 

I  regretted  exceedingly  not  being  able  to  call 

on  Baptism        *^"  ^^^  ^^  ^  passcd  through  Charleston  a  short 

time  ago — but  I  was  in  the  City  only  from  3  to  9 

A.    M.   and   most   of  the   time   after   seven   was   occupied   in 

obtaining  a  Passport  from  the  Mayor  to  Savannah — 

I  am  desired  by  my  Presbytery  to  prepare  and  read  a  Paper 
on  the  relation  of  Baptized  children  to  the  Church,  especially 
with  reference  to  the  baptism  of  children  of  Non-Professing 
Parents —  You  have,  I  know  a  manuscript  on  that  subject,  & 
have  examined  it  with  more  care  than  any  other  man.  Would 
it  be  possible  for  me  to  get  the  reading  of  it?  Perhaps,  you 
would  be  willing  to  send  it  to  me  by  the  Express,  upon  my 
bearing  the  expense  of  transportation,  &  upon  my  promise  to 
return  it  promptly  in  the  same  way.  If  you  are  unwilling  to 
risk  this,  would  it  be  asking  too  much  of  you  to  request  you 
to  write,  in  naked  propositions  &  without  expansion,  exactly 
your  position,  &  the  general  Principles  on  which  you  defend  it. 

I  dislike  to  ask  you  to  do  what  will  cost  so  much  trouble, 
but  I  cannot  lay  my  hand  upon  any  thing  in  print  on  that 
point.  Can  you  refer  me  to  any  discussion  of  it  any  where? 
If  not,  why  do  you  not  publish  your  manuscript?  Excuse 
great  haste,  &  believe  me. 

Ever  affectionately  yours,  in  the  recollections  of  past  & 
pleasant  intercourse — 

B.  M.  PALMER. 

SAVANNAH  GA. 
REV'DDR  SMYTH:  /an  21,  1862. 

DEAR  BROTHER, 

I  have  just  reached  home     *     *     and  finding 
ap  ism.  your  note  of  the  9th  Inst  on  my  table,  I  this  morn- 

ing have  carefully  put  up  the  MSS  (all  of  the  Chapters)  and 
directed  them  to  Dr.  Palmer,  by  express —  Accept  my  thanks 
for  the  favor. 

Most  truly  yrs, 

I.  S.  K.  AXSON. 


296 

Among  other  compliments  received  by  Dr.  Smyth,  were  hon- 
orary memberships  in  the  State  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin, 
the  American  Society  for  Meliorating  the  Condition  of  the  Jews> 
the  New  England  Historical  Genealogical  Society  and  the  literary 
societies  of  Mercer  University  and  Emery,  Davidson  South  Caro- 
lina, Hampden  Sidney,  Erskine  and  Penfield  Colleges. 

Further  letters  concerned  solely  with  Dr.  Smyth  as  an  author 
will  be  found  with  others  of  a  corresponding  date  in  the  sections 
following  the  year  1865.  His  authorship  continued  to  the  very 
day  of  his  death  and  his  unresting  pen  carried  his  message  to 
multitudes  beyond  the  reach  of  his  feeble  limbs  and  faltering 
tongue. 

The  following  bibliography,  compiled  from  several  authentic 
sources,  is  incomplete,  for  there  yet  remain  many  MS.  Sermons 
by  Dr.  Smyth  not  included.  The  references  in  Roman  numbers  are 
to  the  new  Edition  of  Smyth's  Complete  Works,  just  issued  in 
Columbia. — Editor. 

Adger,  James,  The  Successful   Merchant.     Chas.,    1858.     Vol.  V. 

Advents,  First  and  Second.     Vol.  X. 

Advent,  Second,  The  Scriptural  Doctrine  of.     So.  Pres.  Rev.,  1866. 

Vol.   IX. 
American  Tract  Society.     A^.  Y.  Obs.,  So.  Epis.,  1858.     Vol.  IX. 
Apostolical    Succession,    The    Prelatical    Doctrine    of.    Examined. 

Chas.,  Boston,   1841;   Glasgow,   1844.     Vol.   I. 
Art  Unions  and  the  Use  of  the  Lot.     Southern  Pres.     Vol.  VI. 
Assurance    and   Witness    of   the    Spirit    and    Call    to    the    Ministry. 

So.  Pres.  Rev.,  1848.     Vol.  VI. 
Astronomical   Science,   Practical   Utility   of.     Vol.   VI. 
Atlas,   Scriptural,    (folio)    Chas.,   1845. 

Bacchus,    The    Primitive    Revelation    of    a    Divine    and    Incarnate 

Saviour,   traced   in   the    History   and   Rites   of.     So.   Pres.   Rev. 

Vol.  VI. 
Baptism.     4  sermons.     Vol.  IX.     10  sermons.     Vol.  X. 
Bellinger-Bachman    Controversy  on    Luther   and   the   Reformation, 

Letters  in  regard  to. 
Bible   Society,    Report  before.      1838. 
Bible  Temperance.     Chas.  Obs.,  1834.     Vol.  VI. 
Bishop,   App.    on   the   use    of   the    title    of.      Cincinnatti,    Pittsburg, 

1845.     Vol.  IV. 

Calvin  Defended,  and  his  Enemies.     Phila.,   1856.     Vol.  III. 

Calvin  the  Reformer,  Life  and  Character  of.     1844. 

Canaanitish  Woman,  The. 

Capital  Punishment.     So.  Pres.  Review.     Vol.  VI. 

Character  of  the  late  Thomas  Chalmers,  D.  D.     Chas.,  1848.     Vol. 

III. 
Charleston  Union  Presbytery,  The  late.     Chas..   1840. 


297 

Children,    Duty    of   interesting,    in    the    Missionary    Cause.      Chas., 

1846.  Vol.  VII. 
Christ,  Divinity  of.     Vol.  IX. 

Christ's  Sufferings  a  Proof  of  Atonement.     Vol.  X. 

Christ,  Eternal  Sonship  of.     Vol.  X. 

Christ,  Our  Righteousness.     Vol.  X. 

Christian  Charity.     So.  Pres.     Vol.  VIII. 

Christian  Charity,  Rule  and  Measure  of.     Chas.,  1847.     Vol.  VII. 

Christian  Ministry,  Claims  of,  to  an  Adequate  Support.  Chas., 
1840.     Vol.  VI. 

Christians,  Christ's  Representatives  and  Agents  for  the  Conver- 
sion of  the  World,  or  By  vi^hom  is  the  V/orld  to  be  Converted. 
1855.     Vol.  VII. 

Christian's  Principle  and  Motive  in  Voting.     Vol.  X. 

Christian  Principles,  Efficiency  of. 

Christian  Soldiers.     Preached  before  the  Citadel  Academy.     Chas., 

1847.  Vol.  V. 

Christianity,  Relation  of,  to  Civil  Polity.     1848.     Vol.  X. 
Church,  the  Design  and  Duty  of  a.     Chas.,  1832.     Vol.  V. 
Church,    Awakened    to    her    Duty    and    her    Danger,    The.      N.    Y., 

1853.     Vol.  VII. 
Church  of  Scotland.     Chas.,  Glasgow,  1843.     N.  Y.,  Phila.,  Boston, 

Pittsburg,  London,  1844.     Vols.  Ill  and  V. 
Collections   for    Charitable    and    Religious    Purposes.      Chas.,    1850, 

1855.     Vol.  VII. 
Commercial  Benefits  of  Christianity.     1847.     Vol.  X. 
Confession   of  Faith,   Annotations   on.  1  4  vols,  unpub.  Work  done 
Confession  of  Faith,  Notes  on.  J       in   part    before    1839. 

Confirmation    Examined.      N.    Y.,    Phila.,    Cincinnatti,    Pittsburg, 

Boston,  London,  Belfast,  Edin.,  1845.     Vol.  III. 
Consciousness  and  Fright  o,f  Sin.     N.  C.  Pres.     Vol.  VI. 
Counsel  and  Comfort  for  Afiflicted  Believers.     N.  0.  and  So.  Pres. 

Vol.  X. 
Culdee   Monasteries.     Princeton  Rev.,   1867.     Vol.  VI. 

Deacons,  The  Office  and  Functions  of.     Col.,  1848.     Vol.  IV. 

Dead,  Teachings  of  the.     Col.,  1857.     Vol.  X. 

Denominational  Education.     Chas.,   1846.     Vol.  V. 

Destruction  of  the   Hopes   of  Man.     Memo.   Pres.   Harrison,   1841. 

Vol.  IX. 
Dwelling.     Vol.  VII. 

Ecclesiastical  Boards,  Defense  of.     Balto.,  1841.     Vol.  VI. 

Ecclesiastical  Catechism  of  the  Pres.  Church.  Chas.,  Boston,  N. 
Y.,   Phila.,   Pittsburg,   Cincinnatti,   1841,   1844.     Vol.   IV. 

Ecclesiastical  Republicanism.  Chas.,  Boston,  N.  Y.,  Phila.,  Cin- 
cinnatti,  Pittsburg,   London,   1843.     Vol.   III. 

Education.     Religions  Papers.     Vol.  VI. 

Eldership.     Vol.  IV. 


298 

Eldership  of  the  Pres.   Church.     Chas.,   1836. 

Elders,    Ruling.      N.   Y.,    Phila.,    Cincinnati,    Pittsburg.    Boston, 

London,  Edin.,  Belfast,  1845. 
Eldership,  Theories  of.     Princeton  Rev.,   i860.     A^  C.  Pres.,  So. 
Pres.  Rev.,  1860-61. 
Election,  Our,  made  sure.     So.  Pres.     Vol.  VI. 
Election,   Introduction  to  Rogers'   Doct.   of. 

Fear  as  a  Christian  Motive.     Vol.  IV. 

Fellowship,  Right  Hand  of.     Chas.,  i860.     Vol.  VI. 

Fellowship  and  Communion  of  Believers  with  God.     Vol.  IX. 

Fire,  Two  Discourses  on  the   Great.     Chas.,   1838.     Vol.  V. 

Forms— 

Of  Doxology  and  Benediction.     Vol.   IX. 

Of  Marriage.     Boston,  1841.  -^  Vol.   IX. 

Of  Public  Confession  of  Faith.     Chas.,   1840.     ^See  Manual. 


^oee 
J  Vol 


Order  for  Funeral   Services.     Boston,   1843.      J  Vol.   IX. 

God  Comforts  to  make  us   Comforters.     Vol.   X. 

God  Glorified.      Vol.  X. 

God  in  the  Storm.     N.  Y.,  Pittsburg,   1846.     Vol.  V. 

God's  Way  in  the  Wilderness.     Vol.  X. 

Gospel  Preaching  must  be   Doctrinal  Preaching.     Vol.  VI. 

Heathenism,  Character  o,f,  and  Grounds  of  Hope.     Vol.  VII. 
Heathen,  Responsibility  of,  and  their  Wage.     MS. 
Heathen,  Prospect  of,  for  Eternity.     1835.     Vol.  VII. 
Heaven.     Vol.  X. 

Imputation.      1840.     Vol.   X. 

Installation  Sermon.     Col.,   i860.     Vol.  VI. 

Instruments,  Use  of  in  Worship.  So.  Pres.  Rev.,  1868.     Vol.  VI. 

Life,  a  Tale  that  is  told.     N.  C.  Pres.,  1862.     Vol.  X. 
Lord's  Supper.     A  Manual.     Vol.  IX. 

Mammon  and  Anti-Mammon.     Princeton  Rev.,  1839.   [?] 
Mary  not  a  perpetual  Virgin.     Chas.,   1846.     Vol.  VI. 
Manual  of  Second  Pres.   Church.     Chas.,   1838,   1854.     Vol  V. 
Marry,   Forbidding  to,   a  sure   Sign   of  Anti-Christ.     Vol.   X. 
Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence.     So.  Pres.,  1847.     Vol. 

III. 
Missionary  Anecdotes.     MS. 

Missionary   Character,   The   Moral  Dignity  of.     Unpublished. 
Missionary   Discussion   on  Tradition. 

Missionary  Efifort,  Juvenile,   Destined   Efficiency  of.     Chas.,   1847. 
Missionary  Papers  and  Sermons.     MS. 

Missions.     Children's  Registry  Reports  for  Sunday  Schools. 
Missions,  Faith  the  Principle  of.     Phila.,  1857.     Vol.  VII. 


399 

Missions,  Notes  on.     Chas.     Vol.  VII. 

Missions,  Obedience  the  Life  of.     Phila.,  1858.     Vol.  VII. 

Missions,  Report  on  Foreign.     Synod,  1842.     Vol.  VII. 

Mutual  Obligation  o,f  a  Minister  and  his  People.     1834.     Vol.  X. 

National  Righteousness.     Vol.  VI. 

Natural  History,  Importance  of.  Lecture  before  S.  C.  Lyceum, 
1848.     Vol.  VI. 

Necessity  of  Literature  and  Men  of  Letters  to  the  Republic.  Ad- 
dress before  the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society,  1840. 
Vol.  X. 

Obligation  to  Believe  and  Confess  Christ.     Vol.  VI. 
Orphan  House,  Anniversary  Oration.     Chas.,  1837.     Vol.  V. 
Origin   of   Evil.     Vol.   X. 

Pastoral  Memento.     Chas.,  N.  Y.,  Phila.,   1850.     Vol.  V. 

Paul's  Resource  under  Trial.     Vol.  X. 

Prayers   and   Efforts  of  Believers   Essential.     Vol.   X. 

Preaching  through  the  Press.     Vol.  VI. 

Preach  the  Word.     So.  Pres.,     Vol.  VI. 

Predestination,  Doctrine  of.     1842.     Vol.  X. 

Presbyterian   Church,   Claims   of  the.     Chas.,    1840. 

Presbyterianism,  the  Revolution,  the  Declaration  and  the  Con- 
stitution.    So.  Pres.  Rev.     Vol.  III. 

Presbytery  and  not  Prelacy.  Chas.,  Boston,  1841.  Glasgow,  Edin., 
Dublin,  London,  1844.     Vol.  II. 

Presbyterianism,  Tracts  on.     1841. 

Psalmody.     Charleston  Observer.     Vol.   IV. 

Review  of  Reid's   Hist,   of  Presbyterianism  in   Ireland.     Princeton 

Rev.,  1838.     [?] 
Resurrection.     1836.     Vol.  X. 
Romanism,  Miscellaneous  notes  on. 

Sabbath  School  Teaching  Service.     Chas.,  1872.     Vol.  IV. 
Schools,  Parochial.     1847.     Vol.  VII. 
Secession  and  the  War: — 

The  Sin  and  the  Curse,  or  the  Union  the  true  source  of  Dis- 
union.     Chas.,    i860.     Vol.   VII. 

Appeal  to  Northern  Christians.     Journal  of  Commerce,  1861. 

Soldiers'  Prayer  Book.     Chas.  1863.     Vol.  VII. 

Soldiers'  Hymnal.     Chas.  1862.     Vol.  VII. 

The   War  of  the   South   Vindicated  and  the   War  against   the 
South  Condemned.     Chas.,  1861.     Vol.  VII. 

The  Victory  of  Manassas  Plains.     So.  Pres.  Rev.,  1862. 

The*  Character  and  Conditions  of  Liberty.    So.  Pres.  Rev.,  1864. 
Second  Presbyterian  Church,  History  of.     1837.     Vol.  V. 
Second  Pres.  Church,  Jubilee  Sermon.     1861.     Vol.  V. 


300 

Second  Pres.   Church,  Jubilee  Sermon  II.     1861.     Vol.  V. 

Secret  Societies,  The  Principle  of  Secresy  or.     1847.     Vol.  V. 

Solace  for  Bereaved  Parents.     N.  Y.,  Chas.,  1840,  1848.     Vol.  X. 

Sphere,  Character,  and  Destiny  of  Woman.     Vol.  X. 

Spirit's   Influences  vindicated.  The.     Vol.   IX. 

Sunday  School,  The  Work,  Spirit,  and  Motives  of  the.     So.  Pres., 

1859.     Vol.    VI. 
Sunday   Schools,   Address.      Phila.,    1844. 

Textual  Index.     2  vols.     MS. 

Theatre,  School  of  Manners  and  Morals.     Chas.,   1838.     Vol.  V. 

Theological   Seminaries,   Vindication   of.     Unpublished. 

Tradition.     Pamphlet. 

Trees.     Newspaper  article.     Vol.   IX. 

Trinity,  Articles  on  the.     So.  Pres.  Rev.     Vol.  IX. 

Union  to  Christ  and  his  Church.  Edin.,  1846.  Written  on  board 
ship.     Nucleous   of  the   Well  in   the   Valley.     Vol.   VI. 

Unitarianism  not  the  Gospel.     Vol.  IX. 

Unitarianism  another   Gospel.     Vol.   IX. 

United  Christian  Effort,  The  Fundamental  Doctrines  of  the  Gos- 
pel the  true  and  only  Basis  of  Charity  with.  Anniversary  of 
Am.  S.  S.  Union.     Phila.,  1846.     Vol.  V. 

Unity  of  the  Human  Races.     N.  Y.,  1850.     Edin.,  1851.     Vol.  VIII. 

Voice  of  God  in  Calamity,  The,  or  the  Loss  of  the  Steam  Packet 
Home.     Chas.,   1837.     Vol.  V. 

Waldeuses,  were  they  Pedobaptists.     So.  Pres.,  1859.     Vol.  VI. 

Watts  not  a  Unitarian,   Dr.     Carolina  Baptist.     Vol.   IX. 

Well  in  the  Valley.     Phila.,  1850.     Vol.  VIII. 

Westminster   Assembly,    The    History   and    Character    of.      N.    Y., 

Boston,   Phila.,   Pittsburg,   London,   1844.     Vol.   X. 
Why  Do  I  Live.     N.  Y.,  1850.     Vol.  VIII. 
Worldly  Business,  Design  and  Motive  of.     1847.     Vol.  X. 
World  Reaching  Sound  and  World  Preaching  Sound.     Vol.  VI. 

Yeadon,   Col.  William,  The   Conversion  and   Character  o,!     Chas., 

1849.     Vol.  V. 
Young  Man  Miserable  and  the  Young  Man  Happy.     Central  Pres. 

Vol.  VI. 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations.     Phila..   1857.     Vol.  IV. 


INCIDENTS  OF  MY  LIFE 


303 


INCIDENTS  OF  MY  LIFE. 


Chapter  I.     1834-1845. 
I.  Shipzvreck  on  a  desert  island. 

This  occurred  in  the  fall  of  1836  when  my  wife  and  sister- 
in-law,  Miss  Susan  D.  Adger,  sailed  from  New  York  on  Sat- 
urday afternoon  for  Charleston,  in  the  William  Gibbons 
Steamer.  The  Captain  was  sick  and  Captain  Halsey  of  the 
Liverpool  line  of  Charleston  packets  took  charge.  He  was 
reputed  a  skilful  navigator,  but  was  of  an  imperious  temper 
and  easy  habits,  which  he  then  indulged.  The  wind  was  fa- 
vourable and  rose  to  a  gale,  so  that  by  Sabbath  night  he  pre- 
sumed we  had  passed  Cape  Hatteras,  and  ordering  the 
helmsman  to  change  course  for  Charleston,  he  and  the  mate 
I  suppose  went  to  bed.  The  course  taken — Hatteras  not  hav- 
ing been  passed — led  into  an  inlet  behind  the  Cape,  and 
between  Chicamicamico,^  the  small  island  of  the  Cape,  and 
another  very  small  island  called  Pea  Island,  which  was  totally 
barren  and  uninhabited  and  chiefly  a  marshy  quicksand  bank. 
At  full  tide  the  inlet  has  I  believe,  only  three  feet  of  water,  and 
with  full  tide  and  before  a  driving  gale  we  steamed  into  it 
among  the  breakers,  which  like  so  many  monsters  of  the  deep 
were  dashing  furiously  upon  Pea  Island  beach. 

I  did  not  have  my  clothes  off,  being  sea  sick,  and  woke  to 
find  myself  lying  on  the  State  Room  floor,  whereupon  I  rushed 
on  deck,  to  find  no  one  but  the  man  at  the  helm  and  nothing 
visible  but  the  foaming  breakers ;  into  which  the  vessel  was 
still  urged  all  steam  on,  in  order,  as  I  thought,  to  get  her  over 
some  shoal.  She  was  however  hard  and  fast,  and  as  day  light 
broke  and  the  tide  fell,  we  found  ourselves  exposed  to  the 
incessant  shocks  of  waves  and  breakers,  rendered  more  and 
more  irresistible  by  the  increasing  violence  of  the  storm. 

Some     fishing     boats     from     Hatteras     Island 
II     passen-      boarded  us  and  carried  a  hawser  to  the  shore,  to 

gers   landed. 

which,  with  the  help  of  the  ropes,  the  passengers — 
without  breaking  fast  and  under  the  lying  delusion  of  getting 

^The  island  of  Chicamicamico  was  named  for  an  Indian  Chief 
converted  and  baptized  by  the  Roanoke  colony.  Pea  Island  is  now 
known  as  Bodies  Island,  the  name  given  in  Mrs.  Smyth's  letter. — 
Ed. 


304 

to  mainland  and  comfortable  quarters, — were  landed  in  boat- 
loads, to  the  number  of  ii6  out  of  147,  when  the  rising  tide 
rendered  it  impossible  to  land  more. 

We  were  enabled  to  bear  the  exposure  and  starvation  better 
by  my  having  induced  the  ladies  to  take  their  cloaks — new 
cloth  ones,  and  we  had  eaten  some  crackers,  and  filled  our 
pockets.  The  clothes  added  to  our  weight  in  pressing  through 
the  sand,  in  which  Miss  A.,  who  was  in  delicate  health,  sank 
down  hysterically  exhausted,  but  their  comfort  afterwards 
abundantly  compensated  us. 

My  party  was  among  the  last  landed  on  the  sand  in  the 
midst  of  pelting  rain  and  powerful  wind,  to  force  our  way, 
sinking  knee  deep  at  every  step,  after  the  stragglers  before  us 
for  four  miles,  to  an  old  frame  of  a  house  intended  for  a 
fishing  rendezvous,  but  without  windows  or  doors  and  only 
a  small  kitchen  attached.  Here  we  arrived  after  painful 
labour  just  at  twilight,  and  found  the  ladies  squatted  on  the 
floor  of  the  kitchen,  round  a  fire  which  had  been  kindled  with 
boards  torn  off  the  building.  Soon  however  the  rain  began 
to  come  through  the  roof  so  thick  and  fast,  as  to  oblige  all  to 
vacate  and  seek  refuge  in  the  main  building,  where  we  all 
spent  the  night  lying  heads  and  pourts"  upon  the  floor.  The 
weather  continued  terribly  severe,  both  in  rain  and  wind 
through  next  day,  and  on  the  following  morning  cleared  off 
clear,  cold  and  frosty,  and  revealing  no  signs  of  the  vessel  to 
which  we  were  led  to  believe  we  would  be  re-taken. 

During  the  first  day  on  the  island,  a  solitary  sheep  was 
found  and  shot  down  and  properly  prepared ;  then  handed 
over  to  a  committee  of  ladies  to  cook  and  subdivided  into  116 
parts.  To  our  share  came  the  fat  part  of  the  tail  which  even 
as  we  were,  we  felt  unable  to  eat.  The  sight  of  parties  sacking 
the  ver)'  brains  from  the  skull  gave  fearful  forebodings  of 
possible  cannibalism,  and  the  brutalizing  effects  of  famine. 

A  comic  tragedic  scene  which  has  frequently  revived,  a 
pleasant  laugh,  took  place  on  Pea  island ;  on  the  third  day, 
fishing  boats  from  Chicamicamico  brought  us  some  oysters 
which  to  me  were  very  refreshing  and  of  which,  against  her 
distaste  for  them,  my  wife  partook.  Miss  A.  however,  could 
not  even  then  overcome  her  dislike  for  them,  but  as  she  was 

"A  Gaelic  word  used  in  the  north  of  Ireland  and  Scotland.  The 
phrase  corresponds  to  the  Lowland  Scot's  "Heads  and  thraws," 
and  signifies  that  the  head  of  one  man  was  placed  by  the  feet  of 
the  next,  alternating,  30  that  the  whole  row  should  take  less 
space. — Ed. 


305 

nigh  unto  starvation,  I  insisted  very  earnestly  and  got  her  to 
open  her  mouth  and  swallow  whole,  some  which  I  put  into  it. 
Removed  to  During  this   day,  fishing  boats   from   Hatteras 

Hatteras  island  took  US  off  party  by  party,  and  conveyed 

Island.  yg  ^Q  ^^Q  island,  where  we  were  quartered  about 

among  the  fishermen's  houses,  and  treated  as  comfortably  as 
they  could,  and  with  what  they  had,  of  coffee,  sugar  &c.  as 
long  as  they  lasted  among  so  many  hungry  cormorants. 

During  the  ensuing  week  while  on  Cape  Hatteras  island,  our 
quota  of  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  ladies  and  gentlemen  had 
to  occupy  one  loft  room  at  night — the  ladies  retiring  first  and 
the  gentlemen  afterwards,  while  the  ladies  covered  their  faces 
with  the  clothes ;  and  so  also  in  the  morning  during  the  reverse 
process  of  dressing. 

But  indeed  nothing  could  be  more  grotesque  and  comical, 
in  retrospect,  and  even  at  the  time,  than  ihe  first,  weary 
disposition  in  a  recumbent  posture,  on  the  bare  floor  of  an 
unframed,  windowless  room,  of  ii6  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
stretched  heads  and  heels  and  yet  not  room  enough  for  perfect 
elongation ;  and  the  continual  inroads  of  heads  and  feet  upon 
alien  territory  and  sensitive  ground  too.— the  consequent 
mournings  and  complaints,  mingled  with  snoring,  laughing, 
whispering,  groaning,  and  unavailing  murmurings. 

The  vessel  floated  with  high  gale  tide  and  drifted  off,  leak- 
ing badly  however,  and  only  preserved  from  sinking  by  the 
shallow  water,  and  from  going  out  to  sea  by  being  again 
stranded,  a  complete  wreck,  upon  Hatteras  island. 

Here  we  found  her  in  due  time,  after  a  considerable  rowing 
journey.  The  baggage  as  far  as  saved  was  on  the  beach.  The 
stewards  and  hands  left  in  a  large  boat  ladened  with  rich  booty, 
and  the  Captain  made  off  also,  leaving  every  man  to  do  as  he 
best  could.  The  hands  it  seemed  had,  as  they  often  do  in 
emergencies,  become  desperate,  broken  into  the  bar,  become 
intoxicated,  besieged  passengers,  Captain,  and  Stewards  in  the 
Saloon ;  they  had  then  proceeded  to  disembowel  the  mail,  to 
break  up  merchandize,  and  to  rifle  and  throw  overboard  many 
trunks,  among  which  was  one  of  mine.  Missing  this  I  went 
on  board,  and  found  one  sailor  in  the  bar,  up  to  the  waist  in 
water,  drinking  away — with  knife  in  hand.  The  cabin  and 
rooms  were  under  water,  and  the  deck  strewn  with  broken 
merchandize  and  trunks  and  letters. 

My  trunk  contained  most  of  my  then  most  valued  sermons 
and  writings,  and  many  very  valuable  books. 


[201 


306 

Among  the  MSS.  was  my  Inaugural  Discourse  at  the  in- 
stallation of  Dr.  Leland  as  Professor,  on  "A  Vindication  of 
Theological  Seminaries,  Scripturally,  Historically,  and  Instru- 
mentally,  as  appointed  means  for  preparing  for  the  work  of 
the  ministry  those  called  of  God."  This  was  very  highly  ap- 
proved, and  intended  for  speedy  publication. 

Another  which  I  had  elaborated  with  very  great  care  was 
on  the  Moral  Dignity  of  the  Missionary  Character,  designed  as 
an  attempted  fellow  to  Dr.  Waylands  Discourse.^  This  was 
prepared  for  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adger  as  Mission- 
ary to  Smyrna  and  was  delivered  on  that  occasion ;  he  having 
been  married  to  one  of  my  members  in  presence  of  the  whole 
congregation.  Our  loss  of  personal  property  equalled  about 
$500.00  but  was  nothing  as  compared  to  the  loss  of  the  ser- 
mons. 

On  Cape  Hatteras  Island  we  remained  a  week,  as  Elizabeth 
City — the  nearest  place,  was  60  miles  off,  requiring  a  day  and 
night's  sail  and  rowing  for  each  boat  full,  in  an  open  boat  or 
fish-hold. 

Arriving  at  Elizabeth  we  had  similar  difficulty 
Norfolk  ^Va^*  in  finding  conveyances  to  Norfolk,  where  after  an 
upset  in  our  stage  trip,  we  arrived  safely  and 
found  quarters  with  my  friend  and  Princeton-mate,  the  Rev. 
John  D.  Matthews,^  at  whose  house  I  had  a  very  severe  attack 
of  sickness ;  finally  reaching  Charleston  in  company  with  240 
passengers. 

The  excitement  in  Charleston  was  very  great  as  w&  were 
entirely  out  of  any  mail  route,  and  they  were  three  weeks  with- 
out hearing  anything  of  us.  Under  the  most  general  and 
hopeful  impression  that  we  had  been  disabled  and  blown  out 
to  the  Gulf  stream,  Mr.  Adger  sent  a  chartered  steamer  to 
cruise  for  us,  ladened  with  provisions.  Mr.  Hart,  who  with 
some  others  had  chartered  a  fishing  smack  and  arrived  safely 
in  Charleston,  communicated  very  kindly  the  information  of 
our  whereabouts,  to  Mr.  Adger  in  the  middle  of  the  night. 

^Dr.  Wayland's  Discourse  on  the  "Moral  Dignity  of  the  Mission- 
ary enterprise"  was  written  in  1823.  In  this  connection  Dr.  Smyth 
says  elsewhere  that  to  Dr.  Wayland  he  owes  much  of  that  en- 
thusiasm for  missions,  "which  has  become  a  master-passion  even 
in  the  death  of  manly  vigor."  (1858)  See  vol.  IX,  p.  491,  Smyth's 
Works.— Ed. 

^See  letters.  He  remained  a  life-long  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth. — 
Ed. 


307 

The   account   just   given   was    written    in    the    Summer    of    1859. 
The   original   letters   follow. — Editor. 

CHICAMICAMICO  ISLAND,  NEAR  CAPE 
HATTERAS,  N.  C. 

Oct.   14.   1836.     Friday. 
Dr.  Smyth  to    DEAR  FATHER, 

James  Adger.  j£  ^]^jg  reachcs  you  it  will  inform  you  that  Mar- 
garet, Susan,  &  I  are  well  &  now  in  safety.  You  are  all  this 
morning,  I  doubt  not,  in  great  anxiety  &  distress  of  mind, 
ignorant  of  the  fate  of  lis  &  our  vessel,  &  altho'  I  know  not 
how  or  when  this  letter  can  be  forwarded  to  Charleston,  I  will 
write  it  &  embrace  the  first  opportunity  to  send  it  on.  On 
Friday  morning  we  left  Philadelphia  &  arrived  in  X.  Y.  about 
S  P.  M.  It  was  however  7  P.  M.  before  I  could  find  lodgings. 
We  were  at  length  deposited  in  No.  10  Park  Place  in  an  un- 
comfortable house.  On  Saturday  having  finished  all  business 
we  went  on  board  the  William  Gibbons  with  a  company,  in 
all  of  140  passengers.  All  was  calm  &  pleasant  &  we  went 
to  tea  hoping  that  we  might  escape  sickness  &  rough  weather, 
as  there  had  been  much  bad  &  stormy  weather  in  Philadelphia. 
In  the  evening  however  it  breezed  up  &  we  went  to  our 
berths  squeamishly  inclined.  On  Sunday  morning  I  found 
Susan  on  deck,  the  wind  strong  &  unfavourable  &  the  sea 
rough.  I  was  quite  sick  &  could  eat  none  but  remained  with 
Susan  until  dinner  time,  when  I  had  become  so  sick  &  weak  I 
went  to  my  berth.  I  lay  down  in  my  clothes  &  over  coat  as  it 
was  rather  cold.  The  wind  continued  to  rise  all  day  &  night. 
Towards  morning  about  4  o'clock  I  was  roused  up  by  a  strange 
motion  &  heard  great  shouting  &  soon  after  that  we  were 
aground.  I  ran  up  but  all  was  dark,  ever}^  sailor  running,  & 
the  waves  dashing  thro'  the  boat.  I  therefore  retreated  to  my 
berth,  hoping  she  would  get  ofif  before  there  was  any  general 
alarm.  I  went  up  again  &  found  many  of  the  passengers 
mingled  with  the  rushing  &  distracted  crew.  I  clambered 
along  &  there  saw  all  around  us  white,  foaming.  &  raging 
breakers.  By  this  time  the  alarm  became  general,  but  still 
mitigated  by  the  hope  of  relief  as  soon  as  day  light  came.  As 
this  began  to  break  we  found  that  there  was  beach  on  each 
side  at  some  short  distance  &  breakers  all  round  us.  It  was 
now  thought  as  the  tide  rose  we  might  get  off  &  about  8  A. 
M.,  all  sail  was  put  up  &  all  the  steam,  &  after  some  time  we 
floated,  to  the  universal  joy  of  all  on  Board.  Our  joy  was 
short.  She  was  soon  on  as  hard  as  ever,  &  it  seemed  impos- 
sible for  her  to  withstand  the  thumping  of  the  breakers.     The 


308 

ladies  dressed,  some  came  up,  but  most  remained  below  &  all 
maintained  great  composure.  Few  were  well  enough  to  touch 
any  breakfast.  As  the  tide  went  down  we  were  more  quiet, 
&  at  lunch  time  we  all  tried  to  take  a  little  soup  &  biscuit,  & 
were  calculating  upon  a  good  dinner  as  a  preparative  for  fu- 
ture trouble.  About  this  time  some  men  were  seen  ashore 
whom  we  judged  to  be  wreckers.  The  Captain  sent  a  boat 
ashore,  which  returned  with  but  little  puhlic  intelligence.  We 
heard  however  that  there  was  no  hope  of  any  passage  where 
the  wind  &  waves  were  driving  us,  &.that  it  was  impossible  to 
retreat.  How  we  had  got  here  no  one  could  say,  &  the  Captain 
would  not  tell.  It  is  however  certain  that  neither  the  Captain 
nor  mate  were  on  deck  when  we  struck.  The  Captain  says 
he  believed  us  past  Cape  Hatteras  &  was  steering  for  Charles- 
ton. We  had  turned  into  what  is  called  New  Inlet  which 
opens  into  Pimlico  Sound,  where  at  best  there  is  only  three 
feet  of  water  &  this  only  in  some  parts  ;  where  we  lay,  in  calm 
weather  is  dry. — 

About  Yz  past  one  the  Captain  ordered  the  ladies  to  be  im- 
mediately ready  to  go  ashore,  but  without  any  manner  of  hag- 
gage,  v/ithout  dinner,  &  without  even  a  biscuit.  The  landing 
commenced  under  dangerous  &  most  disagreeable  circum- 
stances. Mr.  &  Mrs.  Holmes  &  daughter  (who  went  on  with 
us),  Margaret,  Susan,  &  myself,  &  Mrs.  Kerrison  of  Chariest. 
&  Son,  f(?rmed  the  last  boat  full.  I  made  Marg.  &  Susan  open 
their  trunks  &  take  out  shoes  &  their  watches,  &  what  they 
could  put  in  the  basket;  &  also  to  put  under  their  common 
cloaks  two  beautiful  cloth  ones  they  had  got,  which  I  thought 
might  be  saved  &  keep  them  warm.  I  put  on  m}^  old  surtout 
&  over  it  a  very  fine  Boston  wrapper  I  had  got ;  &  filled  my 
pockets  with  my  cap,  apples,  4  biscuits,  some  crackers,  &  a  bot- 
tle of  port  wine  I  had.  With  these  &  our  umbrellas  we  started 
in  the  rain,  were  landed  &  set  off  along  the  beach  in  the  direc- 
tion we  saw  others  take.  Our  situation  was  dreadful.  The  wind 
was  tremendous  &  the  sand  drifted  against  us  with  great 
violence.  To  this  was  added  heavy  rain.  Poor  Susan  was  in 
hysterics,  &  how  to  walk  four  miles  &  cross  two  creeks  we 
knew  not.  Two  or  three  times  Marg.  &  Susan  gave  out  &  lay 
down  on  the  sand.  At  length  however  we  got  to  a  little  island 
called  Pea  island,  wet  &  almost  lifeless.  Here  we  found  a 
little  log  hut  with  a  chimney  &  two  apartments  &  a  larger 
house  of  two  stories,  without  doors.  A  fire  was  got  up,  some 
thatch  off  a  little  house  spread  out,  &  the  ladies  were  stretched 
all  round  the  fire.     In  all  we  numbered  116,  leaving  some  15 


309 

on  Board."  Tuesday  night  the  storm  was  awful  &  the  rain 
very  heavy,  &  by  morning  the  rain  was  beating  in  upon  us  in 
all  directions.  To  add  to  our  distress  Susan  took  sick,  so  that 
when  in  the  morning  the  ladies  were  moved  to  the  larger 
house,  which  was  more  dry  the'  without  a  fire  place,  she  could 
not  be  stirred.  Margaret  sat  by  her  on  the  straw  &  we  en- 
deavoured to  keep  her  warm  with  the  cloaks  &  fire,  while  with 
two  umbrellas  we  protected  her  from  rain.  The  whole  party 
were  now  starving  &  some  oyster  men  who  had  come  to  get 
a  load  &  who  promised  to  bring  some,  could  not  approach  us 
thro'  the  storm.  Fortunately  a  stray  sheep  made  its  appear- 
ance, which  was  immediately  shot  down,  killed,  skinned  &  cut 
up,  &  roasted  upon  sticks  in  our  apartment.  About  12  o'clock 
this  was  divided  into  twelve  parts  for  twelve  messes,  &  these 
again,  so  as  to  make  one  hundred  &  sixteen  pieces,  one  for 
each  individual.  And  then  such  a  scene;  116  famishing,  wet, 
cold,  &  desolate  creatures,  devouring  their  little  portion  & 
polishing  every  bone !  Susan  happily  grew  better,  &  about  four 
o'clock  the  house  became  so  saturated  with  water  &  our  con- 
dition so  desperate,  we  made  a  move.  It  rained  &  blew 
dreadfully.  I  carried  Susan,  but  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
kept  from  being  blown  away.  Margaret  walked  thro'  the 
water  which  was  now  accumulating  upon  the  ground.  I  was 
nearly  wet  thro'.  The  larger  house  was  now  also  leaking  fast 
&  a  branch  of  a  tree  formed  our  pillow.  Here  we  placed 
Susan.  Margaret,  I  laid  down  next  her,  &  I  lay  down  beside 
her.  The  rain  now  abated  but  in  the  night  it  blew  hard  & 
cold.  Our  comfortless  situation  you  can  hardly  conceive.  In 
the  morning  we  rose  up  to  look  upon  weak  and  despairing 
countenances,  &  to  hear  the  cries  of  hungry  children  for  whom 
their  was  no  food.  I  divided  my  little  stock  sparingly,  await- 
ing still  greater  suffering.  About  this  time  the  oyster  men 
came  with  some  oysters,  which  were  eaten  partly  raw  &  partly 
roasted — parties  were  sent  to  the  boat  which  was  still  seen  in 
sight,  &  to  seek  out  some  house  which  was  described  to  us 
where  we  might  get  something  to  eat — &  we  all  tried  to  cheer 
up  our  spirits.  On  Tuesday  morning  we  could  see  the  Boat 
with  a  sail  up,  &  a  little  after  she  appeared  without  masts  or 
chimney.  About  3  o'clock  on  Wednesday  a  party  returned 
from  the  house  with  some  salt,  a  few  potatoes,  &  the  intelli- 
gence that  they  had  purchased  a  cow  which  would  soon  fol- 
low, killed  &  quartered.  Soon  after  a  party  returned  from 
the  Boat,  whose  attention  they  had  been  able  to  attract  from 

°The   Doctor  is   solely  responsible   for  these   mathematical   cal- 
culations, as  well  as  for  other  details. — Ed. 


310 

the  beach  where  we  first  landed,  &  told  us  she  was  landing  our 
lug-gage  on  the  opposite  island  &  would  send  boats  to  take  us 
there.  We  engaged  the  oyster  men  to  carry  thirteen  of  us  in 
a  little  boat,  from  which  we  were  safely  landed  where  I  now 
write,  at  the  house  of  Squire  Midget,  the  Commissioner  of  the 
island,  sometime  after  Sunset.  We  were  received  kindly,  & 
had  soon  a  supper  consisting  of  coffee  &  molasses,  corn  bread, 
corn  Beef,  &  sweet  potatoes.  Our  party  consisted  of  Mr.  Day, 
his  two  daughters  &  son.  Miss  Hale,  Miss  McCready,  Mr. 
Ball,  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Sullivan,  Margaret,  Susan,  and  myself.  Beds 
were  made  for  the  ladies  up  in  the  loft  &  the  gentlemen  lay 
down  before  the  fire.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
gentlemen  started  in  three  canoes  belonging  to  our  host  for 
the  Boat,  which  we  reached  in  three  or  four  hours,  the  dist- 
ance being  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles  by  water,  &  ten  by  land. 
Here  we  found  the  Boat  lying  on  her  side,  filled  with  water  & 
with  all  her  rigging  gone — the  Sailors  &  mate  all  infuriated 
with  drink,  &  armed  with  knives  &  pistols,  even  the  Captain 
as  surly  as  a  bear  &  almost  as  drunk  as  his  men.  Most  of  the 
other  passengers,  except  the  ladies,  had  slept  upon  the  beach. 
The  remnant  of  the  luggage  which  was  not  thrown  overboard 
or  destroyed,  was  piled  up  with  hams,  bedding,  &c.  The  crew 
were  roaming  about,  maddened  with  drink  &  threatening  the 
passengers  with  death.  A  guard  was  kept  up  all  night  at  the 
baggage,  &  in  the  morning  each  person  identified  what  he  could 
&  had  it  carried  off  as  he  could.  When  we  arrived  most  of  it 
was  selected.  I  found  Margaret's  trunk,  Susan's,  &  a  third, 
containing  some  of  my  things  &  some  of  Margaret's.  One  of 
the  Bonnets  belonging  to  Margaret  which  had  been  in  the 
little  trunk,  I  found  on  the  beach  tramped  down,  proving  that 
our  property  had  been  opened  &  destroyed.  Mr.  Day  had  sev- 
eral cases  of  silks,  &c,  besides  luggage,  some  of  which  he 
found,  but  in  a  very  damaged  state.  I  got  one  of  our  canoes 
to  take  me  out  to  the  boat,  which  I  searched  in  vain  for  any 
more  of  my  things.  The  Bandboxes  were  all  destroyed,  & 
goods,  trunks.  &  wearables  of  all  descriptions  were  floating 
about  in  the  cabins.  I  saw  several  trunks  broken  open  & 
empty.  The  mate  &  sailors  on  board  all  drunk.  Laden  with 
some  apples,  &c.,  &  some  loose  things,  I  was  glad  to  get  away 
alive.  With  what  baggage  we  could  find,  &  some  hams  & 
tongues,  we  set  out  for  our  present  residence  &  got  here  be- 
fore Sunset.  Our  trunks  proved  dry  &  in  good  order,  but 
most  of  the  others  wet  &  every  thing  injured,  &  some  full  of 
nothingness. 


311 

Today  I  have  been  hunting  over  the  island  to  see  if  I  could 
hear  anything  of  the  missing  baggage,  but  in  vain.  Mr.  Day 
has  also  been  to  the  Boat  but  found  nothing ;  we  are  therefore 
determined  to  be  contented  with  what  we  have,  &  if  possible 
take  it  safe  home.  I  succeeded  in  getting  some  loaf  sugar 
from  the  crew — &  some  butter  out  of  a  large  firkin  &  some 
apples,  which  make  quite  an  addition  to  our  comforts. 

All  is  now  confusion  among  the  passengers.  Some  have 
started  in  canoes  to  go  sixteen  miles  to  Ocracoke"— &  some  in 
larger  boats — &  thirty  will  probably  sail  tomorrow  for  Charles- 
ton, by  whom  I  send  a  note  in  case  they  succeed  in  getting 
there  soon.  Their  prospects  are  very  bad.  Every  one  must 
provide  for  himself  &  they  may  be  out  for  several  days.  We 
had  no  chance  of  getting  in  her  but  would  not  go  if  we  had. 
We  have  contracted  for  a  boat  that  will  carry  25  or  30  to  go 
to  Elizabeth  city  or  Ocracoke,  If  to  the  former,  we  can  get  to 
Norfolk-  in  a  day  &  may  (if  there  is  a  boat  &  room,)  be  in 
readiness  for  the  Norfolk  Boat,  or  go  on  by  stages  to  Colum- 
bia. We  can  muster  very  little  money  &  have  several  expenses 
here.  It  will  cost  us  also  something  like  3  or  $4  or  $5  apiece 
to  go  to  Elizabeth.  I  mean  to  make  effort  there  to  negotiate 
a  draft  for  what  we  may  probably  need. 

There  is  but  one  opinion  as  to  the  source  of  our  misfortunes. 
We  were  not  driven  on  the  breakers  by  stress  of  weather  but 
by  neglect  &  miscalculation.  All  thro'  we  have  received  no 
sympathy  or  kindness  from  the  Captain.  And  from  beginning 
to  end  he  would  not  give  a  civil  answer.  And  that  we  are 
relieved  from  starvation  &  absolute  want  is  owing,  not  to 
him,  but  to  our  own  passengers.  We  have  been  prey  on 
which  the  entire  crew  have  rioted.  One  trunk  was  cut  open 
before  the  eyes  of  the  passenger  by  the  mate,  who  opened  the 
mail  letters,  &  said  he  had  $10,000  worth  of  things.  A  Boat 
full  of  the  crew  have  made  off  with  their  booty  &  more  are 
now  ready  to  depart.  Whether  we  can  recover  any  thing  on 
our  passage  money  &  our  loss  (which  to  the  passengers  must 
be  some  8  or  $10,000,  &  to  us  some  $130  prime  cost,  besides 
trunk  &  sermons,)  I  know  not;  but  common  justice  would 
seem  to  demand  it.  We  are  now  sitting  round  the  fire  (with 
the  Captain,)  &  sympathizing  with  you  in  your  anxiety  about 
us,  &  anxious  also  on  your  account.  Ma}^  both  of  us  be  guided 
&  blessed,  &  permitted  to  meet  soon  in  happiness. 

In  great  aff"  y""^ 

THOMAS  SMITH. 

^Ocracoke  Island  lies  just  south  of  Hatteras. — Ed. 


813 

I  ought  to  mention  that  there  are  two  other  vessels  who 
were  wrecked  the  same  night,  about  25  miles  off  on  the  same 
island,  both  Schooners,  the  James  L.  Somers,  &  the  Lady's 
Fancy  &  Sailors  Delight,  bound  I  believe,  for  Charleston — 
everything  destroyed — 

P.  S.  We  have  arrived  safe  at  Elizabeth  City  after  two  days 
voyage  in  a  little  craft.  All  well.  Will  leave  for  Norfolk  to- 
morrow. Margaret  is  writing.  I  got  my  lost  trunk,  but  en- 
tirely empty  except  water.  It  was  got  out  of  the  bottom  on 
Saturday. 

ELIZABETH  CITY.  N.  C. 
October  17,   1836. 
Monday  Night. 
MY  BLESSED  MOTHER, 

Mrs.    Smyth         Thank  God.  we  are  at  last  in  safety  &  comfort, 
to  but  oh  Mother!  what  we  have  endured  &  suffered 

Mrs.  Adger.  £qj.  ^|^g  |^g^  8  or  9  days  you  have  no  idea  of — & 
all  our  sufferings  have  been  aggravated  by  the  thought  of  the 
uneasiness  you  would  all  feel  on  our  account. —  We  have  had 
no  possibility  of  conveying  you  any  intelligence  or  having 
communication  with  any  one.  Mr.  Smith  has  a  long  letter 
written  to  Father  giving  him  a  particular  account  of  our 
wreck,  which  he  designed  dropping  in  the  first  Post  Office — 
besides  this  he  addressed  him  a  note  by  Mr.  Wilson,  seedsman 
in  King  Street,- — Mr.  Cohen  &  several  others  promised  us  they 
would  call  &  tell  you  we  were  alive  &  well. —  To  Mr.  S's  letter 
I  refer  you  at  present  for  the  history  of  our  wreck  &  of  the 
time  we  spent  at  Pea  Island  or,  as  it  otherwise  called,  Bodies 
Island.  On  Wednesday  evening  15  of  us  were  landed  from 
one  small  boat  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Island  on  which 
stands  Hatteras  light  House,  called  here  Chicamicamico — it  is 
inhabited  altogether  by  fishermen  &  wreckers,  a  simple,  igno- 
rant, indolent,  dirty  people,  yet  withal  very  kind  hearted — 
here  we  lived  on  pork,  corn  bread,  &  sweet  potatoes,  with  a 
kind  of  coffee  sweetened  with  molasses,  &  slept  on  the  dirty 
floor,  ten  in  a  room. —  The  rest  of  the  passengers  were  dis- 
tributed over  the  Island,  &  fared  just  as  we  did. —  Two,  the 
only  2,  schooners  were  chartered  to  convey,  the  one  50,  the 
other  30  passengers  to  Charleston,  but  they  were  badly  pro- 
vided with  water  &  food,  and  have  no  accommodations  for 
sleeping ;  &  if  they  have  contrary  winds  I  fear  they  will  suffer. 
We  could  not  have  obtained  a  passage  if  we  had  chosen,  as 
the  number  was  completed  before  we  heard  of  it — but  we 
would  not  have  liked  to  risk  so  uncertain,   so  precarious  a 


313 

conveyance;  others  took  open  canoes  to  Ocracoke,  where 
stands  the  Light  House,  60  miles  distant,  but  how  they  will 
get  from  thence  is  uncertain,  they  may  have  to  return  to  this 
place. —  Tuesday  morning. — Mr.  Day  of  King  St.  (who  has  5 
young  ladies  with  him),  another  gentleman  &  his  wife,  &  3 
single  men,  with  Mr.  S.,  chartered  a  small  schooner  of  30  tons 
to  sail  first  fair  wind  for  this  place — 60  miles  distant.  The 
wind  was  fair  on  Sabbath  morning — ^Ir.  S.  demurred,  but  we 
urged  him,  &  the  other  passengers  would  not  wait,  &  so  in  a 
heavy  rain,  without  umbrellas,  we  went  on  board,  getting  thor- 
oughly wet — happily  it  cleared  off  after  2  or  3  hours  &  we 
were  enabled  to  get  our  cloaks  &  shoes  dry.  We  were  36 
hours  in  crossing  the  sounds,  sleeping  in  the  hold,  upon  a 
blanket,  covered  with  our  cloaks  &  quite  sea  sick;  our  pro- 
visions gave  out  but  happily  we  did  not  suffer  long — a  good  & 
plentiful  supper  here  &  a  comfortable  bed,  &  a  good  break- 
fast this  morning,  makes  us  all  well  again — we  are  obliged  to 
remain  here  today — tomorrow  a  stage  will  take  us  to  Norfolk, 
40  miles,  where  we  will  take  the  Steam  Boat  of  the  27th.  We 
had  hoped  the  New  Boat  would  have  been  ready  to  go  on 
first  Thurday,  but  in  this  we  are  disappointed.  It  may  seem 
a  long  time  for  us  to  wait  until  the  27th,  but  we  think  in  the 
end  it  will  prove  the  speediest  &  certainly  the  most  comfortable 
— indeed  there  is  no  other  mode  of  getting  on  unless  we  take 
the  stage  all  the  way,  which,  even  if  we  get  seats  (which  I 
doubt)  would  be  too  fatiguing — more  than  any  of  us  can 
stand.  Indeed,  dear  Mother,  we  are  almost  beat  out.  I  have 
feared  for  Mr.  S.  but  he  has  kept  up  his  spirits,  &  stood  it 
wonderfully — now  he  needs  rest. — ^Poor  Susan  looks  worst — 
oh  Mother !  what  I  suffered  with  her  on  that  desolate  island — 
it  seemed  to  me  as  if  I  could  not  keep  up — she  has  been  much 
dejected  all  the  time,  &  still  her  cr}-  was  "Oh,  my  Mother!" 
This  morning  she  is  more  cheerful  than  I  have  seen  her  yet, 
she  says  'she  is  now  on  the  main  land,  &  has  some  prospect 
of  getting  home' — she  is  now  sitting  at  the  fire  in  my  room 
reading — Mr.  S.  is  busy  brushing  his  'Boston  wrapper'  &  in- 
viting her  to  darn  a  hole  in  it  for  him,  wh..  he  says  she  must 
have  torn,  as  he  known  nothing  about  it. — 

As  regards  our  baggage  we  have  been  among  the  fortunate, 
we  just  lost  our  band  box,  containing  3  new  bonnets,  Mr.  S's 
present  to  yon,  Susan,  &  myself ;  &  his  small  trunk,  wh.  con- 
tained some  half  dozen  very  rare,  old  hooks,  valuable  pam- 
phlets, &  some  of  his  best  sermons,  a  pair  of  new  boots  & 
shoes,  his  flannel  shirts  &  drawers — &c.  &c. — &  2  very  hand- 
some little  chaly  dresses  wh.  Susan  had  made  for  Sarah  Ann 


3U 

&  little  Sue,  with  a  little  Merino  dress  &  Cap  I  had  for  little 
Bellinger.'  These  have  all  gone,  but  our  own  trunks,  with  one 
containing  Mr.  S.  shirts  &c.  &  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  we  have 
saved,  &  they  are  perfectly  dry  &  in  good  order.  Many  of 
the  passengers  have  lost  every  thing — some  have  found  their 
trunks  cut  open,  others  the  locks  forced,  &  all  that  was  valu- 
able taken  out;  some  have  their  trunks  &  every  article  satu- 
rated with  water — rich  dresses,  worked  collars  &  capes,  bon- 
nets, &  every  article  of  female  dress  were  flying  about  the 
beach,  &  thrown  about  by  the  sailors  &  firemen.  Oh  Mother, 
there  was  foul  play  on  board  that  boat !  The  passengers  are 
much  exasperated  against  the  Capt.  &  also  the  owners  of  the 
Boat — &  I  suppose  there  will  be  some  publications  about  it. — 
Tell  Mom  Sue''  in  all  my  distress  I  have  saved  her  child's 
basket,  but  they  must  both  go  without  their  new  frocks. — We 
think  it  quite  possible  Robt.,  Jane,  &  Eliz.  may  be  with  us  in 
the  Norfolk  boat,  how  glad  I  am  they  did  not  sail  with  us  from 
N.  Y.  We  tried  hard  to  be  with  you  before  them,  &  expected 
to  be  so  at  least  3  weeks — but  Providence  has  ordered  it 
differently. —  When  we  left  N.  Y.  Mr.  S.  had  some  $4.  or  $5. — 
on  the  Island  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  borrow  $50  from 
Lewis  Y.  Chupein — &  here  he  has  got  $200.  from  Mr.  Will- 
iams ;  for  wh.  last  he  has  given  a  draft  on  Father  in  favour  of 
Thos.  P.  Williams  of  Charleston.  There  was  great  distress 
among  the  passengers  for  money,  few  had  any — the  Capt. 
refused  assistance,  &  the  Islanders  would  do  nothing  without 
they  were  well  paid  for  it —  They  charged  $25.  for  bringing 
our  baggage  from  the  wreck  to  the  house  where  we  stayed.  $70. 
for  bringing  us  here.  $4.  each  for  board,  &  so  on.  The  day 
before  we  left,  Capt.  Halsey  told  Mr.  S.  he  saw  his  trunk  on 
the  beach,  that  it  was  that  day  got  out  of  the  boat.  Mr.  S. 
hired  a  canoe  ($3.50)  &  started  next  morning  at  day  light  to 
the  wreck — he  found  his  trunk  indeed,  but  it  was  open,  empty, 
&  soaking  wet — &  his  sermons  &  other  papers  whose  loss  we 
most  lament  were  not  to  be  seen. — 12  o'clock — Sandiford 
Holmes  with  his  wife  &  daughter,  Mrs.  Kerrison  &  her  son,  & 
several  other  passengers  have  just  arrived,  cold  &  spiritless, 
not  knowing  how  they  will  get  on,  or  what  they  will  do — we 
have  secured  the  first  stage — everybody  here  for  themselves. — 
My  dear  Mother,  I  know  not  when  we  shall  be  at  home — God 
only  knows  when,  if  ever,  we  shall  meet  again. —  We  have  told 
you  our  present  plans,  if  we  are  able  to  execute  them — we  may 

'Presumably,   Dr.   Bellinger's   child. — Ed. 

'The    old    nurse,    belonging    to    Mrs.    Adger    and    nurse    to    her 
children  first.     See  "Life  and  Times,"  John  B.  Adger,  p.  44.— Ed. 


315 

not  get  the  stage  tomorrow — it  is  to  come  from  Norfolk. — 
This  is  a  poor  place,  not  a  stage,  nor  mail,  nor  anything,  all 
goes  by  the  way  of  Norfolk. —  We  are  rejoiced  to  hear  of  the 
health  of  Charleston.  May  God  preserve  you  all  until  we  meet 
again.  Kiss  my  dear  children  for  me,  07ice  I  thought  we 
would  not  see  them  again.  &  that  they  must  serve  to  remind 
you  of  all  you  had  lost. — ^Mr.  S.'s  &  Susan's  kind  love  with 
mine  to  dear  Father  &  Wm,  &  all  friends. 

Yours  most  truly — 

MARGARET— 
All  safe  at  Norfolk — Wednesday  19th. 

M.  M.  A.  S. 

Further  ^  experienced  another  very  severe  and  stormy 

experiences  passagc  ou  board  The  Collins  Steamer  Atlantic, 
^*  ®^^'  when   the   shaft   was   broken   and   we   were   con- 

siderably disabled. 

My  voyage  in  the  Cunard  Steamer  Euro  pa  (?)  in  1846  was' 
very  remarkable.  A^Tr.  Lyelf  the  Geologist  was  on  board — 
also  the  Rev.  Dr.  Scott  and  Rev.  Dr.  Backus  (now  of  Balti- 
more). 

We  sailed  from  Boston  via  Halifax,  and  for  two  days  passed 
through  an  army  of  Icebergs,  which  seemed  to  threaten  to 
freeze  up  the  tropics  and  congeal  the  ocean.  We  counted  in 
sight  sixty,  one  of  which  Mr.  Lyell  calculated  to  be  1500  feet 
in  height,  as  it  was  visible  over  the  masts  of  a  vessel  some 
miles  off. 

Several  were  covered  with  birds.  They  were  of  all  variety 
of  shapes  and  suggestive  of  all  possible  castles,  towers,  and 
magnificent  objects.  One,  while  we  were  passing  close  by,  and 
within  hearing  of  the  multitudinous  birds  congregated  upon 
it,  broke  in  two,  and  each  part  with  tremendous  roar  like  that 
of  thunder  tumbled  over  into  the  depths,  creating  terrible  con- 
vulsion in  the  sea  and  consternation  among  the  birds. 

During  ^this  voyage  I  manufactured  from  the  raw  material 
the  three  last  sermons  used  at  the  close  of  our  long  revival — 
my  little  work  on  Union  to  Christ  and  to  his  church  which, 
with  my  work  on  Confirmation,  was  published  in  Edinburgh 
by  Mr.  Kennedy.  This  work  constituted  the  nucleus,  and  is 
in  substance  embodied  in  "The  Well  in  the  Valley."^ 

"Charles  Lyell,  Pres.  Geological  Society,  knighted  in  1848.  He 
was  returning  to  England  after  a  year  of  lecturing  in  America  in 
1845-46.  In  the  MS.  Dr.  Smyth  gives  this  date  as  1844,  but  all 
internal  evidence  shows  it  to  be   1846. — Ed. 

^See  vol.  VIII,  p.  395,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


316 

On  the  subject  of  the  sea  I  may  mention  that 

at°°sea.  °^         twice  it  has   eng-ulphed   or  destroyed  cargoes   of 

imported    books     (and    mine    have    been    chiefly 

such),  once  when  uninsured  to  the  value  of  some  $300.,  and 

once  when  insured,  to  a  greater  loss. 

Dr.  Smyth  Qn  occasion  of  preaching  my  two  Discourses 

agafn'^st^'^he  ^u  the  opcuiug  of  the  ucw  Theatre^  in  1838  there 
Theatre.  was  great  cxcitcment,  as  they  were  advertised  and 

preached  before  the  evening  of  its  opening,  and  the  work  al- 
luded to  in  them  had  been  going  on  during  that  very  Sabbath. 
I  was  threatened  with  an  assault  if  I  preached  the  Second  in 
the  evening.  A  few  of  m}^  people,  Mr.  Fanning  among  the 
number,  insisted  on  accompanying  me  home,  which  we  reached 
without  any  interruption.  In  view  of  preaching  on  that  oc- 
casion I  endeavoured  to  secure  a  cooperation  of  ministers, 
especially  our  own,  in  preaching  on  the  subject  in  their  own 
pulpits  or  on  a  union  occasion,  but  all  declined.  Two  scur- 
"rilous  replies  were  attempted.  Mr.  Abbott  the  Manager  how- 
ever, as  was  told,  discouraged  them,  saying  that  a  heavy  blow 
had  been  struck  &  they  had  better  not  provoke  another. 

Fact.  Warm  Springs,  Aug.  i860. 

A  Mr.  Jefferson  of  Va.  who  owns  a  Stock  farm  in  this 
neighbourhood,  introduced  himself  to  me,  saying  that  we  had 
been  together  and  ridden  together  at  the  Hot  Springs  some 
three   years   ago,   when   he   had   introduced   to   me   a  young 

clergyman  of  our  church,  by  name   .  .  .  ; who  was  in 

a  very  miserable  and  dangerous  state  of  mind,  so  as  to  have 
abandoned  the  ministr)^     He  had  come  to  doubt  ever}^  thing. 

He  w^as  present  during  a  long  and  earnest  discussion  I  held 
with  a  bold  and  impious  Armenian  who  put  God  to  vtvy  im- 
pious defiance.  We  pursued  the  conversation  alone,  and  also 
on  another  occasion,  when  he  revealed  his  difficulties  which 
had  been  touched  upon,  receiving  earnestly  sound  views  and 
advices  I  presented.     Mr.  Jefferson  wished  he  said,  to  let  me 

know   that   the   Rev.   Mr had   received   material 

benefit  from  our  communications  and  was  now  preaching  in 
Albermarle  Co.  with  great  ability  and  acceptance.  Laus  Deo. 
(Note  1859.)  The  only  remaining  letter  of  my 
dSis  ^^™^^  youngest  Br.  Robert,  enclosed  in  one  from  Isa- 
bella giving  account  of  the  death  of  my  Second 
eldest  Br.  Samuel,  who  died  of  Cholera  on  his  way  home  from 

'Published  without  request,  vol.  V,  page  303,  Smyth's  Works. 
The  Theatre  was  in  Meeting  St.  on  the  west  side,  below  Market. 
—Ed. 


317 

N.  Orleans  at  \'icksburg.  He  died  a  member  of  the  Indiana 
legislature.  He  was  highly  educated  and  a  man  of  great 
reading.  James  was  wild  and  the  first  to  leave  home,  from 
pure  love  of  adventure.  Mother  persuaded  Samuel  to  go 
after  and  take  care  of  him.  William  followed  Samuel  and 
Robert,  William,  and  all  to  Vincennes  Ind.  whither  Mother 
and  Father  and  Isabella  went,  when  I  went  to  Princeton. 

William^  fought  in  Florida  and  Mexico  and  probably  died 
there. 

VINCEXXES  May  19,  1834. 
MY  DEAR  THOMAS, 

Death  of  ^  ^™'  ^^  Order  to  give  vent  to  my  heavy,  strick- 

Samuei  Smith,  en  heart,  sitting  down  to  write  you.  You  have 
J""'  no  doubt  received  our  Father's  letter  telling  you 

of  our  noble,  highminded,  beloved  Sam's  death  on  board  the 
Steam  boat  Warren,  of  cholera,  and  of  his  burial  in  Vicks- 
burgh,  Mississippi,  but  a  thousand  letters  could  not  tell  you  of 
the  intense,  bitter,  withering  agony,  endured  by  me ;  for  sev- 
eral days  after  I  heard  it,  I  felt  as  though  I  had  no  heart,  I 
could  not  even  feel  it  heat.  We  were  in  hourly  expectation 
of  his  return  home,  when  the  stunning  news  came,  no  one 
knows  how  much  I  loved  him,  he  was  so  much  like  our 
Mother,  so  honorable,  so  talented,  so  retiring,  so  feeling,  so 
every  thing  that  you  can  love ;  his  religious  opinions  were  not 
infidel  at  all,  he  believed  the  principles  he  was  raised  in  and 
that  is  all  I  can  say ;  and  it  was  the  very  Knowledge  of  his  not 
acting  on  them  that  made  me  regard  him  with  so  much  intense 
fervency,  but  the  Bible  says  ''the  memory  of  the  just  is 
blessed,"  and  hundreds  of  mourning  hearts  here  can  testify 
that  in  many  instances  he  has  wronged  himself,  but  not  others. 
lime  5,  1834.  Last  night  your  letter  to  Robert  came  to  hand, 
in  it  you  ask  the  particulars  of  my  own  noble  brother's  death. 
On  the  15th  of  April,  Thursday,  he  left  X'ew  Orleans  on 
board  the  Steam  Boat  Warren  for  Louisville ;  previous  to 
his  leaving  N.  O.  he  had  had  a  severe  but  short  attack  of 
illness,  but  was  almost  entirely  recovered,  on  Thursday  even- 
ing a  man  on  board  was  attacked  with  Cholera ;  his  brave  kind 
heart,  and  the  almost  frightful  familiarity  with  the  disease  in 
his  campaign  as  a  soldier  induced  him  to  attend  the  poor 
victim  he  sat  up  with,  and  others,  all  night ;  the  man  died  next 

^It  is  generally  believed  in  the  family,  that,  as  William  Smith 
was  last  heard  of  on  the  way  to  Japan,  his  death  took  place  in 
that  country.  Samuel  is  recorded  as  having  delivered  the  oration 
on  July  4,   1830,  at  Vincennes. — Ed. 


318 

morning ;  all  day  Sam  felt  a  little  unwell,  about  6  in  the  even- 
ing he  took  a  dose  of  calomel  and  went  to  bed,  about  lo  he 
waked  up  a  physician  and  told  him  to  give  him  more  medicine ; 
he  was  attacked  shortly  after  with  spasms,  several  boatmen 
from  Vincennes  came  to  wait  on  him,  also  2  Irishmen,  one  an 
old  and  tried  friend ;  every  thing  was  done,  rubbing,  blistering, 
salt  water  bath,  &c.  In  all  his  fierce  agony  he  never  com- 
plained, he  only  moaned ;  he  was  perfectly  sensible  to  the  last, 
he  told  them  he  had  the  Cholera — that  all  the  medicine  in  the 
world  could  not  save  him,  he  then  said  to  Mr.  Paterson,  his 
Irish  friend,  "go  and  get  my  coat,  take  my  pocket  book,  give 
it  to  Robert,  tell  him  I  want  him  to  have  everything  of  mine; 
and,"  said  he,  "if  it  is  possible,  when  I  die,  bury  me  decently." 
He  continued  worse  and  worse,  about  half  past  5  the  boat  came 
to  Vicksburg.  2  physicians  were  sent  for,  in  which  measure 
he  acquiesced ;  they  could  do  nothing  for  him ;  at  6  o'clock  he 
— died.  Saturday  morning,  the  next  day,  was  his  birth  day. 
They  got  a  good  coffin  made,  bought  some  bleached  domestic 
for  a  shroud  and  buried  him  in  5  hours  after  in  Vicksburg,  a 
town  containing  600  inhabitants,  on  the  banks  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Almost  all  the  rest  that  died  (17)  were  rolled  up  in  their 
blankets,  a  hole  dug  at  the  ist  wood  yard  they  stopped  at,  and 
there  laid.  I  have  had  the  melancholy  satisfaction  of  convers- 
ing with  his  physician  and  learning  from  him  these  particulars. 
There  never  was  a  man  so  universally  loved  and  lamented 
here,  he  was  a  friend  to  all,  as  for  me  I  can  cay,  oh  how  ag- 
onizingly true,  with  "Childe  Harold" ! 

Twined  with  my  heart  and  can  I  deem  thee  dead, 

When  busy  memory  flashes  on  my  brain? 

Well — I  will  dream  that  we  again  may  meet, 

And  woo  the  vision  to  my  vacant  breast 

If  aught  of  young  remembrance  then  remain, 

Be  as  it  may  futurity's  behest, 

For  me  't  were  bliss  enough  to  know  thy  spirit  blest. 

He  has  gone  and  forever,  the  being  on  whom  my  fondest, 
purest  affections  were  centered ;  where  ? — oh  I  cannot,  will 
not,  give  up  the  precious  hope  that  he  is  with  our  Mother;  the 
principles  she  implanted  in  infancy,  tho'  obscured,  had  not 
been  forgotten  by  him. 

June  9.  This  letter  has  been  detained  a  long  time.  We  are 
all  well,  I  have  not  mentioned  Anna  and  Mr.  Plunket — she  is 
still  my  own  one  sister,  he  is  everything  you  can  wish  almost, 
I  love  him  so  very  dearly,  and  their  darling  Anna.  Will  you 
give  my  fond  love  to  your  wife  and  dear  little  baby.     Kiss 


319 

them  both  loo  times,  if  we  do  not  meet  on  earth,  Hope  points 
to  the  "Better  Land ;"  I  am  so  hurried  lest  the  mail  should 
close;  but  you  know  that  I  love  you  devotedly,  I  will  never 
be  the  "Isabella"  you  saw  last,  my  heart  is  blighted  much  and 
deep;  do  accept,  both  your  dear  wife  and  yourself,  my  fond 
fervent  love,  I  long  much  to  see  you  both,  but  you  can  study 
your  business  best;  all  that  I  have  written  seems  a  dream,  but 
it  is  too  true,  he  is  gone, 

Good-bye  dear  Thomas,   all   send  their  love  to   your   dear 
family. 

Your  fond  sister, 

ISABELLA. 

DEAR  THOMAS, 

Robert  Smith  ^  intended  writing  you,  but  as  Isabella  has  un- 
to his  dertaken  and  accomplished  the  particulars  of  poor 
brother.  Sam's  last  momcuts,  I  will  only  say  so  far  as  we 
have  heard,  every  thing  she  says  is  the  fact.  He  is  gone  and 
forever,  peace  be  to  his  memory,  in  his  death  I  have  lost  a 
Brother  that  was  as  dear  to  me  as  life,  a  friend  that  cant  be 
replaced ;  and  in  fact,  so  it  is  with  every  one  that  Knew  him, 
Knox  County  has  a  vacum,  that  cannot  be  filled ;  but  what 
need  one  pine  and  fret,  it  is  a  debt  we  all  owe,  God  gave  and 
God  taketh  away ;  his  attack  cannot  be  accounted  for  by  any 
act  of  imprudence  or  what  not,  so  it  was  he  had  to  go,  and  he 
stood  it  like  a  man  as  he  was.  He  has  laboured  hard  and  close 
ever  since  he  came  to  the  country,  and  although  him  and 
James  never  made  money  to  hoard  away,  they  still  had  plenty 
to  live  on,  and  he  has  left  enough  honestly  acquired  claims 
behind  him  to  pay  all  his  debts.  I  have  written  to  a  friend 
of  mine  living  in  Vixburgh  to  have  a  Toomb  Stone  put  over 
his  grave,  with  an  inscription  suitable  to  his  character.  He  is 
an  Irishman  well  acquainted  with  Sam  during  his  life  time, 
and  very  capable  of  doing  same,  he  owes  me  about  $100.00  and 
will  freely  pay  the  expense  on  a/c  of  same  or  any  other  way, 
he  is  a  Belfast  man  too ;  his  name  is  James  H.  Hunter.  I  trust 
by  this  time  your  health  is  improved,  and  that  you  and  your 
dear  Margaret  may  be  enabled  to  pay  us  a  visit  this  Summer, 
we  have  plenty  of  room  for  you  and  God  Knows  I,  yovir 
youngest  Brother  Robert,  and  all,  would  be  much  pleased  to 
see  you,  and  willing  to  spend  the  last  cent  he  had  in  giving  or 
getting  anything  our  Country  can  afiford,  such  as  we  have  your 
welcome  to  it,  and  at  any  time,  with  love  to  all, 
I  remain  your  Ever  affectionate 

Brother  ROBERT  SMITH. 


320 

P.  S.  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  mention  about  James  and 
William,  the  former  has  been  unfortunate.  He  and  his  partner 
having  lost  by  fire  $19,000.,  $4000.  of  which  was  an  individual 
loss  to  his  partner  Mr.  Welch,  the  remaining  $15,000.  equal, 
that  is  $7,500.  each  lost,  there  was  a  subscription  of  $12,000. 
raised  and  offered  to  them,  but  they  both  declined  receiving  a 
cent,  James  thinks  that  in  two  years  if  they  have  their  health, 
they  will  make  up  the  loss.  William  is  at  the  South,  doing  no 
good  for  himself  or  any  body  else,  as  far  as  I  can  learn ;  he  has 
not  written  home  since  he  left.  I  gave  him  a  $100.00  the  day 
he  left,  he  would  not  stay  here  atal  because  he  was  so  watched 
he  could  not  do  as  he  pleased ;  suffice  it  to  say  he  is  a  gone 
case.  R.  S. 

The  unprinted  portions  of  the  following  series  of  letters  con- 
tain news  of  the  Adger  family  connection;  in  Charleston,  Winns- 
boro,  Kinderhook,  and  far-away  Smyrna;  as  well  as  Mrs.  Smyth's 
comments  on  the  accounts  received  from  her  Mother  of  the  im- 
provement of  the  two  sisters  who,  under  Mrs.  Adger's  care,  were 
in  Paris  receiving  treatment  for  spinal  curvature.  The  elder, 
Susan,  was  at  once  told  by  the  great  surgeon  that  her  case  was 
hopeless;  but  keeping  this  to  herself,  she  endured  the  whole  of 
the  painful  and  tedious  treatment,  lest  she  discourage  her  beau- 
tiful young  sister.  Lovely  Jane  Ann  was  cured,  but  some  years 
after  the  trouble  returned;  she  and  Susan  lived  together  for  the 
rest  of  their  lives. 

Mrs.  Smyth's  letters  also  tell  of  the  frightful  ravages  of  Scarlet 
fcA^er  among  the  children  of  the  congregation. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  Aug.  15.  1837. 
DEAR  SISTER, 

Dr  Smyth  to  Altho  I  am  at  this  time  very  much  pressed, 
Miss  Susan  with  occupatious  manifold,  yet  as  a  ship  goes  to- 
Adger.  morrow  to  Havre  I  will  write,  &  as  I  am  indebted 

to  you,  I  will  commence  my  foreign  correspondence  with  you. 
Margaret  &  Father  are  both  writing  so  that  you  will  be  put 
in  possession  of  our  present  family  politics.  We  are  still  at 
the  parsonage*  &  find  it  very  pleasant.  We  will  probably  re- 
move in  the  fall  to  the  "old  concern,'"  which  is  I  expect,  still 
the  best  stand  for  a  good  business  in  the  way  of  cooking  & 

*Dr.  Smyth's  residence  on  Spring  St. — Ed. 

^Mr.  Adger's  house  on  King  Street,  next  the  corner  of  Spring. 
The  two  lots  joined  at  tlie  back  and  the  corner  lot  was  used  by 
Mr.  Adger  as  a  ^'•ard.  Thus  when  they  went  from  one  house  to 
the  other  they  "went  round." — Ed. 


321 

consuming.  Margaret  is  pretty  well — Elizabeth*  well,  William, 
who  has  just  returned  from  a  trip  to  Augusta,  well — Sarah 
Ann  also  very  well — Susan  recovering  from  a  second  sickness 
&  about  as  good  natured  &  humble  as  ever — the  little  fellow 
growing  out  of  himself;  while  I  cannot  complain  except  of 
my  side  &  of  being  otherwise  better  than  I  deserve. 

There  is  not  much  change  in  church  affairs.  The  attend- 
ance is  perhaps  greater  at  church  &  much  at  Lecture.  The 
windows  will  probably  be  hung  &  the  benches  made  by  your 
return  as  we  are  to  have  a  meeting  &  an  altercation  about 
them  which  may  hurry  matters — but  I  cannot  promise.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  preached  the  Anniversary  Sermon  for  the  School, 
which  does  well  but  is  unrepresented  by  a  teacher  from  this 
family !  Mr.  Smith  has  been  till  towards  12  o'clock  last  night 
revising  the  rules,  so  that  we  may  have  the  ManuaF  printed  in 
the  course  of  a  year  or  two,  after  we  have  had  a  few  more 
meetings  &  maturely  considered  it.  It  is  not  wise  to  be  in  a 
hurry!  Mr.  McElhenny  is  indulging  a  bright  hope  of  salva- 
tion &  has  just  been  with  me.  He  gave  me  $30.  for  missions, 
besides  $5.  he  gave  to  the  Juvenile  Society,  where  we  got  for 
the  two  quarters  about  $70.  We  got  $20  at  Concert  last  week. 
Father  gave  $30.  &  William  5.  besides,  to  help  present  neces- 
sities. 

I  suppose  you  are  today  approaching  the  coast  of  France  & 
rejoicing  in  the  prospect  of  land,  &  all  its  comforts ;  I  hope 
with  renovated  health,  cheerful  spirits,  &  a  disposition  to  enjoy 
the  novelties  &  wonders  you  will  see.  There  is  no  reason  why 
it  should  be  otherwise,  for  we  are  after  all  only  three  weeks 
separated,  &  not  separated  from  Him  in  whose  presence  there 
is  all  comfort  &  joy.  I  have  no  doubt  your  situation  will  be- 
come much  more  tolerable  (if  not  pleasant,)  than  you  have 
feared.  The  chances  &  changes  of  a  year  are  indeed  many. 
But  a  few  years  will  terminate  them  all,  as  far  as  we  are 
concerned  &  in  Eternity  we  shall  fi.nd  ourselves  under  an 
unchanging  sky.  May  we  find  it  unchanging  bliss.  Mrs. 
Boyce  is  dead. 


"Elizabeth  Adger  was  a  niece  of  Mr.  James  Adger, — William, 
his  son;  Sarah  Ann,  Susan,  and  the  baby,  Adger,  Dr.  Smyth's 
children. — Ed. 

'The  Church  Manual  was  published  in  1838.  For  details  of 
Church  life,  and  portraits  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth  at  this  period, 
look  under  corresponding  date  in  that  section. — Ed. 


[211 


322 

We  have  heard  from  John.     All  well.     I  have  written  to 
him.     I  am  this  evening  to  marry  Mr.  Harrall  to  Miss  Anna 
Vardell!    Won't  you  come?    Do,  for  there  is  to  be  great  style. 
In  much  love  to  Mother/  James,  &  Jane  Ann  I  remain 

Yours  afif"'. 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

CHARLESTON,  August  30,  1837. 
Wednesday  Morning. — 

MY  VERY  DEAR  MOTHER,  * 

Mrs.  Smyth  Night  before  last  Father  brought  up  with  him 

to  the  little  box  &c.   you  left  in   Philadelphia — the 

Mrs.  Adger.  LungdoH  Cheves"  has  only  just  arrived. — ■  You 
would  have  been  delighted  to  see  Father  &  the  children  while 
I  was  opening  the  box — the  Parasols  he  opened  himself;  the 
joy  of  the  children  was  without  bounds — after  it  had  abated  a 
little,  Sarah  Ann  says —  "Well,  I  must  send  Grandmother  some- 
thing after  she  sends  me  all  this,  so  many  things" — her  Grand- 
father asked.  "What  would  she  send  ?"  At  first  she  thought  she 
would  send  you  her  "old  umbrella"  that  you  gave  her  before — 
but  at  last  concluded  upon  Grandfather's  suggestion  that  she 
would  send  "a  basket  of  potatoes." — Little  Sue's  momer'  too 
is  highly  pleased — but  Dye  thinks  "Miss  Susan  might  have 
sent  something  to  her  own  girl." — "Little  Jimmy's"  hat  just 
fits  &  as  he  can  now  hold  up  his  head,  he  looks  quite  like  a 

^Dr.  Smyth's  tender  reverence  for  his  mother-in-law  was  most 
beautiful  and  his  devotion  to  her,  as  well  as  to  Mr.  Adger,  un- 
failing. Both  of  the  old  people  were  very  deaf  and  when  the  hour 
came  for  family  prayer  they  both  knelt  near  Dr.  Smyth,  but  with 
Mrs.  Adger's  ear  trumpet  so  arranged  by  him  that  his  voice  should 
be  directed  immediately  into  it.  It  was  undoubtedly  with  a 
thought  of  her  and  of  his  well-beloved  sister-in-law,  Janey,  that 
in  summing  up  the  duties  of  deacons,  he  especially  mentions  the 
care  of  the  deaf.     See  vol.  IV,  p.  373,  Smyth's  Works. — Editor. 

^A  steam  packet  named  for  the  distinguished  statesman  and 
jurist,  Langdon  Cheves  of  South  Carolina,  whose  close  friendship 
for  James  Adger  dated  from  their  early  manhood,  when  the  self- 
educated  young  lawyer  from  the  up-country  was  given  a  bill  to 
collect  by  the  self-made  young  Irish  merchant  of  Charleston,  and 
refused  to  accept  more  than  a  small  fee,  in  spite  of  Mr.  Adger's 
protests.  Tradition  says  that  they  were  also  officers  in  the  same 
militia  company,  Langdon  Cheves  being  Captain.  See  Life  and 
Times  John  B.  Adger,  p.  35. — Ed. 

^This  is  Mrs.  Smyth's  spelling  of  "Mauma,"  the  old  Charles- 
ton name  for  a  nurse.  Dye  was  Miss  Adger's  maid,  acting  as 
nurse  also. — Ed. 


323 

Commodore — it  is  very  pretty  &  as  he  has  no  other,  it  will  be 
quite  serviceable. —  Lizzy's  scarf  &  mine  are  quite  acceptable — 
I  wore  mine  yesterday  afternoon  to  the  Society. —  Aunty  for- 
got Papa ;  however,  as  he  is  not  backward,  he  helped  himself  ; 
&  seized  immediately  upon  the  narrow  stock  &  has  worn  it 
ever  since.     "It  is,"  he  says,  "quite  the  thing."^- —     *     *     * 

Mr.  S.  wishes  to  send  you  the  daily  papers  but  especially, 
the  Observer— Father  thinks  it  useless  as  you  can  see  them  all 
at  the  news  rooms — You  will  get  from  them,  (if  you  see  them,) 
all  the  news,  much  of  which  I  forget,  &  much  of  which  I  could 
not  write  to  you. —  Mr.  S.  keeps  quite  well,  much  fatigued 
always  after  Sunday,  but  otherwise  he  is  getting  on. —  Susan's 
prophecy  about  his  fondness  for  his  boy  is  likely  to  prove 
correct — every  thing  &  ever}^  body  must  give  way  for  "the 
boy"— Mom  Sue  says,  his  eyes  are  not  big  enough  to  see 
him. — ■     *     *     * 

Evening. — ■ 

I  wish  Grandmother  could  have  seen  my  dear  little  group 
this  afternoon  after  they  were  drest  for  a  walk —  Diana  has 
made  up  the  light  frocks  their  Father  brought  very  neatly, 
with  tight  sleeves  &  frills  and  bodies ;  upon  Sarah  Ann  it  is 
quite  becoming — but  Sue  is  so  little — however  she  thinks  as 
much  of  her  "frilled  frock"  as  any  body — "the  boy"  too  has 
one  of  the  same  piece — they  were  all  equipped — with  the  para- 
sols, the  new  cap,  &  baskets — &c — i&c — &  Momer  •  &  Die  as 
proud  as  could  be. —  You  will  not  think  me  vain  (or  you  will 
pardon  it,  if  you  do,)  when  I  say  3  sweeter  children  you  can- 
not find — Sarah  Ann's  clear  blue  eyes,  fair  skin  &  ringlets — 
&  Sue's  coal  black  eyes — she  is  growing  pretty  &  will  in  time 
be  the  most  so  of  the  two. —     *     '■'     * 

Father  has  told  you  I  suppose,  that  he  had  sold  the  young 
Cow  for  $50.  to  Gilbert  Geddes — to  improve  his  stock : — since 
she  has  been  sold,  it  is  discovered  that  she  is  with  calf — Father 
has  scolded  us  all  round  for  not  knowing  it — says  he  could 
have  had  $100  for  her,  if  he  had  known  it. —     *     *     =i< 

The  Summer  is  wearing  away — the  city  &  neck  quite  healthy 
— &  I  trust  we  will  escape  all  fever — &c — &c — soon  the  folks 

^Dr.  Smyth  was  always  fond  of  dress,  and  confessed  in  later 
years  to  one  of  his  congregation  how  much  attention  he  had  paid 
to  the  cut  of  his  coats,  and  how  fond  he  was  of  his  large  circular 
cloak,  which  he  endeavoured  to  dispose  in  loose  folds  about  his 
shoulders,  allowing  it,  as  the  sermon  proceeded,  to  drop  gradually 
down. — Ed. 


324 

will  be  returning  from  the  North — but  we  will  have  a  long 
winter,  &  then  a  long  wearisome  summer  to  pass  thro'  before 
we  need  to  look  for  you — oh,  who  of  us  may  be  in  the  cold 
grave  before  that  time! —     *     *     =k 

Most  affectionately  &  gratefully, 

YOUR  MARGARET. 

These  letters  are  all  addressed  thus: 
Mrs.  James  Adger 

Mons.    D.    B.   Warden 
Rue  de  pot  de  fer 

St.   Sulpice   No.   lo 

A     Paris. —         Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  Sept.  24,  1837.— 
Monday  Evening. — 

Mrs.  Smyth     MY  VERY  DEAR  SISTER, 
to  her  sister         It  is  yoiir  turn  now  I  believe  to  receive  a  letter 
Susan.  from  me — I  have  just  got  my  little  ones  put  to  bed 

&  asleep,  finished  tea  &  finding  a  convenient  corner  at  the  table 
by  Mr.  S.'s  elbow,  I  have  seized  upon  it,  to  do  what  I  have 
been  intending  all  day,  commence  a  letter  to  you.  Mom  Sue 
has  been  in  bed  all  day,  the  Urst  time  since  you  left  home — ^& 
this  has  given  me  a  little  more  nursing  than  usual.  Father  is 
in  great  distress,  &  frequently  asks  me  if  I  attend  to  her.  I 
have  given  her  a  little  medicine,  &  hope  she  will  be  better  to- 
morrow. She  is  quite  uneasy  about  "the  boy,"  lest  Diana 
should  take  him  into  the  street,  &c — &c— &c — &  poor  Sue  has 
been  running  all  day  to  give  a  part  of  every  thing  she  had  to 
her  "poor,  sick  Momer." —  Let  me  now  draw  a  picture  for 
you. — Fancy  our  little  front  room — into  which  (to  please 
Father,)  I  have  put  the  two  ends  of  the  dining  tables;* — on 
the  table  between  the  piazza  windows  sits,  or  stands,  the  Astral 
Lamp — at  one  end  sits  Father  busily  poring  over  the  evening's 
paper ;  in  the  front  in  the  rocking  chair,  with  his  long  legs 
stretched  on  another  chair  is  Mr.  S.  reading  of  course!  at  his 
back,  &  opposite  Father — sits  Mrs.  S. — zvriting — whilst  Lizzy ,^ 
a  little  aside,  is  busy  with  "Peveril  of  the  Peak ;"  she  reads 
Rollin  in  the  morning  &  feels  herself  privileged  in  the  evening. 
Can't  you  see  us  all? —  We  are  now  anxiously  expecting  ac- 
counts of  your  arrival.     *     *     * 

*01d  dining  tables  were  made  in  three  sections,  the  two  end 
sections  standing  as  side  tables  against  the  wall  when  not  needed. 
—Ed. 

'Elizabeth  Adger.— Ed. 


825 

Sam  &  Sarah  Jane'  are  at  last  married — Mr.  S.  tied  the 
knot — two  days  after,  Sam  sent  him  a  note  containing  two 
$20.  bills — the  largest  fee  he  has  ever  had.  /  was  at  the  wed- 
ding— the  only  unconnected  lady — the  others  were  all  Johnsons 
or  Robinsons — the  room  was  quite  full — &  a  hot  supper  in 
Eliza  Lee's  best  style.  Sarah  Jane  looked  very  lovely — I  never 
saw  her  so  much  so.  They  had  no  attendants.  They  were  at 
church  twice  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  but  have  not  yet  been  at  the 
Lecture  Room. —     *     *     * 

The  other  churches  being  all  closed,  ours  is  now  quite  full, 
&  the  Lecture  Room  well  attended. —  Mr.  S.  keeps  quite  well 
— our  City  is  perfectly  healthy — it  has  never  been  known  to 
be  as  much  so.  Lest  I  forget  again — Mom  Sue  is  quite  well 
— she  only  lay  up  one  day — 'but  talks  a  great  deal  about  you 

&  mother. —  The  negroes  are  all  well. —  Betsy  is 
robiem^'^°        doiug  quitc  wcll  uow — Caroline  makes  potato-pone 

&  lives  in  the  bathing  house — much  to  Father's 
distress,  who  says  she  burns  more  fire-wood  than  she  pays 
wages. —  She  protests  she  buys  her  own  wood.  They  are  great 
plagues- — your  maid  Diana  has  quite  a  fancy  to  run  into  the 
street  at  night  after  she  puts  the  children  to  bed  &  I  have  had 
some  trouble  with  her. — She  is  getting  to  be  very  impudent. — 
Lizzie  can  not  get  on  with  her  at  all. — ■  I  have  not  employment 
for  them.  Rachel  has  had  nothing  but  the  washing  of  2 
people ;  but  to  put  them  out  as  Caroline  is — is  worse — for  I 
have  all  the  noise  &  bother  of  her  children ;  &  have  her  sitting 
about  the  yard  all  the  time  doing  nothing. —  These  negroes  are 
my  ''thorn  in  the  flesh" — I  do  heartily  pray  to  be  rid  of  them.' 
— I  must  make  another  complaint  to  Mother. —  Somebody  last 
night  stole  the  two  Turkey  gobblers  wh.  she  left — &  wh.  I  was 
keeping  for  Christmas  &  New  Year.  They  were  very  large  & 
fat  &  would  bring  $5.  or  $6.  I  have  had  Richard  all  morning 
looking  for  them,  have  sent  him  down  to  Market  &  will  send 
him  again  this  afternoon.  We  have  plenty  of  milk  &  use  fresh 
butter  altogether  on  the  table — but  our  stock  of  Rice  flour  is 
done — &  Father  will  not  get  any  more  because  somebody  tells 

°Son  of  Mr.  John  Robinson,  the  old  friend  of  the  family. — Ed. 

'Poor  Mrs.  Smyth  had  changed  her  views  since  her  letter  to 
her  brother  John  in  1832.  Caroline  probably  sold  potato  pone  at 
the  Bathing-house  at  the  Battery.  Betsy  was  the  wife  of  Francis, 
sexton  of  Second  Church,  a  free  man,  part  Indian.  Their  children 
were  Diana  (referred  to  above),  Sam  and  John  Dent  and  young 
Betsy.  Both  the  sons  were  Mrs.  Smyth's  house-servants  for 
many  years,  John  until  his  death  long  after  the  war.  Peter  was 
Mr.   Adger's   coachman. — Ed. 


him  it  spoils  the  butter — this  distresses  Richard  &  Mom  Sue — 
they  say  the  old  Cow  will  die  this  winter  if  she  does  not  get 
slop — old  Peter  advises  me  to  send  for  the  Flour  &  say  noth- 
ing to  Father  about  it.  "His  Misses  would  do  so — she  would 
have  the  Rice  Flour,  she  would  not  let  the  Cow  go  without 
it." —  The  old  Cow  will  fall  off  I  am  afraid. —  Rice  flour  is 
50  cts.  &  Peas  $1.75  pr.  bushel,  we  are  feeding  them  now  with 
Northern  potatoes. — This  I  have  no  doubt  is  all  very  enter- 
taining to  you,  but  it  is  part  of  my  troubles — &  often  I  wish 
that  my  dear,  good,  patient,  even  tempered  Mother  was  here  to 
mind  her  negroes,  &  cows,  &c.  &c.  &  make  every  body  do 
right  &  behave  well.  She  told  me  before  she  left  that  she  had 
given  them  their  clothes  until  she  would  return — but  they  are 
all  at  me  for  their  winter  clothes — &  I  know  not,  zvhat,  nor 
how  much  to  give  them. — Poor  me — I  am  troubled — what 
shall  I  do!     *     *     * 

My  boy  grows  finely,  &  never  cries —  *  *  * 
You  would  laugh  to  hear  Sue  talking — she  speaks  so  very 
plainly — &  is  so  little — she  is  a  fairy. —  I  had  her  with  me  the 
other  day  in  Mrs.  Gidere's  store- — the  old  lady  offered  her 
something — 'T  don't  want  that,"  says  Sue  "I  want  a  spool ;" 
"Bless  me,"  says  the  old  lady — "hear  the  baby  talking,  I 
thought  she  was  a  baby — &  she  can  talk!" — Diana  had  her  up 
in  her  arms — She  gave  her  a  spool — "Now  one  for  Sarah 
Anne"  says  Sue. —  Mom  Sue  says  to  tell  Miss  Susan,  "Josey 
sends  howdy'  to  her  Missis" — &c. 

Sincerely,  your  attached  sister 

MARGARET. 

Thursday  Evening. 
CHARLESTON,  October  12,  1837. 

MY  DEAR  SISTER, 

Mrs.  Smyth  *     *     ^^  have  been  very  busy  moving  round 

to  her  sister  to  "dear  Grandmother's  house;"  *  *  Mr.  S.  & 
Susan.  Lizzie  say  it  is  like  a  dream  to  them  that  they 

have  been  out  of  it — but  it  is  not  so  with  me.  I  have  just  got 
comfortably  fixed.  I  would  not  have  moved,  had  not  Father 
seemed  to  wish  it — &  you  can't  think  how  pleased  he  seems 
that  we  are  here  again. —  When  round  with  us,  he  never  would 
take  the  foot  of  the  table  tho'  Mr.  S.  often  urged  it  on  him — 
&  Wm.  always  sat  there  before  Father  returned — but  as  soon 
as  we  came  here,  he  immediately  resumed  his  old  seat  &  says 
he  has  had  a  better  appetite  since.     *     *     * 


327 

Father  is  very  bti,sy,  &  wishes  Robert  here — he 
he     ugusta    -^^^  ^^  appointment  with  Gen.  Hamilton,  Hayne, 

Convention.  '^'^  '  j       ' 

Cheves — &  all  the  great  men,  to  a  convention  to  be 
held  next  week  in  Augusta,  about  an  "Importing  Company."^ 

Father  &  Lizzie  have  gone  to  hed — Mr.  S.  is  still  reading, 
but  calling  at  me  to  go— half  past  lo — Good  night. —     *     *     * 

Saturday  morning,  Oct  14, 

Yesterday  morning  dear  Sister,  we  were  gratified  at  receiv- 
ing a  letter  from  you  and  one  from  Mother.  *  *  j  thank 
you  for  it ;  *  *  it  diverted  Father  very  much  when  he  came 
home  to  dinner,  for  he  did  not  open  yours  down-town,  lest,  as 
he  said,  "he  would  have  his  head  broke."  *  *  We  had  the 
two  little  girls  dressed  up  with  their  sun-bonnets  a  la  Francais. 
*  ■  *  This  time  last  year  we  were  ^t  Pea  Island,  and  there, 
or  in  a  worse  condition,  I  am  afraid,  is  the  Steam  Boat 
Home. 

The  ladies  of  the  Cong'n  have  presented  Mr.  S.  a  very 
handsome  new  gown,  belt,  &  jacket. —     *     *     * 

Saturday  eveg.  When  they  missed  "old  Mosser"  this  morn- 
ing-— Sarah  Anne  wanted  to  know  if  he  had  gone  to  bring  dear 
Grandmother  &  Aunty. — &  has  asked  me  several  times  "Why 
you  would  not  come  home  with  him."  My  dear  Susan,  you 
cannot  think  how  lonely  we  are — if  it  were  not  for  these 
children  I  do  not  know  what  we  would  do — they  are  great 
company  for  Father,  he  plays  with  them  all — but  Sue  most. 
It  is  the  prevailing  opinion  to  day  that  the  Home  is  lost  & 
all  on  board  perished — how  melancholy. —  In  much  love  to 
dear  Mother,  James,  &  Janey — from  all 

Yours  as  ever 

MARGARET. 

CHARLESTON,  Oct.  28,   1837. 
^     ^     .j^  Sabbath  Afternoon. 

Diana  sits  opposite  me  with  my  boy  on  the  floor — ■ 
Sarah  Ann  &  Sue  are  sitting  singing,  "Let  Dogs  delight  &c" 
— Sue  has  just  called  out  "Sa-Ann,  preachers  don't  sing" — 
"yes"  replies  Sarah  Ann,  "papa  sings  in  church." —     *     *     * 

*The  Charleston  Courier  of  Oct.  17,  1837,  mentions,  as  then 
sitting,  this  convention  on  the  Direct  Import  and  Export  trade  in 
the  South;  this  was  an  effort  to  devise  methods  by  which  the  cot- 
ton trade,  in  particular,  could  be  carried  on  without  recourse  to  bills 
of  exchange  on  Northern  banks.  The  trade  of  Augusta  and  the 
West  was  being  sought  after,  and  railroads  and  banks  established. 
The  Courier  of  Oct.  7  gives  the  list  of  delegates  with  James 
Adger's  name  among  them.  James  Hamilton,  Jr.,  Robert  Y. 
Hayne,  and  Langdon  Cheves  are  the  three  men  referred  to. — Ed. 


328 

Mr.  S.  is  so  much  in  his  study, — most  frequently  dines  & 
takes  tea'  before  he  comes  home  &  we  only  see  him  at  break- 
fast.    *     *     * 

Father  has  a  cold  *  *  he  does  not  like  to  lie  alone  and 
wants  Sue  to  sleep  with  him,  but  I  am  afraid  she  would 
trouble  him. 

Inscription  in  Dr.  Smyth's  handwriting  in  Mrs.  Smyth's  copy 
of  his  "Sermon  on  the  Loss  of  the  Steam-Packet  Home."^ 

To 
Her 

Who  loves  me — &  whom  I  love 

best; 

and  for  whose  sake  alone  I 

desire  aught  of  earthly  fame 

or  worldly  greatness ; 

is 

This  Sermon 

most  affectionately 

and  tenderly  inscribed 
by 

The  Author. 
November,  1837. 

Sabbath  Evening. — 

Nov.  19,  1837. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SISTER — 

Mrs.  Smyth  "'-  ^^^  ^^^  aloue,  &  the  mosquitoes  &  sleep  to- 

to  her  sister  gether  will  not  allow  of  my  reading,  so  I  have 
Susan.  taken  up  my  pen  &  commenced  a  letter  to  you,  to 

be  finished  some  time  again. —  It  is  the  evening  of  the  holy 
Sabbath. — Mr.  S.  is  still  absent.^  Mr.  Douglas  lectures,  Wm., 
Eliz.,  Henderson,  John  Adger,  &  Bob  Clark  have  gone  down. 
Robt.  asked  me  for  the  key  of  Mr.  S.  study  to  get  a  book,  & 
Jane  has  gone  to  help  him  choose  one.*.    Father  has  gone  to 

^With  some  member  of  the  congregation;  as  continued  to  be  his 
custom. — Ed. 

^This  sermon  with  a  full  account  of  the  disaster  will  be  found 
in  vol.  V,  p.  235,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

^Dr.  Smyth  was  in  Augusta  at  the  meeting  of  Synod. — Ed. 

^Robert  Adger  and  his  wife,  Jane,  (afterwards  known  as  Eliza), 
with  their  baby  daughter  Clarissa,  had  recently  returned  from 
Philadelphia.  Robert  Clark  and  John  Adger  (from  Winnsboro) 
were  cousins,  Henderson  a  young  Irishman  who  lived  in  the 
house. — Ed. 


Death    of 
Sarah    Ann 


329 

see  how  the  Lamps  in  the  street  burn,  he  is  Commissioner  of 
Cross  Roads,  &  takes  care  of  the  Lamps — so  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Jane's  baby  &  nurse  in  the  3d.  story,  &  my  three  sleep- 
ing Httle  ones  in  the  2d.  I  am  the  only  living  creature  in  the 
house.     =i=     *     * 

Tuesday  Evening, 

Nov.  28,-1837. 

Under  what  very  different  circumstances  do  I 
resume  my  pen,  dear  Sister — I  was  interrupted 
when  I  had  written  as  above  *  *  &  put  my 
letter  by — then  I  spoke  of  my  three  sleeping  little  ones — alas ! 
one,  the  most  promising  of  all — 'now  sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows 
no  waking- — Susan,  I  have  but  two  little  ones  now — &  how 
long  I  may  have  them  who  can  tell — when  I  wrote  before  my 
precious  Sarah  Ann  bid  fair  for  a  long  life — how  soon  has  she 
been  snatched  from  my  arms — 'oh  Susan !  I  cannot  realize  it. — 
*  *  Oh  Susan  I  it  is  easy  to  preach  about  being  resigned  and 
submissive  &  composed — to  others — &  I  have  done  so  before 
now,  but  it  is  different  when  called  to  feel  one's  self.  *  * 
Oh !  it  is  hard  to  bear  it.     *     *     * 

I  wrote  to  Mother  about  ten  days  ago — ^^I  told  her  of  the 
death  of  little  Isaac  Johnson  &  of  my  taking  Sarah  Ann  to  see 
him — it  is  not  yet  two  weeks  since  I  took  that  walk,  &  since 
she  laid  her  little  hand  upon  his  head,  &  shrunk  back  in  terror, 
at  its  coldness, — &  now  she  lies  as  stiff  &  cold  as  he. — Oh 
Susan,  I  think  my  heart  will  burst — I  cannot  bear  to  think  I 
shall  see  my  child  no  more!  Mr.  S.  has  already  written  to 
Mother  &  given  her  an  account  of  her  illness,  &  I  will  get 
Lizzie  &  Jane  to  write  you  more  particularly — at  present  I 
cannot.  I  write  now  incoherently  merely  to  suppress  my 
feelings  while  watching  over  little  Sue ;  she  was  well  this  morn- 
ing &  took  her  breakfast,  &  has  been  unusually  talkative  & 
livel}^ — at  noon  she  complained  of  her  throat  &  head — her 
Father,  much  alarmed,  immediately  sent  for  Dr.  Bellinger; 
when  he  came  the  child  was  playing  about ;  he  however  said 
her  throat  was  a  little  red  &  she  had  some  fever,  directed  me 
to  give  her  some  medicine,  wh.  I  did  &  am  now  watching  its 
operation.  She  is  not  ill  at  all,  &  at  any  other  time  we  would 
not  have  noticed  it — but  now  we  are  nervously  sensitive. — Mr. 
S.  is  distressingly  so — he  has  not  left  the  room  since  tea,  &  it 
is  now  near  ten. —  She  is  now  lying  in  the  crib  in  which  Sarah 
Ann  breathed  her  last —  (a  new  crib  Mr.  S.  bought  for  the 
boy,)  &  poor  "Dye"  sits  beside  her — Oh  Susan  could  you  but 


330 

see  us — how  little  do  you  know  our  situation,  how  little  do  we 
know  of  yours — what  may  you  not  be  suffering- ! — 

I  do  not  feel  alarmed  about  Susan — not  eyen  uneasy — but 
Mr.  S.  is;— but  it  was  different  with  dear  Sarah  Ann — from 
the  very  first  I  thought  her  ill — ^my  heart  sank  within  me  when 
she  first  said— "Mama,  look  in  my  mouth,  my  throat  hurts  m.e." 
— I  never  left  her  afterwards  save  for  a  few  moments  at  meal 
time° —  Elizabeth  took  charge  of  the  house,  Jane  assisting  her. 
*  *  Dear  Mrs.  Simonton  as  usual  proved  true.  *  *  Mom 
Sue  too ;  poor  Dye  never  left  the  room,  the  only  sleep  she  took 
was  on  a  chair  or  in  a  corner.     *     * 

Poor  Mr.  S.  it  is  a  great  trial  to  him. —  He  came  home  from 
Synod,  so  full  of  health  &  spirits  &  found  her  very  sick— but 
could  not,  or  did  not  think  her  dangerously  ill, — indeed  he 
engaged  to  tecture  in  the  Evening  &  'twas  not  until  he  came 
home  in  the  afternoon  that  he  thought  she  would  die.  &  then 
he  thought  she  would  last  many  days — he  could  not  realize 
it." —  Not  so  with  me — I  thought  all  day  she-  was  dying — & 
hung  over  her  in  agony  of  grief — but  no  one  thought  with 
me,  but  Jane ; — it  was  not  that  the  Dr.  concealed  her  state — 
he  said  from  the  first — "She  is  very  sick," — &  "I  cannot  say 
she  is  any  better"— but  no  one  believed  she  could  die. — 

Wednesday  Morning. 
Susan  is  quite  sick  today — Bellinger  has  called  in  Dickson — 
they  pronounce  it  a  case  of  Scarlet  Fever — &  have  ordered  me 
to  keep  the  Boy  out  of  the  room  &  to  give  him  medicine — it 

^Mr.  Adger  had  a  number  of  gentlemen  dining  with  him  the 
day  Sarah  Ann  sickened,  which  troubled  poor  Margaret  greatly 
as  this  shows:  "About  ii  o'clock  I  came  down.  Father  had 
ordered  punch  &  the  gentlemen  seemed  disposed  to  sit  some 
time."     From   William  Adger,  Dec.   3,   1837. — Ed. 

°"Mr.  Smith  preached  as  usual  Sunday  morning  &  afternoon. 
In  the  afternoon  he  lectured  on  one  of  the  parables  and  was  very 
■warm  and  did  not  get  through  all  he  had  intended  to  say;  so  gave 
notice  that  he  had  not,  &  that,  altho'  he  had  not  intended  to 
preach  that  night,  his  child  being  very  sick,  he  would  notwith- 
standing, meet  them  at  7  oclock  and  finish  his  lecture:  he  did  not 
realize  at  all  her  danger."     From  William  Adger,  December  3,  1837. 

It  was  a  great  shock  to  him,  he  was  entirely  unprepared.  He 
went  in  to  the  tea  table  and  just  as  he  sat  down  a  messenger  came 
to  hear  how  Sarah  Ann  was. —  It  unmanned  him  completely  and 
he  wept  for  some  time.     *     *     * 

As  she  ceased  to  breathe  her  Father  said  "Suffer  her  to  come 
unto  me,  forbid  her  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
From  Mrs.  Robert  Adger,  November  30,   1837. — Ed. 


331 

may  be  the  decree  has  gone  out  that  I  am  to  be  written  child- 
less.—  Jane  is  to  keep  her  babe  in  3d  story.  Mr.  S.  has  just 
come  in  to  tell  me  not  to  be  alarmed  about  Sue,  it  is  a  most 
favourable  case —  I  hope  for  the  best — all  the  rest  are  well. 

Yours  in  love  &  haste 

M. 

I  have  had  a  great  many  visitors  this  morning  wh.  pre- 
vented me  from  writing  more. 

Dr.  Smyth  to  Miss  Adger. 

CHARLESTON  Dec.  3.  1837. 
VERY  DEAR  SUSAN, 

You  will  be  prepared  to  hear  that  another  woe 
SuTan   °  ^^  past— &  that  our  house  is  again  covered  with 

its  pall  of  sadness.  Yes,  it  is  too  true !  We  are 
again  in  mourning,  covered  with  sackcloth  &  ashes.  Susan  is 
no  more.  Your  own — ^our — sweet  little  Susan  is  no  longer 
an  inhabitant  of  earth.  Her  frame  is  no  more  convulsed — 
agonized  with  pain — or  preyed  upon  by  disease.  Its  hour  of 
trial  is  past  &  it  now  sleeps  the  placid  sleep  of  death.  She 
looks  just  as  you  have  seen  her  when  falling  into  a  tranquil 
sleep.  But  she  is  fast  yielding  to  the  power  of  death,  &  her 
form  &  features  as  we  have  seen  them  we  shall  see  again  no 
more  until  we  behold  them  raised  incorruptible  &  glorious. 
Tomorrow  morning  (Sunday)  at  9  o'clock,  she  is  to  be  buried 
in  the  same  grave  with  and  along-side  of  her  Sarah  Ann. 
Then — as  they  used  to  do  on  their  evening  bed — they  will  lie 
down  together  &  repose  thro'  the  night  of  the  grave.  They 
are  now  together  in  heaven.  On  Tuesday  last  when  Susan  was 
almost  boisterous  with  mirth  &  full  of  her  amusing  pranks,  she 
told  Margaret  &  myself  that  she  would  carry  a  piece  of  money 
Sarah  Ann  had  when  sick,'  up  to  her  to  heaven,  for  she  would 

''Dr.  Smyth  had  written  on  November  27, 

"I  had  promised  to  bring  her  a  potato  from  the  country, 
which  I  did,  with  some  other  little  things  with  which 
she  fondled.  On  Saturday  she  talked  to  me  about  rising  and 
about  eating  her  potato.  *  *  Margaret  has  been  very  much 
strengthened  and  is  now  endeavouring  with  myself  to  fill  her  soul 
with  the  assurance  of  the  present  &  eternal  glory  of  our  departed 
infant.  Blessed  be  God  for  the  unspeakable  hope — a  hope  beyond 
price  valuable — beyond  thought  blissful." 

Margaret  Smyth  to  her  Mother,  on  December  15. 

"She  got  out  of  my  hand  a  gold  piece,  $5.  Mr.  S.  got  in  Augusta 
and  gave  me  on  his  return:  dear  Sarah  Ann  held  it  in  her  hand  or 
kept  it  (with  the  Potato)   on  her  pillow  all  the  time — I   called  to 


332 

go  there.  And  she  has  gone — not  to  carry  the  money — but  to 
tell  her  how  we  sorrowed  after  her  &  were  only  happy  in  the 
thought  that  she  was  blessed,  &  to  join  with  her  in  her  heav- 
enly occupations.  When  she  saw  us  crying,  she  asked  why 
we  cried,  &  when  we  told  her  she  said,  "when  I  die  you  will 
cry  for  me  too."  Yes  dear  child,  we  will  sorrow  that  thou  art, 
thus  early,  snatched  from  our  embrace;  but  not  as  tho'  we 
were  without  hope  that  thou  art  infinitely  happier  than  when 
ours! 

On  Tuesday  morning  I  took  Margaret  round  to  the  study, 
with  Susan.  While  there  she  got  tired  &  went  round  with 
Diana.  After  a  little,  Diana  came  carrying  her,  saying  that 
Susan  had  said  her  throat  hurt  her.  They  were  both  fright- 
ened. Susan  asked  me  to  look  into  her  throat.  We  pacified 
her.  She  very  soon  threw  up,  &  seemed  very  much  alarmed. 
I  sent  for  the  doctor.  He  came  &  found  little  the  matter  with 
her,  but  ordered  a  small  dose  of  simple  medicine.  During  the 
night — fever  increased  upon  her.  In  the  morning  the  doctor 
was  himself  alarmed  &  brought  Dr.  Dickson ;  when  they  pro- 
nounced her  disease  Scarlet  Fever,  but  favourable  in  its  symp- 
toms. On  Thursday  morning  they  found  her  throat  ulcerated 
&  her  prospects  much  worse.  On  Yesterday  morning  they 
found  her  no  better — in  the  afternoon  in  some  respects,  rather 
better,  but  in  others  not  so.  After  tea  Margaret  called  me  up. 
I  found  her  in  a  great  stupor.  She  could  scarcely  hear  or 
swallow.  I  got  hot  bottles  to  her  feet  &  rubbed  her  with 
mustard,  while  I  sent  off  for  the  doctor.  He  brought  Dr.  D. 
She  had  revived  &  they  both  thought  her  no  worse.  About 
12  o'clock  Cr.  B.  pronounced  her  decidedly  improved.  We 
then  thought  the  crisis  had  passed  as  he  omitted  the  intended 
application  of  blisters.  Towards  i  o'clock  we  got  Margaret 
to  lie  down  (Mrs.  Simonton'  8z  Mrs.  Jones  being  there),  and 
we  all  retired,  buoyed  up  with  hope.  We  were  ere  long  roused 
by  the  alarming  fact  that  she  was  in  Convulsions.  The  Dr. 
was  sent  for  and  did  every  thing  that  was  possible  to  relieve 
her,  but  in  vain.  She  continued  in  them  for  nearly  three  hours, 
when  life  was  utterly  exhausted  &  she  sunk  in  a  moment  into 
the  calm  of  death. 

Sue  to  give  it  to  me,  fearing  she  would  lose  it.  "No  Mamma" 
she  said  "this  is  Sa'  Ann's,  /  am  going  up  to  heaven,  I  will  carry  it 
to  Sa'  Ann"! 

He  never  left  the  house  nor  went  round,  even  to  his  study, 
during  all  her  sickness,  nor  for  many  days  after." 

''See  Dr.  Smyth's  sermon  on  the  death  of  Mrs.  Simonton,  vol. 
X,  pp.  535,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


333 

Such  is  an  account  of  the  death  of  your  little  namesake.  As 
your  love  for  her  was  perhaps  not  less  than  our  own,  I  at  once 
communicate  it  to  you  and  must  beg  you  to  throw  yourself  up- 
on the  same  hopes,  promises,  &  assurances  of  her  present  & 
everlasting  salvation  which  are  all  our  Consolation.  Margaret 
is  very  much  supported.  The  boy  with  Jane's  baby  are  doing 
quarantine  in  the  3d  story.  As  others  are  about  writing  I 
will  not  enlarge,  but  Remain  in  the  warmest  affection  to 
Mother,  James,  Jane  Ann,  &  yourself, 

Your  Brother 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

Sabbath  Afternoon. 

Tvr     J        o  Dec.   3,  18^7. 

My  dear  Susan,  ^        ^' 

Mrs.  Smyth  ^^  ^^  ^'^^^     *     *     t^'^^J  ^avc  goue     *     *     J  feel 

to  her  sister     a  great  want  of  feeling,  a  deadness,  a  lassitude  & 
Susan.  heaviness,  as  if  all  was  a  dream. 

*  *  Can  you  believe  me,  Susan,  when  I  tell  you  that 
Sarah  Ann  &  Susan,  your  own  dear  little  girls,  went  with  me 
to  church  this  day  two  weeks ; —  they  were  dressed  in  the 
chaly  dresses  made  by  Miss  Wood,  Jane  brought  them — the 
bonnets^  she  gave  them  last  winter  I  had  just  had  lined  with 
white  satin,  trimmed  with  crimson  satin  ribbon — they  wore 
them  that  day  for  the  second  time — they  looked  both  of  them 
very  pretty. — I  could  not  but  observe  the  admiration  they  at- 
tracted, their  entire  dress  was  handsome  &  their  sweet  faces 
&  happy  intelligent  countenances  drew  every  eye  to  them.  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  has  said,  he  never  would  forget  their  appearance 
as  he  entered  to  look  at  the  Infant  Class^Sarah  Ann  was 
sitting  with  her  arm  around  Sue,  &  holding  the  little  hymn 
her  Teacher  had  given — it  was  a  hymn  on  the  death  of  a  little 
child,  selected  with  reference  to  the  death  of  Isaac.^  Had  he 
been  required  to  select  the  two  finest,  healthiest,  szveetest  look- 
ing children — these  little  sisters  would  have  been  his  choice. 
This  Mr.  G.  said  to  their  Father,  &  again  at  the  funeral  ser- 
vice.—  I  went  over  to  the  S.  S.  but  met  them  at  the  door  just 
as  they  were  dismissed — I  regret  this  now,  as  it  was  the  last 
time  they  were  ever  there. —  Our  service  was  held  that  day  in 
the  Lecture  Room.  I  took  dear  Sarah  Ann's  hand  whilst  Die 
took  Sue,  sometimes  carrying  her,  sometimes  letting  her  walk. 

^The  little  girls  had  also  white  corded  cambric  bonnets  sent 
by  their  aunt  in  October,.  1837,  which  Mrs.  Smyth  speaks  of  as 
their  "sunbonnets  a  la  Franqais."     These  she  kept  all  her  life. — Ed. 

^Little  Isaac  Johnson. — Ed. 


334 

In  the  afternoon  we  all  walked — Harry  (Wm's  boy)  taking 
charge  of  Sue,  whilst  Sam  was  in  attendance  on  Miss  Sarah 
Ann — I  don't  know  who  was  most  delighted,  the  negro  boys, 
or  the  children,  at  this  arrangement.  I  walked  home  with 
Wm.  &  called  round  to  see  Mrs.  Dr.  Johnson's  Susan,  who  was 
then  thought  to  be  dying,  while  Grandfather  took  the  two  little 
ones  home  under  his  care. —  I  tell  you  all  these  little  things, 
I  love  to  dwell  on  them  now,  for  that  was  the  last  walk  I  took 
with  them,  the  last  time,  save  one  that  they  were  out;  on  that 
day  week  Sarah  Ann  died,  on  that  day  two  weeks  Susan  was 
buried.  Oh — my  Sister!  what  words  are  these,  dead,  buried, 
my  children ! —  My  darling  boy  is  spared  to  me,  but  tomonow 
I  may  see  him  too  sicken  &  die. 

Monday  morning  Dec.  4. 

I  wrote  you  a  letter  (wh.  Robt.  forwarded  by  the  Packet  of 
the  8th,)  whilst  watching  over  little  Sue — because  I  could 
not  do  any  thing  else; — so  yesterday  I  commenced  this  whilst 
watching  by  the  bed  side  of  Mr.  S. — after  returning  from  the 
funeral  he  complained  of  being  chilly  &  of  sore  throat,  dread- 
ful symptoms.  He  undressed  &  went  to  bed,  &  sent  for  Dr.  B. — 
Today  he  is  better,  much  better,  tho'  still  in  bed-^it  is  the 
effects  of  fatigue,  some  exposure,  &  much  excitement — I  ap- 
prehend nothing  serious — tomorrow  he  will  be  up  again.  He 
wrote  to  dear  Mother,  the  day  Sarah  Ann's  little  body,  lay 
stretched  a  corpse  upon  the  table  in  the  drawing  room — &  the 
day  that  little  Sue's  body  occupied  the  same  place,  he  wrote 
to  you.  Oh  to  see  your  portraits  gazing  down,  as  it  were,  on 
those  little  forms,  whilst  you  so  far  distant,  were  all  uncon- 
cious  of  what  was  passing  at  home !     *     *     * 

Mr.  S.  is  better  to  day  &  went  down  stairs  to  breakfast — 
but  looks  pale  &  has  lost  all  the  flesh  he  gained  in  his  Augusta 
trip —  I  think  he  never  was  fatter  than  when  he  returned  from 
Synod — he  says  he  never  felt  stronger  &  better,  or  more  in 
health  &  spirits— alas  how  soon  have  they  been  all  dissipated ! 

ijc  ^  ^ 

In  one  week  they  died,  &  in  one  grave  they  sleep — they  have 
lain  down  together  as  they  did  in  life^-  *  *  Sarah  Ann 
would  be  the  first  to  welcome  Sue  into  the  mansions  above. 
She  had  been  there  herself  just  long  enough  to  learn  to  tune 
her  harp — when  she  would  have  to  instruct  her  dear  little 
sister,  &  together  are  they  now  singing — as  they  did  on  earth, 
the  praises  of  the  Redeemer. 


335 

CHARLESTON,  9  Dec,  1837. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH, 

I  wrote  you  a  few  lines  last  week  giving  you 
Mrs  ^d^er*°  ^^^  ^°^^  ^^  Sustained,  so  suddenly;  all  the  rest  are 
well,  Margaret  &  Mr.  Smith  seem  to  bear  it  bet- 
ter than  I  expected,  the  little  ones  are  quite  hearty,  also  all  the 
black  children.  *  *•  We  will  have  vessels  going  from  here 
every  week  for  some  time  &  will  write  you  by  each  of  them, 
say  to  Susan  some  may  be  directed  to  her  but  she  must  make 
a  partnership  with  you  in  letters,  without  caring  who  they  are 
directed  to ;  I  hope  to  find  her  in  much  better  health  on  my 
arrival  at  Paris  &  she  must  try  &  wear  the  Collar  &  do  every 
thing  the  Doctor  bids  her,  even  to  eat  Bull  Frogs  if  recom- 
mended by  him.    Having  no  news  to  give  you  I  conclude  with 

love  to  all most  affectionately  yours, 

J.  ADGER. 

,  Dec.  22. 

Mr.  S  &  Father  went  to  Church  on  Sabbath  morning  for 
the  first  time;  Mr.  S.  got  through  the  first  hymn  very  well — 
but  when  he  rose  up  to  read^he  could  not  command  his 
voice ;  after  several  ineffectual  efforts  his  feelings  over-mast- 
ered him  &  he  had  to  sit  down  and  sobbed  aloud — his  grief 
was  contagious ;  Father  too  wept  and  there  were  many  I  am 
told,  of  the  congregation  who  shed  tears  freely.  *  *  Mr.  S. 
has  prepared  two  sermons  on  the  Salvation  of  Infants  to  be 
preached  next  Sunday  in  our  own  church. 

Your  most  affectionate  &  afflicted  daughter 

MARGARET. 

Dr.  Smyth's  two  sermons  became  a  tiny  book,  "Solace  for 
Bereaved  Parents,"  which  was  revised  and  added  to  on  the  death 
of  the  second  son,  Augustine,  known  to  the  brothers  and  sisters 
who  came  after  as  "the  first  Augustine;"  for  his  name,  as  well  as 
the  names  o,f  the  two  little  girls,  was  borne  by  later  born  children. 
Mrs.  Smyth  had  wished  this  second  son  to  be  baptized  "Thomas," 
but  the  Doctor  objected,  as  he  disliked  his  name,  and  called  the 
child  for  the  great  Saint  Augustine.  "The  second  Augustine"  was 
given  both  names. 

Dr.  Smyth's  youngest  daughter  writes: 

"At  the  same  time  that  I  read  Father's  Autobiography  to 
Mother,  I  read  aloud  to  her  some  old  letters  of  hers  to  her  mother 
&  sisters  in  Paris  at  the  time  of  the  death,  within  one  week,  of 
her  two  first  children.  My  poor  old  grey  haired  mother  was  in 
feeling,  the  young  mother  again  in  her  terrible  agony — &  at  times 
wept  so  bitterly  I  could  hardly  get  through  the  reading." — Editor. 


336 

Extracts  from  "Solace  for  Bereaved  Parents." 

"The  wounded  heart  of  a  bereaved  parent  can  only  be  bound 
up  by  one  whose  heart  has  been  in  like  manner  torn,  and  who 
can  sincerely  weep  with  him  who  thus  weeps. 

It  is  on  this  account  I  would  venture  to  intrude  my  thoughts 
upon  your  present  solitude,  and  whisper  words  of  consolation 
to  that  ear  which  can  never  more  hear  the  infant  voice,  now 
silent  in  death.  Like  you,  my  friend,  I  have  been  called  to 
witness  the  unexpected  departure  of  my  children.  Two  of 
them  I  have  committed  to  the  same  grave. 

It  was  when  tossed  upon  that  sea  of  trouble  in  which  this 
sudden  visitation  involved  me,  I  was  led  to  the  full  investiga- 
tion of  the  question  of  the  salvation  of  infants.  That  exami- 
nation more  than  confirmed  my  hopes.  It  strengthened  them 
into  a  comfortable  assurance  that  in  the  death  of  infants,  it  is 
well  with  them,  and  well  with  their  parents — that  God's  pur- 
poses are  merciful  to  both— and  that  while  he  glorifies  himself 
in  the  exaltation  of  ^e  children  to  heaven,  he  would  also  do 
so  by  the  sanctification  of  their  parents.     *     *     * 

To  you  who  are  still  the  parents  of  living  children,  or  who 
may  be  such,  let  me  say —  Take  heed  and  beware  of  regarding 
as  your  own  what  is  entrusted  to  you  by  the  Lord,  and  for  the 
Lord.  Look  upon  your  children  as  immortals — ^as  passing, 
you  know  not  how  rapidly,  to  the  world  beyond.  While  provi- 
dent of  their  present  wants  and  temporal  comforts,  make  their 
heavenly  welfare  your  chief  concern." 

In  the  later  edition  Dr.  Smyth  writes  of  the  boy  in  a  long 
poem,  that  they  "clung  to  him  as  to  the  dead  revived — for  joy 
o'er  him  they  had  forgotten — and  felt — that  depth  of  bliss  which 
only  parents  know,"  but  "with  a  dove-like  wail  he  sank  to  rest." 
The  poem  ends: — 

"God  speed  thee  in  thy  flight,  my  blessed  boy. 
Let  Angel  bands  conduct  thee  safe  to  heaven.     *     * 
Thou  wert  to  me  the  dearest  joy  of  earth, 
And  I  would  now  rejoice  with  thee  above, 
And  chide  my  selfish  grief  with  thoughts  of  thee 
As  now  enrolled  among  the  cherub  throng. 
Farewell  my  boy !  No  more  thy  smile  I'll  see 
Till  thee  I  meet  around  the  throne  of  God : 
But  never  from  this  heart  shall  pass  away 
Thy  dying  form  and  that  last  dying  wail." 

Charleston,  Nov.  27,  1841. 

A  sonnet  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  his  preface  to  "Bereaved  Parents," 
beginning,  "Not  with  mistrusting  heart,"  is  very  tender  in  its 
feeling.     See  vol.  X,  p.   144,  Smyth's  Works. — Editor. 


337 

CHARLESTON,  January  23.  1838. 
Study — near  2  o'clock. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SISTER, 

Mrs.  Smyth  ^  \id.-\f^  been  nearly  all  morning  writing  for  Mr. 

to  her  Bister     S.     He  has  just  gonc  out  for  a  little  exercise  be- 
Susan.  iox^  dinner — I  have  resisted  his  invitation  to  walk 

with  him — &  will  occupy  my  time  until  dinner  in  commencing 
a  letter  to  you.     *     *     * 

This  is  the  first  cold  we  have  had  yet — so  far,  it  has  been  a 
very  mild,  pleasant  winter.  Mr.  S.  can  hardly  realize  that  it 
is  winter,  he  says  it  is  most  luxurious  weather — the  jonquils, 
violets  &c.  are  all  in  bloom.     *     *     * 

Saturday  Evening — 8  o'clock, 

January  27. 
MY  DEAR  SUSAN,— 

I  am  now  waiting  tea  for  Father  &  the  boys,  who  have  not 
yet  come  up  from  the  office. —  Mr.  S.  has  taken  his  tea  a  long 
while  ago,  &  gone  round  to  the  Study.     *     *     * 

Thursday  week  was  the  anniversary  of  our  Ed.  Society — it 
was  postponed  one  week  on  account  of  the  weather. —  We  had 
quite  an  interesting  meeting — 30  ladies  present — Mr.  S.  made 
us  a  good,  long  address — our  income  of  subscription  was  as 
much  as  usual.     '''     *     * 

Mrs.  Benj.  Gibbs  has  been  very  ill — and  in  her  delirum  called 
constantly  for  Mr.  S. — her  husband  had  before  proposed  send- 
ing for  a  clergyman  &  named  Mr.  Spear  as  she  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  attending  the  New  Church,  but  she  said,  "Oh  no !  if 
you  send  for  any,  send  for  Mr.  Smyth !" — he  did  not  do  it  then, 
&  she  after  became  delirious,  but  in  that  state  called  so  con- 
stantly for  Mr.  Smyth — Mr.  Smyth- — that  her  Drs.  advised  he 
should  be  sent  for. —  At  first  she  did  not  recognize  him — tho' 
she  called  him  by  name — &  when  he  was  praying  at  her  bed 
side — put  out  her  hand  &  covered  his  mouth — ^yet  she  was 
more  tranquil  afterwards ;  by  the  advice  of  her  Physicians  he 
was  sent  for  almost  every  day — &  at  each  succeeding  visit  she 
became  more  composed. —  Mr.  S.  thinks  he  has  seldom  seen 
any  one  under  deeper  convictions  of  sin,  &  more  eager  to  know 
what  she  must  do  to  be  saved — &  more  grateful  for  his  in- 
structions :  he  has  visited  her  frequently — almost  daily :  for  a 
long  time  Mr.  Gibbs  would  write  a  note  every  morning,  "Mrs. 
G's  urgent  wish  that  you  should  call  to  day,"  &c.  &c.  Is  it  not 
a  little  singular  that  both  his  wives  should  take  such  a  fancv 
to  Mr.  S.?— 


[22] 


338 

Sabbath  Evening, — Study. 

The  day  has  closed  &  with  it  the  inestimable  privileges  of 
the  Sabbath — the  Communion  Sabbath. — I  trust  it  passed  not 
without  a  blessing  to  your  souls — but  that  the  prayers  offered 
when  at  the  table  by  Mr.  S.  when  he  remembered  "the  absent," 
&  prayed  that,  tho'  deprived  of  this  heavenly  privilege,  they 
might  have  communion  with  Christ  in  their  closets,  &  that 
even  at  this  hour  a  gale  of  the  Spirit's  influence  might  be 
wafted  over  their  souls,  refreshing  and  strengthening  them — 
I  trust  these  prayers  were  heard  &  answered. —  We  had  quite 
a  full  church,  a  great  many  out- — '8  whites  &  2  blacks  were 
added  to  our  number.  Jane  presented  her  Certificate,  so  did 
Mrs.  Gildersleeve  &  another  Miss  Lee. — *  *  * 
Scarlet  fever  ^^  havc  uot  yet  got  rid  of  the  Scarlet  Fever — 
among  the'  Caroline's  two  boys  Amos  &  Joe,  have  both  had 
negroes.  -^^ — ^]^g  latter  is  Up  again — but  Amos  is  still  quite 

sick,  tho'  not  dangerously. — Harry — Wm's  boy — came  to  tell 
me  to  day  he  had  head  ache  &  fever,  so  I  gave  him  forthwith 
an  Emetic^ — Father  said  "sick  or  no  sick,  it  w'd  not  hurt  him" 
— ^whilst  Wm  thought  "I  had  a  grudge  against  Harry  because 
he  does  not  sweep  the  pavement,  so  I  wanted  to  take  it  out  of 
him."  If  he  is  taking  the  fever  as  I  suspect  he  is — -it  will  be 
the  15th  case  in  the  yard,  &  there  is  no  more  of  it  in  the 
neighbourhood! — is  it  not  strange !  Johnny,  Betsy's  boy,  is  all 
swollen,  the  effects  of  this  dreadful  disease 

My  Dear  Susan,  do  not  let  Mother  fret  about  the  negroes — 
they  do  not  trouble  me  now — they  all  behave  pretty  well — & 
Father  will  make  some  arrangement  about  them  before  he 
leaves. —     *     *     * 

My  darling  boy  seldom  cries  in  anger — but  whenever  he 
sees  his  Father  or  Grandfather,  he  jumps  &  crows,  &  stretches 
out  his  little  arms  to  get  to  them ;  if  they  pass  him  by  without 
noticing  or  taking  him — he  then  will  put  up  his  lip  &  cry — 
he  does  the  same  if  Mom  Sue  puts  him  down  or  leaves  him 
— ^even  with  me. — They  are  all  three,  very,  very  fond  of  him — 
you  w'd  be  surprised  to  see  how  much  Mr.  S.  nurses  him — 
every  thing  gives  way  for  his  boy.     *     *     * 

Yours  ever  most  affectionately 

MARGARET. 


^Mr.  Adger  had  decided  that  an  emetic  was  a  specific  for  scar- 
let fever  if  given  early,  because  all  he  had  dosed  in  this  way- 
recovered. — Ed. 


339 

CHARLESTON,  February  8,  1838. 
Front  Room — Thursday  Morning. — 
{at  Mother's  desk.) 
MY  DEAR  SUSAN, 

Father  says,  if  you  are  improving,  &  there  is  a  prospect  of 
your  entire  restoration,  he  will  urge  you  to  remain  until  it  is 
completed — &  really  having  undertaken  it — I  think  you  ought 
to  persevere,  &  not  give  it  up  whilst  there  is  hope  of  improve- 
ment. *  *  *  He  is  getting  quite  impatient  for  the  time  to 
come  for  him  to  be  off  *  *  and  makes  great  brag  of  what 
he  will  show  R.  Fleming  and  Wm.  when  he  gets  them  to 
Ireland.       *     *     * 

Your  most  affectionate  Sister 

MARGARET. 

CHARLESTON,  April  7,  1838. 
Saturday  Morning. 

^         ^         ^ 

When  I  come  up  to  the  Study  &  see  the  little  play  things 
which  their  Father  gave  them  &  which  he  has  collected  all 
around  him — when  I  look  at  the  little  corner  which  Sarah  Ann 
used  to  say  was  hers,  &  where  she  has  her  books  all  arranged, 
when  I  see  all  or  any  of  these, — then  do  my  tears  gush  out,  & 
my  heart  grows  sad  within  me.     *     *     * 

Mr.  S's  heart  is  bound  up  in  his  child. — An  instance — -Diana 
minds  him  always  on  Sabbath  morning — Mom  Sue  in  the 
afternoon,  thus  they  both  have  an  opportunity  of  getting  to 
church.  Last  Sabbath  morning,  it  being  a  very  fine  day,  after 
he  had  taken  his  morning  sleep,  Diana  dressed  him  &  walked 
to  meet  us  coming  from  church.  I  had  told  her  she  might  do 
so — but  she  set  off  rather  too  early  &  got  all  the  way  to  the 
church ; — when  his  Father  saw  him  he  held  out  his  arms  & 
took  him — the  child  was  not  willing  to  go  back  to  Diana,  & 
Mr.  S.  carried  him  all  the  way  home  in  his  arms — his  gown* 
on,  and  me  walking  beside  him — I  dread  the  consequences  if 
he  should  lose  him. —     *     *     * 

Your  Sister 

MARGARET. 

^The  Doctor  always  wore  the  black  Geneva  gown  until  his 
crippled  condition  after  his  paral3^sis  of  1853  prevented — at  this 
time  he  was  an  unusually  active,  erect  man,  and  a  commanding 
figure  as  he  went  through  the  streets  in  his  beaver  hat  and  silk 
gown. — Ed. 


340 

CHARLESTON,  March  22,  1838. 
Thursday  Evening. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  MOTHER, 

Mrs.  Smyth  *     *     Father's  trunk  was  all  packed  last  night 

to  — &  such  a  counting  up  of  shirts  &  stockings  as 

Mrs.  Adger.      ^^   j^^^ — j    bgiigyg    ^,g    gQ^    a||    right — savc    oue 

night  shirt  that  is  missing — I  fixed  every  thing  for  him  to 
make  him  as  comfortable  as  I  could. —  Poor  Wm.  is  so  busy- 
he  has  not  had  time  yet  to  fix  his  things ;  I  have  gathered  them 
together  &  put  some  of  them  up — for  they  go  tomorrow  at  ten 
— i&  it  is  now  past  ten  at  night — we  have  got  in  from  lecture. 
*  *  We  will  feel  very  lonely  when  they  leave  us — for  my- 
self I  have  yet  hardly  allowed  myself  to  think  of  his  departure 
— when  I  do — there  is  a  terrible  sinking  of  the  heart — &  it  is 
only  by  great  exertions  I  am  able  to  suppress  my  feelings  & 
keep  up. —  I  have  great  struggling,  dear  Mother,  but  I  thank 
God  I  am  enabled  pretty  generally  to  keep  a  cheerful  counte- 
nance, &  those  who  do  not  see  me  often  or  who  do  not  observe 
me  closely  would  but  little  know  of  the  aching  heart,  &  blighted 
&  crushed  hopes  I  bear.  *  *  Your  will  soon  be  over  now — 
&  the  end  is  accomplished — dear  Jane  Ann  will  be  restored — 
what  a  rich  mercy !  how  grateful  should  we  all  be  for  this  new 
proof  of  love  &  mercy. —  My  dear  Susan — ^it  is  too  late  now, 
but  if  I  were  near  you — I  would  say,  do  not  teaze  &  torment- 
yourself  any  more — 'take  more  exercise  &  attend  more  to  your 
general  health  &  never  mind  the  crutches. — *     *     * 

My  boy  almost  walks  alone — goes  as  fast  over  the  floor  or 
piazza  as  any  body,  holding  by  one  finger. —  Do  have  your 
ears  examined  &  Janey's  too.  Do  you  know  Wm.  is  quite  deaf 
in  one  ear?    he  has  promised  me  to  have  his  attended  to. 

MARGARET. 

CHARLESTON,  March  29,  1838. 
Friday  morning. — 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SISTER, 

Mrs   Smyth  "     *     While  wc  wcre  in  the  Lecture  Room  last 

to  her  sister     night — after  Mr.  S.  had  got  about  half  thro'  his 
Susan.  Lecture  there  was  an  alarm  of  Fire.^    In  an  instant 

every  man  was  out  of  the  Room ;  Jane  &  I  were  sitting  together 
&  were  very  quiet,  until  I  heard  some  one  say  it  was  on  the 

°Mrs.  Smyth's  brother  William  was  at  one  time  President  of 
the  Eagle  Fire  Company.  The  family  residences  were  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  district  known  as  Charleston  Neck,  which  lay 
north  of  the  old  wall  at  Boundary  or  Calhoun  Street.  At  the 
north  lay  the  fortification   or  lines   established  during-  the  war   of 


341 

Neck. — I  called  to  Jane  to  remember  our  children — &  just  as 
Mr.  S.  said  he  w'd  dismiss  the  people,  we  started ;  at  the  door 
some  one  took  me  by  the  arm  &  said,  "do  not  be  alarmed,  the 
fire  is  up  near  the  lines" — this  gave  us  fresh  speed,  &  we  flew 
along  together  until  we  had  got  up  Meeting  St.  when  we  met 
Mr.  Robinson  returning  to  the  Room.  He  stopped  us  &  said 
the  fire  was  not  near  us,  but  over  beyond  St.  Philip  St.  but 
if  we  were  going  home  he  w'd  go  with  us,  giving  Jane  &  me 
each  an  arm — we  trotted  the  old  man  along  at  no  inconsid- 
erable rate. — •  About  Mr.  Curries' — ^Mr.  S.  overtook  us. —  The 
fire  was  at  a  small  negro  house  opposite  Mr.  Alex.  Bro\vn's — 
it  was  soon  put  out  &  except  the  fright,  did  no  body  any  harm. 
Robt.  it  seems  had  just  entered  the  Lecture  Room,  &  started 
at  once,  reaching  home  some  time  before  us. — 

CHARLESTON,  June  6,  1838. 
Wednesday  Morning. — 

Mrs.  Smyth  *     *     ^^^-  Fleming^  is  urging  me  very  much  to 

to  go  on  to  Philadelphia  with  Jane  and  her  baby. 

Mrs.  Adger.      j^^^^^   ^  y^^^   §_   j^j^  him— Mr.   S.   says  he  will 

come  on  in  a  few  weeks  &  bring  me  home  again,  thinks  it  will 
do  me  &  the  boy  both  good — but  I  do  not  think  it  w'd  do  to 
leave  Elizabeth  alone — &  if  I  take  her — I  do  not  see  how  Mr. 
S.  &  Robt.  'will  manage.  I  will  stay,  &  after  they  all  go  away 
I  will  ride  out  some  &  perhaps  go  to  the  Island'  a  little,  & 
thus  I  will  soon  regain  my  strength.     *     *     * 

My  dear  Mother  will  be  surprised  after  reading 
nuM  ''a^I^u^      the  commencement  of  this  letter  to  find  it  is  con- 

Philadelphia. 

eluded  in  Philadelphia — yes  dear  Mother,  I  am 
here  with  my  poor  little,  delicate,  sick  child — on  Thursday 
Morning  I  decidedly  declined  Mr.  F's  &  Robt.'s  invitation, 
but  after  breakfast  Mr.  S.  said  so  much  to  me  that  I  con- 
sented.-— ■  Robert  assured  me  that  there  w'd  be  no  difficulty 
regarding  Mom  Sue^" — she  was  willing  to  go,  provided  I 
promised  to  bring  her  back. —  Mr.  S.  went  down  to  tell  Mr. 
Eleming  &  Robt.  to  take  my  passage — returned  at  2  &  told  me 

1812,  on  which  James  Adger  had  worked  with  a  number  of  his 
negroes.  See  "Life  and  Times,"  John  B.  Adger,  p.  42.  This  is 
now  Line  Street.  The  great  fire  of  April,  1837,  had  left  the 
citizens   of   Charleston  very  anxious. — Ed. 

*Mr.  Thomas  Fleming,  formerly  of  Charleston  and  Second 
Church,  lived  in  Philadelphia.  He  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Robert 
Adger  and  Robert  Fleming. — Ed. 

'Sullivan's  Island. — Ed. 

^"She  was   afraid  of  being  free   in   Philadelphia. — Ed. 


343 

Mom  Sue  c'd  not  go. — I  would  then  have  given  up  &  stayed  at 
home,  but  Mr.  S.  urged  &  Mr.  F.  made  so  many  fair  promises — 
that  I  came  on.  *  *  When  I  arrived  here,  my  boy  looked 
so  badly — Mrs.  Fleming  too  thought  him  very  ill  &  sent  for 
Dr.  Hodge — he  has  attended  him  ever  since — &  I  am  happy, 
&  I  trust  grateful  to  my  God — that  my  only  child  is  to  day 
better. — ^I  have  engaged  a  nurse  here,  a  clever  good  girl,  &  my 
boy  is  getting  to  be  fond  of  her,  but  I  have  still  to  dress  & 
feed  him  myself. — ^The  Dr.  says  he  must  be  taken  into  the 
country — &  Mr.  F.  will  move  the  family  out  next  week — 
country  air,  &  attention  to  his  diet — the  Dr.  thinks  will  work 
wonders  for  him. — For  myself  I  am  better  &  will  soon  be  quite 
well  again.     *     *     * 

I  hope  to  be  home  again  about  the  ist  August — Mr.  S.  said 
he  w'd  come  op  in  3  or  4  weeks — we  will  spend  a  few  days  at 
Paterson,*  &  go  up  the  river  &  see  Ellison'  before  we  return. 


This  letter  from  my  father  will  shezv  my  trials  in  Charles- 
ton during  the  New  School  separations. 

VINCENNES  29  January,  1839. 
MY  DEAR  THOMAS, 

It  is  a  long  time  since  I  had  this  pleasure  I  would  have 
wrote  you  long  ere  this  but  all  Through  the  Summer  you 
were  as  I  heard  some  times  in  one  place  sometimes  in  another 
so  that  I  did  not  know  where  to  Direct  to,  but  I  see  by  the 
papers  you  send  me  you  were  not  Idle.  I  would  consider  it 
a  very  improper  step  if  you  would  attempt  to  leave  C.  town 
where  the  people  loves  you  so  much,  I  have  perused  all  your 
proceses  [  ?]  both  in  the  Synod  and  Presbytery,  you  have  had 
a  hard  time  of  it.  I  am  Very  Sorry  Very  Indeed  to  see  so 
many  Changing  their  principles  to  the  wrong  side  I  trust  in 
God  they  will  see  their  Error  before  their  last.  I  have  been 
much  Intrusted  and  Delighted  for  some  time  past  in  reading 
Baxter's  Saints  Rest  you  have  the  Book  would  wish  you  to 
read  part  of  page  234-5  &  6,  and  am  got  the  second  time  as 
far  as  the  acts  of  the  Apostles  through  Burkets^  I  have  been 
just  reading  of  Petre's  Delivery  out  of  the  prison  by  the  Angel, 

'They  went  also  to  New  Brunswick.  See  Dr.  Smyth's  account 
and  letters  from  elders  in  the  New  Brunswick  Church,  p.  165  and 
pp.  170,  etc. — Ed. 

'Her  brother  Ellison  was  with  his  father's  sister  at  Kinder- 
hook. — Ed. 

^"Burkitt  on  the  New  Testament"  was  one  of  his  wife's  fav- 
ourite books. — Ed. 


343 

all  his  Brother  Apostles  were  praying  in  a  most  fervent  man- 
ner that  was  the  Key  that  opened  the  Doors  for  Petre.  I  was 
thinking  if  you  would  get  as  many  ministers  and  good  people 
gathered  into  C-ton  some  Day  previous  to  the  great  Tryal 
which  I  see  is  to  take  place  in  March  Insuing,  and  have  a  Day 
of  Humiliation,  &  Prayer  to  him  who  has  the  Harts  of  all  men 
in  his  hands  to  turn  the  Harts  and  minds  of  those  who  has 
strayed  from  the  Truth  that  he  might  cause  them  to  Return 
and  join  his  Dear  people  in  love  and  all  pull  together  like  one 
man  against  the  enemy  of  Souls — the  Devil  is  Very  Busy  at 
present,  but  I  know  that  our  God  has  always  stood  by  his 
people  and  Church  and  he  will  in  this  Instance —  My  poor 
Supplication  is  to  him  who  can  change  [  ?]  the  Hart,  You'l 
come  off  in  triumph  I  pray. 

Samuel  '^^^^  curscd  Abolition  that  Satan  has  set  afloat 

Smith's  view  is  one  of  his  Devises  to  Divide  your  Church  I  see 
of  the  negro,  j^  j^^g  succccdcd  to  a  great  extent,  the  New 
School  is  taking  note  of  it  for  a  pretext  to  gain  over  some 
wake-headed  that  the  Truth  was  never  in  their  hearts  I  am 
Intirely  against  making  the  Black  Race  free  England  is  sup- 
ping sorow  for  it  now  and  if  it  was  the  Case  here  we  should 
be  like  them,  worse  as  they,  are  amongst  us.  Even  here  these 
are  got  so  proud  that  the  people  can  scarce  get  one  to  live  as 
helper  at  $i^  per  week  you  most  not  call  them  servants  and 
Dressed  Ever}^  Day  like  the  master  to  see  a  fellow  on  Sunday 
with  Kid  gloves  and  full  breasted  Shirt  and  Every  other  in 
proportion.  I  think  we  would  have  a  Miserable  Country  were 
they  free.  I  have  lost  of  late  two  faithful  Servants  which  has 
been  in  my  Employ  for  upwards  of  70  years,  two  Double 
Teeth.  I  find  a  great  want  of  them.  My  bodyly  health  and 
strength  continues  as  we  can  get  no  helper  I  have  to  lend  a 
hand  at  Every  thing  and  would  rather  Do  it  than  have  one  of 
them  Dirty  lazy  Animals  about  the  House,  put  a  Bonnet  on  to 
go  8  steps  to  the  well.  I  am  Very  Glad  that  Mr.  Adger  has 
got  home  T  understand  he  was  in  Belfast,  where  I  think  he 
would  not  learn  any  Bad  about  me,  I  Raised  a  family  there  of 
Six  Sons,  and  two  Daughters  to  be  men  and  women  and  gave 
Samuel  them  all  a  first  Rate  Education.     I  also  had  four 

Smith's  Daughters  Died  young,  he  seen  my  grave  stone 

reverses.  J  ^^  ^qJ^^^  ^||  ^|^jg  J  ^j^  ^y  j^y  Owu  Industry  and 

prospered  in  the  things  of  this  world  that  at  one  time  I  was 
worth  £10,000 — ^I  then  thought  I  w**  build  houses  I  bought  a 
lot  of  ground  in  Donegall  Street  and  built  four,  fore-storey 
Houses  which  was  one  of  the  worst  things  I  Ever  Don,  at- 
tending after  them  I  neglected  my  Business.  Banypar's  Down- 


344 

fall  came  on  before  I  got  them  Rented  altho  all  ready.  At  that 
time  I  had  a  large  Quantity  of  Bacon  in  London  laid  in  at 
high  Rates,  it  was  selling  before  his  Down  fall  at  loo'  it  came 
Down  Dayly  to  50 — 40 — 20  the  last  was  sold  at  16  to  Close 
The  family  Salcs,  my  Sons  would  go  to  America,  James  went 
comes  to  first  I  gavc  him  iioo  worth  white  cloth  a  good 

America.  g^.^^,]^  ^f  Clothes   &  Cabin  passage  2"'^  which  at 

that  time  Cost  25  guineas,  Sam  the  year  after  gave  him  £200 
worth  white  Cloth  also  Ja'  sold  his  in  Philadelphia  at.  95% 
advance,  they  all  went  year  after  year  and  Mother  and  I  and 
the  two  girls  were  left,  you  may  guess  the  feelings  of  your 
Dear  Mother  Thomas  Breaking  her  heart  Daily  and  praying 
for  me  to  go.  I  could  not  stand  her  persuasions  I  sold  off  all 
I  had  at  half  price  or  less  and  here  I  am  with  a  fine  property 
and  well  furnished  house  and  not  a  well  doing  son  after  I 
built  this  place  I  had  money  left  Sam  and  James  was  in  Busi- 
ness at  that  time  I  lent  them  £200  Rob*  was  Bookkeeper  with 
Chambers  &  Gorvin  six  years  Ja^  and  Sam  Quit  Rob*  came 
and  began.  Shortly  after  a  young  man  from  Ireland  named 
Carson  they  went  into  partnership  and  was  doing  very  well 
untill  a  half  Gentleman  came  across  &  bought  Carson  out  and 
put  a  man  in  with  Rob*  who  was  no  Judge  this  hapened  the 
time  I  was  with  you  in  Charleston  if  I  had  been  here  it  would 
never  have  happened  poor  Rob*  has  been  so  vexed  that  he  has 
turned  to  Drink  I  suppose  you  have  heard  that  he  is  for  some 
time  winding  up  his  Business.  I  had  in  the  hands  of  Chambers 
and  Gorvin  $1,500  which  I  lent  Rob*  now  all  is  gone  he  is  some 
what  taken  up  but  what  will  be  the  End  how  I  will  get  the 
little  time  my  God  has  allowed  me  here  I  know  not  but  in  him 
I  put  my  trust  there  is  several  Respectable  young  men  looking 
after  Isabella  this  Carson  is  one  She  Denys  them  all  they 
want  the  main  thing  Religion  She  is  a  clever  fine  girl  about 
the  sise  of  M"  Tho^  S. —  I  conclude  this  Epistle  with  un- 
feigned regard  to  you  and  the  whole  family, 

and  Remain  your  affectionate 
Father, 

SAM^  SMITH. 

P.  S.  The  above  is  a  fine  thought  which  will  amuse  you. 
in  your  next  mention  if  Ever  Mr.  Adger  Ever  got  a  paper 
sent  from  Washington  by  Jn°  Ewing  it  was  a  plan  of  the 
Harbour  of  Charleston  with  a  few  lines  from  me  he  promised 
to  send  it  free  it  was  of  no  use  to 

S.  S. 


345 

VINCENNES,  I.  Sept.  1839. 
'DEAR  THOMAS, 

Samuel  ^  ^^^7  ^^c"  Yours  o£  the  8th  is*  with  a  Draft 

Smith's  at  Sight  on  New  York  for  $o£.     I  was  not  Ex- 

rehgion.  pecting  Such  Knowing  you  were  Rather  in  Deb*. 

*  *  put  a  finish  on  him.  I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  Jo. 
is  a  great  tipler  I  have  not  wrote  him  since  he  left  here.  I 
could  not  write  him  without  saying  harsh  things  it  was  the 
most  foolish  Interprise  I  ever  knew  any  man  in  his  sinses 
guilty  of  to  come  such  a  journey  with  such  a  family  and  very 
near  as  much  Baggage  as  would  load  a  Small  Steamboat  I 
think  it  could  *  *  as  for  farming  *  *  when  my  God 
thinks  proper  to  Call  me,  would  it  be  presumption  to  say  I  am 
Ready  at  his  Call,  my  Faith  is  Strong  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  finished  work  and  on  his  Holy  word  and  all  his  doings 
and  sayings  therein  Contained  Father  Son  and  Holy  Gost  one 
tryune  Jehova  Together  with  as  umble  a  walk  as  I  can  I  do 
all  I  can  to  Gard  my  thoughts  words  and  actions,  I  trust  in  my 
God  that  he  will  Introduce  me  at  not  a  very  Distant  Day  to  the 
Company  of  your  Dear  Mother,  probably  this  may  be  my  last 
letter,  its  a  Considerable  troble  to  me  to  write  now  I  would 
have  wrot  you  on  Receipt  of  yours  only  the  weather  was  so 
warm  all  the  month  of  Aug*  and  not  a  Drop  of  Rain  fell  the 
whole  month  to  the  30*"  when  we  had  a  fine  Rain  and  now  has 
fine  cool  Weather  which  has  nearly  Driven  away  all  the  flies 
and  musquotes  which  was  very  trublesome.  I  am  Really 
sorry  for  all  the  trobles  you  have  had  in  Charleston  first  fire 
then  Drowning  and  now  sickness  it  appears  to  me  the  Al- 
mighty has  a  Contraversy  with  you.  The  people  ought  to 
look  into  the  cause  and  Humble  themselves  in  Sack  Cloth  and 
ashes  I  trust  my  God  will  Spare  you  and  all  the  Dear  House- 
hold you  belong' to,  have  not  I  a  Right  to  be  thankful  I  have 
neighther  pain  nor  ake  Sight  as  good  as  when  you  saw  me 
I  live  Remarkable  Temperet.  Isabella  wants  much  to  go  to 
Anna,  but  I  tell  her  she  must  stay  to  take  care  of  me  I  have 
Strong  hopes  when  my  time  Comes  it  will  not  be  tedious  my 
y6  year  was  the  11*"  ult. 

at  present  I  Remain  your  affectionate  Father 

and  best  love  to  all  the  family 

SAM.^  SMYTH. 

^This  letter  is  very  much  torn,  with  many  words  missing. — Ed. 


346 

CHARLESTON  Sep.  30,  1840. 
MY  DEAR  SUSAN, 

I  have  just  received  your  favour  for  which  I 
Mi'ss^Adgt.'°  a™  sincerely  obhged.  As  it  is  a  free  gift  &  gives 
assurance  of  a  true  &  sincere  regard,  I  would  the 
more  heartily  respond  to  it  by  at  once  reciprocating  the  favour 
&  in  the  same  kindness  of  Spirit.  I  have  just  finished  a 
Sacramental  discourse  on  Rev.  3.  7  which  I  would  be  glad  if 
you  could  unite  in  hearing,  if  I  am  permitted  to  deliver  it — 
as  the  text  holds  forth  in  delightful  attitude  the  person  & 
character  of  our  all  glorious  Redeemer.  He  is  mighty  to  save 
&  to  preserve — to  guide  &  to  cheer — all  them  that  enter  in  to 
his  opened  sanctuary.  There  I  trust  dear  Sister,  you  have 
entered^ — there  continually  abide.  Only  realize  that  you  are 
the  Lords — that  you  are  under  his  eye — within  his  tabernacle 
— &  under  his  watch  &  care— &  you  cannot  but  be  humble 
thro'  excess  of  joy — grateful  under  every  trial — watchful  even 
unto  jealousy — &  confident  in  the  exultant  hope  that  whatever 
betides  &  whether  living  or  dying,  you  are  the  Lords.     *     *     * 

Tho'  not  quite  so  well,  I  am  still  in  ordinary  measure  in 
health.  My  side  is  very  painful,  but  I  doubtless  need  the 
thorn.  Margaret  is  well,  but  we  are  all  uneasy  for  her,  lest 
she  may  be  over  taken  unaware  &  there  be  none  to  help.  Many 
are  confident  she  must  be  close  upon  her  expected  season,  and 
if  not,  her  season  of  activity  is  certainly  near  its  close.  I  have 
desired  to  mention  this  to  Mother,  which  I  do  thro'  you,  as 
I  am  startled  by  your  mention  of  the  middle  of  November, 
whereas  she  named  that  of  October.^  The  boy  is  well  &  all 
at  Robert's,  except  the  baby  which  is  ailing.  Mom  Sue  is  still . 
very  sick.  Jem  is,  I  fear,  worse  still.  I  have  just  seen  & 
prayed  with  them  both.  , 

The  weather  is  quite  warm  &  sultry.  One  young  lady  died 
yesterday  at  Mrs.  Days  of  the  fever.*  Mr.  Church  &  Mr. 
Douglas  have  returned,  The  latter  has  determined  to  leave 
Charleston,  &  with  his  brother,  to  go  to  New  Orleans.  I  am 
very  sorry  to  lose  him  in  the  church  where  we  are  vacant 
enough  every  way.    The  Miss  Aulds  are  to  unite  with  us  from 

the  Circular  Ch.    Old  Mrs.  H &  her  daughter  are  again 

attending  the  church  &  it  seems,  wish  to  be  presbyterian  again. 
But  they  are  not  great  make-weights  in  the  Scale.  Christian 
Logan  is  going  to  the  Seminary  &  is  to  be  proposed  tomorrow 

^"The  first  Augustine"  was  born  on  Dec.  10,  1840  and  died  on 
Nov.  17,  1841. — Ed. 

*YelIow  fever  had  visited  Charleston  in  1839  and  returned  in 
1840. — Ed. 


347 

to  the  ladies  as  a  beneficiary.  .  Young  Lee  also,  who  was  so 
distressed,  is  to  go  to  the  Seminary  &  study  for  the  ministry,f 
I  presume  as  Old  School. —  In  Saturday's  paper  you  would 
have  a  feast.  Susan  Robertson  has  been  in  a  good  humour 
she  says,  ever  since  Mr.  Thornwell  said  in  a  letter  to  Mr. 
Gildersleeve  that  my  Presbytery  pamphlet"  was  "a  noble  pro- 
duction &  did  equal  credit  to  my  head  &  my  heart."  I  give  his 
mark  &  his  testimony  because  it  is  pleasant  to  find  that,  just  as 
I  was  discouraged  by  all — &  sustained  in  bringing  it  out  by 
— not  one — it  may  accomplish  the  purposes  I  designed. 
In  much  love  to  Father  &  Mother  &  Jane  Ann  I  remain 
Your  truly  attached  Br. 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

Oct.  I.     Sue  very  weak  but  not  so  much  fever.     Jem  worse 

&  dangerously  sick.     If  he  dies  Mr.  C is  seriously  to 

blame,  as  he  was  next  to  starved  by  him.  He  has  been  living, 
it  seems,  on  what  he  could  beg  in  our  kitchen  at  night. 

BUSHBY  CREEK  POST  OFFICE 
7  August,  1 84 1. 
DEAR  THOMAS, 

James  Smith  ^^  '^^  ^^^  ^  bclieve  nearly  4  years  since  I  had 
to  his  this  pleasure,  and  not  having  heard  ought  of  you 

brother.  f^j.  2  years,  I  am  anxious  to  have  a  letter.     In 

the  interval  that  has  elapsed  since  we  last  parted,  I  have  had 
perhaps  as  fortunate  an  existence  as  m.ost  children  of  men. 
My  family  now  consists  of  5  daughters  and  2  sons.  If  I  live 
until  21  Sept.  next  I  shall  have  arrived  at  the  age  of  42  which 
here  in  the  South  is  at  least  6  generations.  I  have  been  Cotton 
Planting  in  one  of  the  richest  regions  of  Louisiana.  We  can 
make  on  an  average  i^  Bales  Cotton  to  the  acre.  I  have  1,000 
acres  of  the  best  land,  but  not  enough  hands  to  work  it,  and  as  I 
have  alwaj^s  been  a  true  Whig,  I  have  abstained  from  going  in 
debt.  If  any  of  your  acquaintances  in  Carolina  that  have  a 
number  of  hands  will  come  here  with  them,  I  will  give  them 
an  opportunity  of  putting  them  to  work  where  their  services 
will  pay.  During  10  years  that  I  have  lived  in  Louisiana  I 
have  had  my  family  every  Summer  in  the  Pine  Woods.  My 
Summer  house  is  20  miles  from  my  Plantation.  We  come 
here  in  May  by  water  and  move  back  in  October. 

I  should  be  more  pleased  to  see  you  than  you  can  imagine. 

t  An  ordination  not  mentioned  in  "Life  in  Sec.  Pres.  Church  is 
that  of  Dr.  T.  L.  McBryde,  on  Dec.  8,  1839,  in  Second  Church  as 
a  missionary  to  China. — Ed. 

°See   Life  in  Second   Church   of  this   date. — Ed. 


348 

Although  we  are  looo  miles  apart,  yet  now  a-days  it  is  nothing. 
I  observe  they  are  travelling  on  the  Eastern  Rail  Roads  48 
miles  per  hour  for  the  entire  trip.  Say  whether  or  not  you 
could  bring  your  family  and  spend  a  month  or  two  with  me 
next  Summer :  I  have  then  full  leisure  and  should  like,  before 
the  grim  messenger  should  have  paid  his  devoirs  to  either  of 
us,  again  to  meet.  I  have  not  heard  from  Joseph  since  his 
family  and  self  were  at  Vincennes,  neither  have  I  heard  from 
Father  or  Isabella  nor  Anna  for  a  year.  In  fact  I  have  not 
heard  from  Mrs.  Plunkett  nor  her  husband  for  several  years. 
We  have  steam  boat  navigation  from  New  Orleans  to  my 
place  all  year.  I  live  7  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Little  River 
on  Black  River,  Parish  Catuhoulu. 

Yr.  trulv  affectionate  brother, 

JAMES  SMITH. 

Rev.  Thomas  Smyth, 
Care 

John  Bones  Esq. 
Augusta, 
Geo. 

Sabbath  Afternoon, 

Dec.  3,  1843. 

^  ^  ^ 

to'^Dr  Smyth  ■'"^  ^^  ^  ycars  to  day  since  little  Susan  was  buried 
I  wish  you  could  see  dear  fat  Augustine"  for  a 
little  while  &  hear  his  efforts  at  talking;  he  has  learned  to  say 
"pretty,  pretty" — &  says  it  on  all  occasions.  He  has  become 
a  great  pet  with  them  all.  His  Grandfather  was  not  out  to 
day,  he  has  a  gum-boil,  &  is  in  great  pain,  &  they  tell  me  he 
nursed  the  child  a  great  while,  amusing  him  with  his  specs — 
money,  &c.  &c.  Ellison  too,  nurses  him  a  great  deal  &  is  very 
fond  of  him..  His  grandmother  says  "he  is  the  most  engaging 
child  she  ever  saw,  He  is  sociable  &  free,  &  will  go  to  them  all 
&  kiss  them — this  Adger  never  would  do — &  this  makes  Au- 
gustine such  a  favourite.  He  has  not  had  any  biscuit,  since 
you  left,  in  the  morning.    He  has  learned  to  do  without.  *  *  * 

Sunday  Evening — Bed  time. 

Dr.  Geddings  paid  me  a  long  sociable  visit  this  evening,  was 
quite  amused  with  Adger's  chat.  Thinks  he  will  not  require 
any  more  medicine  but  cautions  me  about  his  eyes — to  keep 
him  in  out  of  the  air,  &  not  to  let  him  read  at  all  until  they  are 
well.  He  does  not  think  the  Scarlet  Fever  prevalent  in  the 
City — ^only  in  some  few  families.  In  them  he  says,  it  has  been 
very  fatal. — 

*"The  second  Augustine  was  born  on  Oct.  s,  1842. — Ed. 


349 

In  1843-4  Macready,  the  great  English  tragedian, 
Dr.  Smith  yisited  the  United  States,  reaching  Charleston  in 
hears    Mac-  t  o  1  1  r 

ready    read        January  I044,  and  among  other  performances,  acting 

"Hamlet"  on  January  8/  Many  people  were  at  that 
time  so  prejudiced  against  the  theatre,  as  to  include  Shakespeare 
himself  among  the  forbidden  things,  but  a  strong  petition  was  sent 
to  Macready,  begging  him  to  give  a  Shakespeare  reading,  which 
all  could  attend.  Dr.  Smyth  was  already  in  a  measure  familiar 
with  Shakespeare,  (as  shown  by  four  quotations  entered  before 
1840  in  his  common  place  book,  five  in  an  article  of  that  date,  one 
in  1833,  and  two  on  the  second  page  of  his  sermons  on  the  theatre, 
published  in  1838.)  but  he  desired  to  know  more,  and  called  on  his 
friend.  Judge  Mitchell  King,  for  advice.  The  latter  assured  Dr. 
Smyth  of  the  perfect  propriety  of  his  attendance  on  the  reading; 
which  resulted  in  so  interesting  him,  that  from  a  casual  reader.  Dr. 
Smyth  became  an  earnest  student  of  the  greatest  of  playwrights. 
— Editor. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  31  January,  1844. 
Dear  Thomas, 

James  Smith  ^J  ^hc  Rcv.  Coliti  Shaw,  a  Presbyterian  Min- 
to  his  ister,    (who   has    made    a   trip    with   me    on    the 

brother.  Steamer  Buckeye  to  the  place,  and  who,  I  found 

in  conversation  with  him,  was  acquainted  with  you ;)  I  take 
this  pleasure.  When  I  first  enquired  of  you,  he  immediately 
recognized  a  likeness  between  you  and  myself  and  asked  if  we 
were  not  brothers.  So  I  find  that  you  must  have  some  marks 
of  antiquity  about  you  as  well  as  myself.  In  your  last  letter 
to  me  you  asked  my  opinion  on  the  choice  of  location,  Natchez 
or  New  Orleans.  I  thought  your  situation  in  Charleston  was 
perhaps  equal  to  either,  but  if  you  should  think  of  leaving 
there.  New  Orleans  is  the  best.  It  must  eventually  be  the 
greatest  City  in  the  world,  and  when  once  a  person  becomes 
acclimated  and  survives  Yellow  fever,  it  is  as  healthy  as  any 
other  town  on  the  Continent.  There  is  a  Rev.  Doctor  Clapp, 
formerly  of  your  profession,  though  for  10  years  a  seceder 
from  Old  Presbyterianism,  who  has  a  very  respectable  con- 
gregation here.  He  is  also  a  very  eloquent  &  impressive 
speaker.  I  once  had  a  pew  in  his  church  and  was  always 
pleased  with  his  sermons.  They  were  so  argumentative  and 
altogether  out  of  the  old  track.  He  belongs  to  no  particular 
creed,  had  the  church  in  which  he  preaches  presented  to  him 
for  life  by  a  Jew,  and  makes  I  suppose  $5000  per  annum  in  the 
sale  of  the  Pews.     His  house  is  full  every  Sunday.     He  is  a 

'For  a  most  interesting  account,  see  "Macready's  Reminis- 
cences," page  539,  etc.  He  does  not  mention  the  reading,  but  the 
story  is  told  by  a  daughter  of  Judge  King. — Ed. 


350 

gentleman  of  family  and  can  be  found  every  morning  very 
early  at  Market  with  his  basket  under  his  arm. '  The  Cotton 
business  was  so  dull  last  year,  prices  from  5  to  6  cts  per  lb, 
that  this  year  I  have  purchased  an  interest  in  the  Buckeye  and 
receive  $100  per  mo.  as  first  clerk.  As  yet  the  boat  has  made 
but  little,  but  even  should  she  not  loose,  my  $100  per  mo.  will 
enable  me  to  make  up  for  a  short  crop.  My  family  reside  on 
the  Plantation  and  are  all  in  excellent  health,  I  expect  shortly 
to  have  an  additional  heir  which  will  make  9,  all  of  whom, 
except  Peter,  are  alive  &  all  fine  looking  children.  Where  I 
live  however  I  have  no  opportunity  of  getting  them  to  School 
and  will  first  good  opportunity,  sell  my  Plantation  and  remove 
to  a  denser  neighbourhood  for  the  purpose  of  educating  my 
younger  children.  3,  say  2  girls  and  i  boy,  are  grown.  Sam 
the  eldest  is  6  feet  2  inches  and  weighs  175  lb.  He  is  a 
Catholic,  having  received  his  education  at  St.  Louis  College, 
a  Catholic  institution, — all  the  Professors  being  Belgian 
Priests.  It  appears  to  me  the  Catholic  are  altogether  the  most 
assiduous  class  &  their  policy  for  increasing  their  church  the 
most  certain.  They  have  Schools  every  where  and  all  of  them 
are  in  good  repute  as  establishments  "of  learning,  besides  they 
make  it  their  chief  study  to  make  a  catholic  impression  on  the 
young  minds.  We  had  a  Sermon  on  the  Buckeye  from  Mr. 
Shaw  which  is  the  first  I  have  heard  in  2  years,  and  he  done 
his  text  justice.  I  was  quite  pleased  with  him.  My  regards  to 
your  family  and  afifection  to  yourself. 

JAMES  SMITH. 


NEW  YORK,  May  23,  1844. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH, 

It  is  possible  that  I  may  not  see  you  when  you 
first  reTIrn  ^  come  ou  to  this  City,  as  I  must  be  in  Phila.  or 
to  Great  Bri-  rather  in  Washington,  a  part  of  next  week.  It  is 
tain   and  possible  that  I  shall  see  you  in  Boston,  if  you  go 

Ireland.  110  r   t  s 

by  the  Steamer  of  June  ist. 

I  send  you  herewith,  care  of  Leavitt,  Trow  &  Co's  Book 
Store,  some  letters  which  I  trust  will  be  of  use.  As  you  ad- 
vance you  can  get  letters  from  gentlemen  whose  acquaintance 
you  will  make  which  will  be  of  great  use. 

Should  you  be  in  Boston  next  Friday  (the  31st  inst.)  I 
wish  you  would  speak  at  an  anniversary  of  our  Society — 

'See   Mrs.   Smyth's   letter  of   1859.— Ed. 


351 

I  do  not  know  that  I  have  any  thing  else  to  add.  I  suppose 
you  have  your  passport  all  en  regle^ 

Wishing  you  a  very  pleasant  and  profitable  journey  and  a 
happy  return,  I  am 

Yours  most  truly 

N.  BAIRD. 

P.  S.  Perhaps  it  may  be  of  use  if  I  put  down  the  names 
of  some  good  hotels. — 

Liverpool- — ■  The  Angel. 

Glasgow —  Royal  Hotel,     (Mr.  Craddock's). 

Edinburg —  Mr.  Tait's  Hotel. 

"        —  Regent  Hotel,  Waterloo  Place. 

London —  London  Hotel,  Albemarle. 

Brussels —  Hotel  de  la  Guede. 

Hague —  Marechal  Turenne. 

Amsterdam —  Hotel  des  Pays-Bas. 

Bale —  Hotel  de  la  Cigogne. 

Lausanne —  Hotel  Gibbon. 

Geneva — •  Hotel  des  Bergnes. 

Turin —  Hotel  de  1'  Europe. 
Florence — •  do.         do. 

Naples —  Hotel  du  Commerce. 

Open  letter  from  Dr.  Chalmers,  written  to  Dr.  Smyth  while  in 
Edinburgh. — Editor. 

EDINBURGH,  25  Sept.,  1844. 

MY  DEAR  SIR —  I  do  not  need  to  assure  you 
Dr.    Chalmers   j^^^  ^j^^j^  j  sy^-ipathize  with  those  who — because 

on   slavery.  -'      -"^  .      .  01  o 

slavery  happens  to  prevail  in  the  Southern  States 
of  America — would  unchristianize  that  whole  region;  and  who 
even  carry  their  extravagance  so  far  as  to  affirm  that,  so  long 
as  it  subsists,  no  fellowship  or  interchange  of  good  offices 
should  take  place  with  its  churches,  or  its  ministers. 

As  a  friend  to  the  universal  virtue  and  liberty  of  mankind, 
I  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  those  days  when  slavery  shall  be 
banished  from  the  face  of  the  earth ;  but  most  assuredly  the 
wholesale  style  of  excommunication,  contended  for  by  some, 
is  not  the  way  to  hasten  forward  this  blissful  consummation. 

Few  things  would  afford  me  greater  satisfaction  than  to  hear 
of  a  commencement  in  your  country,  of  that  process  by  which 
the  labor  of  freemen  might  be  substituted  for  that  of  slaves. 

'Dr.  Smyth  was  naturalized  as  an  American  citizen  on  May  2, 
1844- — Ed. 


352 

As  I  mention  to  you,  I  was  exceedingly  struck,  so  far  back  as 
twenty-five  years  ago,  by  the  description  of  such  a.  process  in 
Humbolt's  Travels  through  Spanish  South  America.  This 
was  long  anterior  to  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  British 
Colonies ;  and  such  was  the  confidence  I  then  felt  in  its  efficacy, 
that  I  ventured  to  draw  out  a  sketch  of  the  Spanish  plan 
which,  if  adopted  at  the  time,  might  have  ensured  a  far  safer 
and  even  earlier  emancipation  than  took  place  afterwards. 
You  will  find  my  account  of  it  in  the  twelfth  volume  of  my 
works,  from  page  395  and  onwards. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  engage  in  any  sort  of  public  busi- 
ness since  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  you,  but  I 
observe  that  in  our  Assembly's  Commission,  a  few  weeks 
back,  the  subject  of  American  slavery  was  entertained.  I  do 
hope  that  the  Resolutions  which  they  have  adopted  will  prove 
satisfactory. 

I  feel  it  a  great  acquisition  that  I  have  made  your  acquaint- 
ance.    We  owe  you  much,  and  I  trust  the  ministers  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  will  ever  entertain  a  grateful  sense 
of  your  able  and  disinterested  services. 
Do  believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 

Yours  most  respectfully  and  truly, 

THOMAS  CHALMERS. 
To  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth. 

N.  B. — I  shall  be  happy  at  all  times  to  hear  from  you. 


The  publication  of  this  letter  led  to  a  demand 

comment. 


r.     myt  s      ^-^^^f^Q   upou   Dr.    Chalmers   by  the   Anti    Slavery 


Societ)^  of  Edinburgh,  for  a  disclaimer  of  the  let- 
ter or  a  fuller  expression  of  opinion.  This  he  gave  in  a  letter 
on  American  slave-holding,  of  which  a  copy  lies  before  us 
issued  by  the  Belfast  Anti-Slavery  Committee,  with  their 
violent  comments  upon  it.  From  this  correspondence  also 
arose  that  fierce  onset  made  upon  the  Free  Church  by  the 
combined  abolition  fanaticism  of  Scotland ;  and  against  which 
Dr.  Cunningham  has  so  nobly  presented  the  irresistible  shield 
of  christian  truth  and  charity. 

"Not  only  is  there  a  wrong  principle  involved  in  the  demands 
which  these  abolitionists  now  make  on  the  Free  Church  of  Scot- 
land,^ it  is  hurtful  in  effect.  *  *  A  factitious  and  new  principle, 
which  not  only  wants,  but  which  contravenes  the  authority  of 
Scripture    and    of    apostolic    example,    and    indeed    has    only    been 

^The  Abolitionists  were  demanding  the  return  of  the  subscrip- 
tions received  from  the  South.     See  p.  240. — Ed. 


353 

heard  of  in  Christendom  within  these  few  years,  as  if  gotten  up 
for  an  occasion  instead  of  being-  drawn  from  the  repositories  of 
that  truth  which  is  immutable  and  eternal — even  the  principle  that 
no  slave-holder  should'  be  admitted  to  a  participation  in  the 
Christian  sacraments."     Dr.   Cunningham. 

The  foregoing  letter  and  quotation,  with  further  quotations 
and  reference  to  similar  language  in  Dr.  Chalmers'  pamphlet  on 
the  Evangelical  Alliance,  may  be  found  in  the  sermon  on  "The  late 
Dr.   Chalmers,"  vol.   Ill,  pp.   568,  etc.,   Smyth's   Works. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  October  21,  1844. 
Tuesday  night. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

Mrs.    Smyth  *       *       * 

to  Dr.  Smyth.  j  ^^^^]^  j  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  enclosed  letters'  and  I 
flatter  myself  you  will  he  willing-  to  pay  the  postage  if  it  is  only 
for  this  P.  S.  from  me.  I  trust  it  -will  meet  you,  "all  your  perils 
o'er,"  in  N.  Y.  the  last  of  this  week,  and  in  a  few  days  after, 
I  hope  to  meet  you  once  more  in  the  flesh,  and  together  recount 
the  loving  kindness  of  our  God.  The  days  now  seem  very 
long,  and  I  am  becoming  intensely  anxious  for  your  safe 
arrival.  Your  last  was  from  Dublin,  just  upon  your  arrival 
there.  I  had  hoped  to  have  heard  from  you  again,  before 
this,  but  the  news  by  the  steamer  has  not  yet  arrived.  *  * 
I  am  now  all  on  the  qui  vive  of  expectancy  to  meet  my  dear 
Adger,^  and  all  the  others  tomorrow.  They  have  been  long 
detained  by  Father's  illness,  he  has  been  sick,  very  sick  in  N. 
Y.  confined  to  bed  nearly  3  weeks,  at  the  Astor.  We  have  felt 
very  anxious  about  him,  and  still  do,  as  he  is  very  weak,  he  has 
had  an  attack  of  cold  similar  to  one  he  had  6  years  ago  on  his 
return  from  England.  Mother  is  better  and  so  is  Adger.  They 
have  been  long  away,  nearly  as  long  as  you  have.  I  expected 
them  home  a  month  ago.  I  have  had  a  long  lonely  summer  of 
it.  Think  of  me  now  in  this  big  house  entirely  alone,  for  my 
children  are  asleep,  and  here  I  will  have  to  wait  until  11  or  12 

^Resolutions  from  the  Session  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church.  A  letter  of  this  period  from  Dr.  Smyth  to  the  Session  is 
among  those  in  the  chapter  covering  his  life  in  the   Church. — Ed. 

''Mrs.  Smyth's  eldest  son  had  been  travelling  with  his  Grand- 
father's Summer  party,  which  had  visited  as  was  their  custom,  the 
Virginia  Springs,  Kinderhook,  where  two  of  Mr.  James  Adger's 
half-sisters  resided,  and  other  places,  including  New  York.  Mr. 
Adger  Smyth  has  no  recollection  of  his  grandfather's  illness,  but 
was  with  him  at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel  in  New  York  in  1858,  at 
the  time  of  his  death. — Ed. 


[23] 


354 

o'clock  as  the  boys*  are  so  busy  at  the  store  opening  their  new 
g-oods.  But  it  is  all  over  now.  I  hope  they  will  come  to- 
morrow, and  next  week  I  hope  to  see  you.  I  can  scarce  realize 
it.  You  will  not  detain  longer  in  N.  Y.  than  to  get  your  bag- 
gage ashore,  and  see  your  brother,  and  you  will  not  tarry  on 
the  way.  *  *  Dr.  Leland  administered  the  communion  last 
Sabbath  week — the  Sunday  before  he  baptized  3  children,  Mr. 
Hughes',  Mr.  Girardeau's  and  Col.  Yeadon's.  Mr.  Andrew 
Moffett  and  Mr.  Hugh  Wilson  assisted  Mr.  Dewees.  The  ser- 
vice was  long  but  interesting.  Dr.  L.  preached  three  Sundays ; 
he  stayed  at  Mr.  Robinsons.  He  would  have  preached  last  Sab- 
bath and  has  offered  to  do  so  until  your  return — but  Mr.  Gilder- 
sleeve,  by  some  management  was  invited  and  preached  for  us. 
I  believe  it  was  that  he  might  baptize  the  child  of  Susan  Lee, 
which  he  did  last  Sabbath  morning.  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Robinson  are 
about  setting  out  for  Alabama,  to  be  gone  all  winter.  I  have  told 
him  he  ought  to  wait  for  your  return,  he  w'd  like  to  see  you, 
but  fears  the  weather  will  be  getting  too  cold  for  Mrs.  R. 
Mr.  Dukes  has  been  appointed  President  pro  tem.  These  ab- 
sentees have  returned.  Judge  Gilchrist  and  family,  Mr.  Milli- 
ken  and  lady.  The  church  is  beginning  to  fill  up,  and  .the 
people  look  for  your  return  not  with  impatience,  but  with 
desire.  I  believe  you  have  not  heard  of  the  death  of  Uncle 
Joseph  Ellison  of  Columbia.  It  occurred  about  a  month  ago 
of  Congestion  of  the  Brain,  or  rather  of  a  kind  of  Apoplexy — 
He  lived  after  the  attack  about  2  weeks — but  was  almost  un- 
conscious all  the  time.  It  is  a  great  trial  to  Mother,  as  she 
was  very  fond  of  him.  He  has  left  considerable  property — 
a  legacy  of  $1000  to  the  Seminary — and  $4000  to  our  Ellison,^ 
so  much  for  the  name.  I  shall  keep  this  open  to  tell  you  if 
they  arrive  tomorrow.  Do  write  to  me  as  soon  as  you  arrive 
in  N.  Y.  and  tell  me  what  day  I  may  expect  you.  I  shall  wait 
very  anxiously  to  see  you. —  Augustine  has  a  bad  cold  which 
has  caused  his  cough  to  return,  to-day  I  had  to  give  him 
medicine,  which  has  benefitted  him.  Dear  little  Susan  grows 
finely,^  is  a  lovely,  'good  child,  lives  altogether  upon  her 
Mother,  and  is  very  healthy.  I  don't  think  I  am  as  stout  as 
I  was,  perhaps  because  our  daughter  is  becoming  more  so. 
But  I  am  perfectly  satisfied  as  I   enjoy  uninterrupted  good 

*Mrs.  Smyth's  brother  William  and  several  young  Irishmen, 
who  were  interested  in  a  new  hardware  store.  Mrs.  Smyth  was 
at  her  father's  house  during  the  Doctor's  absence. — Ed. 

^Mrs.  Smyth's  youngest  brother,  Joseph  Ellison  Adger. — Ed. 

"The  second  Susan  was  born  on  May  17,  1844. — Ed. 


355 

health. —  I  do  trust  you  have  been  benefitted  by  your  summer's 
excursion,  and  that  you  will  continue  to  improve  after  your 

return  home.  You  need  not  expect  a  continuance 
n^  he^aur^  ^     °^  health  however,  if  you  pursue  the  same  course 

you  have  done  hitherto.  I  do  not  believe  you  have 
suffered  so  much,  or  at  all  from  the  effects  of  our  Southern 
climate.  It  is  congenial  to  you.  It  is  your  habits  of  excessive 
study,  your  mania  for  constantly  poring  over  books,  that  has 
injured  your  health,  undermined  your  constitution,  brought 
on  premature  old  age,  and  if  persisted  in,  will  bring  you  to  an 
early  grave.  I  feel  it  is  almost  hopeless  to  urge  you,  and  yet 
I  can  not  refrain  from  begging  you  for  my  sake,  and  for  your 
childrens  sake,  desist,  and  spare  yourself.  You  would  be  so 
much  more  of  a  friend  and  companion,  if  you  were  less  of  a 
student.  You  would  contribute  so  much  more  to  the  comfort 
and  well  being  of  your  family  were  you  less  abstracted  from 
them,  and  did  you  allow  yourself  to  become  interested  in  their 
pursuits  and  engagements.  You  have  as  fine  children  as  ever 
gladdened  a  Father's  heart,  and  it  is  yotir  duty  to  give  them  a 
share  of  your  time  and  thoughts.  Adger  is  a  boy  of  uncommon 
promise,  and  to  him  your  attention  would  now  be  of  incalcul- 
able advantage.  Augustine  is  of  a  most  interesting  age,  and 
his  prattle  would  beguile  you  of  many  moments.  He  is  the 
darling  of  the  whole  household.  His  uncle  Ellison's  pet.  He 
is  just  of  an  age  to  love,  and  dear  little  Susan,  is  just  formed 
for  a  fond  Father  to  dote  upon.  You  might  be  so  happy  with 
them,  and  with  me,  if  you  only  would.  I  had  no  intention  of 
entering  upon  this  subject  (and  I  fear  I  have  spoiled  "old 
Fort's"  letter'),  but  it  is  ever  uppermost  in  my  thoughts  and  it 
has  come  out. —  Since  I  have  commenced  this  I  have  seen  both 
Robt.  and  Wm.  and  they  both  tell  me  not  to  expect  you  next 
week.  Wm.  says  ycu  will  not  arrive  until  late  on  Saturday, 
and  that  it  will  take  you  all  Monday  to  get  your  baggage  thro 
the  Custom  House  and  you  could  not  be  here  before  Saturday. 
I  do  not  wish  to  hasten  you,  to  make  you  overfatigue  yourself, 
and  come  home  worn  out.  Rather  take  your  time  and  be  fresh 
when  you  get  here,  for  you  will  have  but  little  time  then  to 
rest. — 

In  much  love,  most  devotedly. 

Your  Wife 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

'This  is  written  on  the  blank  page  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  John 
Robinson. — Ed. 


356 

Notice  of  my  visit  to  Vincennes  Ind.  to  visit  my  father  and 
see  m,y  mother  s  grave.  This  was  during  the  meeting  of  their 
Synod,  before  which  I  preached  twice. 

The  GAZETTE. 

VINCENNES.     Thursday,  October  g,  1845. 

The  Synod  of  Indiana,  met  in  this  place  on  Thursday  the 
2nd  inst.,  and  continued  its  session  until  late  on  Monday  night 
following.     *     *     * 

On  Sabbath  morning  and  evening,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth, 
D.  D.,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  by  invitation  delivered  two  dis- 
courses of  surpassing  power  and  eloquence.  The  sermon  in 
the  forenoon,  on  the  nature  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  was  pronounced  by  the  clergy  present  to  be  the  ablest 
exposition  of  the  text,  in  point  of  argument  and  learning,  and, 
by  all  who  heard  it,  as  one  of  the  most  powerful  efforts,  they 
had  ever  heard  from  the  pulpit.  The  church  was  crowded  to 
overflowing,  and  the  deep  stillness  and  emotion  manifested 
by  many  at  the  closing  appeal  of  the  speaker  testified  to  the 
power  of  his  eloquence.  It  was  a  high  compliment  to  tender 
to  a  stranger  the  honor  usually  reserved  to  the  Moderator,  of 
occupying  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath,  but  Dr.  Smyth  had 
preached  three  times,  as  we  noticed  last  week,  before  the  con- 
vening of  the  Synod,  and  had  so  fully  justified  his  fame  as  an 
orator  and  theologian,  that  the  brethren  were  exceedingly 
desirous  of  hearing  him.  And  when  they  had  heard  him  they 
were  so  struck  with  his  profound  reasoning,  his  fervor  and 
energ}^,  his  entire  freedom  from  ostentation,  and  his  sincerity, 
that  their  demonstrations  of  respect  and  regard  were  enthus- 
iastic. His  co-laborers  in  the  Lord's  vineyard  testified  their 
high  gratification  by  purchasing  a  large  number  of  his  works 
and  requesting  him  to  publish  his  sermons. 

This  letter  from  my  eldest  brother  refers  to  my  visit  to  my 
father. 

PATERSON,  9  Dec.  1845. 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

Joseph  Smith  I  ^^^y  received  your  last  letter  announcing  your 
to  Thomas  safc  arrival  at  home  after  a  long  tour — of  your 
Smyth.  doings  whilst  abroad  I  had  previously  heard  and 

read.  It  would  seem  as  if  you  had  completely  taken  the 
Western  people  by  storm,  as  the  sensation  created  in  Vincennes 
from  all  accounts  was  greater  than  you  have  ever  before  pro- 
duced—  I  hope  blessed  results  will  follow  your  labours  there. — 
How  my  father  must  have  been  delighted.     I  suppose  nothing 


357 

earthly  could  nozu  have  given  him  so  much  gratification.  I 
have  likened  him  to  Old  Simeon,  when  he  saw  the  heavenly- 
babe.  So  would  my  father  in  like  manner  say  in  his  heart — 
"Lord  now  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace  according  to  thy 
word  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation."  Your  visit 
would  have  the  effect  of  binding  up  his  broken  spirit,  soothing 
his  sorrows,  and  smoothing  his  way  to  the  tomb — may  God 
reward  3^ou  for  all  your  kindness  towards  him. —  But  when 
you  get  time,  you  must  enter  into  details  about  how  the  old 
man  looks,  and  feels,  and  what  you  think  of  Fauntleroy,  and 
how  he  is  doing,  also  the  appearance  of  Anna  and  her  family 
&c,  and  how  you  liked  the  Vincennes  people,  minister  included. 
— ■  It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  the  Synod  was  in 
Session,  and  rather  providential  as  it  got  you  more  into  notice, 
and  circulated  your  works. —  On  the  whole  it  was  a  triumphal 
march,  and  I  rejoice  in  all  the  goodness  that  shined  on  your 
path. — 

This  has  been  quite  a  year  of  church  extension  here. —  The 
New  School  have  put  up  a  very  nice  church  which  was  opened 
by  Dr.  Skinner  a  month  ago.  The  primitive  Methodists  have 
also  erected  a  new  church  which  is  well  filled. —  The  Episcopal 
has  been  lengthened  so  as  to  make  it  ys  larger — and  the  Cath- 
olic church  has  so  much  increased  since  the  new  priest  came, 
that  they  are  going  to  enlarge  the  house  in  the  Spring.  So  all 
these  changes  speak  well  for  the  prosperity  of  the  place  at 
least,  if  not  for  its  religious  growth —  Our  church  is  increasing 
in  members,  and  we  have  a  very  respectable  Congregation 
every  Sunday —  Mr.  Hornblower  continues  popular  and  de- 
servedly so —  Mr.  Colt's  family  being  all  away,  he  has  invited 
Mr.  H.  to  be  an  inmate  of  his  family  all  winter  and  he  has 
accepted  the  invitation. — John  O.  [Smith]  and  Morgan  sailed 
for  England  about  3  weeks  since — and  Young  Roswxll  is  gone 
to  Housekeeping — he  has  a  fine  boy,  Roswell  the  third. —  John 
and  Robert  come  out  about  once  a  fortnight,  the  former  seem- 
ing well  and  contented,  the  latter  not.  he  is  like  me,  a  strong 
Paterson  man,  and  I  am  in  treaty  with  Mr.  Clark  for  his 
store  as  he  leaves  town  in  the  Spring,  if  he  and  I  come  to 
terms,  I  will  put  Robert  and  Thomas  into  it.  It  is  a  good  safe 
business,  and  I  think  they  would  draw  a  great  deal  more  cus- 
tom that  Mr.  Clark  as  he  is  not  popular. —  He  is  an  upright 
honest  man,  and  will  be  a  great  loss  to  our  church — he  has 
been  treasurer  for  15  years,  and  I  President. —  We  had  a 
delightful  fall,  it  continued  Indian  Summer  till  the  latter  end 
of  last  month,  when  we  all  at  once  jumped  into  winter, 
and  we  have  had   severe  weather  ever  since. —  The  health 


358 

of  all  the  family  continues  good* — Jane  is  now  better  than 
for  years — I  am  in  usual  good  health,  and  able  to  wear 
a  leather  shoe  again,  though  I  once  and  a  while  feel  a 
little  twinge  in  the  toe. —  I  suppose  your  next  will  an- 
nounce the  birth  of  another  heir,  as  from  Margaret's  appear- 
ance it  cannot  be  far  off,  tell  her  I  wish  her  a  safe  deliverance. — 
I  never  hear  anything  of  Mr.  Kee  now.  the  last  I  heard  was 
that  he  had  been  licensed  to  preach — but  I  did  not  learn  what 
school —  We  had  a  Mr.  Longmore  preaching  here  2  Sundays 
ago,  who  was  a  Cotemporary  with  old  Dr.  Edgar,  and  belonged 
to  that  Body.  It  reminded  me  of  old  times,  and  I  was  greatly 
pleased. — 

How  pleasant  to  recall  the  scenes  of  youth —  It  makes  one 
young  again. 

Yours  affectionately 

JOSEPH  SMITH. 


359 


Chapter  II.     1846. 

Dr.  Smyth's  journey  to  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
Second  visit  in  1846  was  partly  in  compliance  with  the  request  of 
to^  Great  Bri-  j^jg  aunt,  Mrs.  Magee,  whom  he  had  visited  in  1844, 
Ireland  ^^^   ^^^°   °"   account   of   his   broken   health.      He   had 

never  recovered  from  the  death  of  his  three  children 
and  was  driving  his  frail  body  more  and  more  pitilessly  in  never 
ceasing  work,  while  much  cut  off  from  sympathetic  intercourse,  as 
the  division  in  Presbytery  still  existed  and  Mr.  Gildersleeve  had 
removed  to  Richmond.  The  preceding  months  had  also  brought 
Dr.  Smyth  more  than  ordinary  mental  and  spiritual  excitement 
and  nerve-racking  tension,  for  the  great  revival,  noted  'elsewhere, 
had  been  going  on.  As  a  result  of  his  nervous  fatigue  Dr.  Smyth 
apparently  suffered  a  slight  attack  of  paralysis,  although  it  was 
not  fully  recognized  by  others,  he,  however,  refers  to  it  (though 
mistaking  the  date,)  in  a  letter  to  the  session  in  1850.  As  the 
following  letters  show,  instead  of  rest,  his  visit  to  Ireland  brought 
only  added  excitement. 

Mrs.  Smyth's  correspondence  cannot  be  given  in  full  for  lack 
of  space.  The  portions  omitted  tell  of  her  busy  home  life,  her  joy 
and  anxiety  over  her  children,  and  many  messages  from  them  to 
"Papa."  There  is  also  much  Church  business  and  a  great  d^al 
about  the  library  and  its  constant  use  by  many  who  come  and  go, 
borrowing  books  or  working  there  by  the  hour;  or  to  help  whom 
she  searches,  sometimes  vainly,  the  crowded  shelves  for  some 
coveted  book  of  reference.  The  noisy  workmen  trouble  her. 
Besides  there  is  illness  in  her  Father's  family,  her  brother  James 
being  stricken.  Adding  to  all  this  the  great  length  of  time  re- 
quired for  the  transmission  of  letters  and  the  consequent  ignorance 
of  what  each  was  undergoing  it  is  plain  that  this  could  not  have 
been  a  restful  Summer  to  either  husband  or  wife. — Editor. 

Evangelical  O^^  ^^  ^Y  objccts  in  visititig  Europe  in  1846 

Alliance  in  was  to  be  present  at  the  Evangelical  Alliance  at 
London.  j^g  f^^^^  great  world  meeting.     I  was  present  at 

the  Preparatory  meeting  when  the  platform  and  creed,  or  basis 
of  Union,  was  discussed  and  adopted.  There  was  considerable 
and  warm  debate  on  the  point  of  the  future  punishment  of  the 
wicked.  Thohick^  was  in  attendance  from  Germany  and  was 
supposed  to  entertain  loose  views  on  this  subject.''  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Hinton  (Baptist)  of  London  represented  a  strong  antag- 
onistic English  influence  at  which  I  was  much  surprised  and 

^Friedrich  August  Gottreu  Tholuck,  an  eminent  Protestant 
theologian  and  professor  at   Halle. — Ed. 

^Dr.  J.  B.  Adger  speaks  of  "Unitarians  and  others  not  ortho- 
dox" being  admitted. — Ed. 


360 

distressed.  The  representatives  from  the  United  alone  took  a 
strong  and  determined  position  for  the  necessity  of  its  intro- 
duction. I  followed  Mr.  or  Dr.  Hinton  in  a  Speech  urging  the 
importance  of  a  very  solid  and  sufficiently  broad  foundation  to 
sustain  so  wide  and  comprehensive  a  structure,  and  the  import- 
ance attached  to  this  doctrine  in  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his 
Apostles. —  It  seemed  to  make  great  impression  and  led  to 
the  self  introduction  of  a  number,  who  expressed  their  gratifica- 
tion on  hearing  it  and  on  the  result  to  which  they  thought  it 
certainly  contributed. 

I  attended  the  morning  conferences  and  breakfasts  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Peabody,  ( ?)  an  American  gentleman,  in  Amer- 
ica Square,  where  the  course  proper  for  Americans  to  pursue 
was  discussed  and  agreed  on.  And  it  was  truly  delightful  to 
find  how  patriotic  feeling  extinguished  all  jealousies  and  all 
sectional  feelings,  and  united  various  denominations  in  one 
compact  determined  phalanx  to  resist  any  introduction,  as  a 
base  of  union,  of  the  Slavery'  question,  on  the 
The  slavery  ^^  ^£  their  leaving.     Dr.  Cox  and  Dr.  Beecher 

question.  -"^  o 

(the  Father)  were  equally  brave  and  determined 
with  the  rest.  The  point,  after  much  excited  debate,  was  car- 
ried. Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  was  present  part  of  the  time  and 
most  nobly  refused  to  be  put  on  a  committee  to  report  com- 
promisingly  on  the  subject,  and  declared  as  he  stood  by  me, 
and  with  great  effect,  that  it  was  a  question  on  which  as 
Americans  we  could  make  no  compromise  whatever.  Sidney 
Morse  Esq.  of  the  N.  Y.  Observer  was  also  very  magnanimous 
and  carried  the  v/ar  into  the  enemy's  territory  and  brought 
them  to  terms. 

From  the  result  of  this  Alliance  no  attempt  has  been  made 
to  convoke  on  either  side  an  Alliance  of  both  countries. 

The  Minutes  of  this  Alliance  are  in  the  Smyth  Library. 

I  met  Dr.  Adger  and  family  in  London  at  this  time  on  their 
return  home  from  Smyrna. 

Dr.  John  B.  Adger  writes  in  "My  Life  and  Times:" 
Dr.  Adger's  «j  ^^g  ^^  represent  our  mission  in  this  Convention. 
*  *  To  my  astonishment  I  found  my  brother-in- 
law,  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth,  in  London.  *  *  He  urged  my  attend- 
ing the  Alliance  with  him,  stating  that  they  had  resolved  to  re- 
ceive slave-holders,  at  the  preliminary  conferences,  under  protest. 

^The  leaders  of  the  abolition  movement  were  present  and  most 
aggressive.  See  account  in  "Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,"  vol. 
Ill,  p.  165— Ed. 


DR.  SMYTH. 
From  a  Daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  the  Family. 


362 

I  had  engaged  our  passage  to  New  York,  and  had  some  ten  days 
to  spare.  *  *  During  the  whole  time  of  my  attendance,  this 
Evangelical  Alliance  proved  to  be  nothing  at  all  but  a  gathering 
of  abolitionists,  to  denounce  slave-holders  for  their  sins.  *  * 
There  were  some  twenty-odd  Americans  in  the  preliminary  con- 
ference, nearly  all  from  the  Northern  States,  but,  to  a  man,  they 
all  resisted  the  claim  of  an  evangelical  alliance  to  legislate  against 
slave  holding.  Dr.  Skinner  of  North  Carolina,  originally,  but  then 
of  Philadelphia;  Dr.  Humphreys,  originally  of  Massachusetts,  but 
then  of  Louisville;  Dr.  Smyth  and  myself;  if  I  remember  rightly, 
were  all  that  hailed  from  the  South.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  of  New 
York  was  the  acknowledged  leader  on  the  American  side.  After 
some  ten  days'  earnest  discussion,  the  question  of  admitting  slave- 
holders to  an  evangelical  alliance  was  referred  to  a  committee. 
Their  report  came  in  on  Saturday  night.  The  report  excluded  all 
slaveholders.  Sir  Culling  Eardley  Smith,  Chairman  of  the  body, 
was  manifestly  for  rushing  the  report  through  without  discussion. 
As  he  was  about  to  put  the  question,  I  lifted  my  voice  in  protest, 
which  caused  a  check  in  the  chairman's  movement.  Dr.  Smyth 
who  was  standing  alongside  of  me,  ejaculated  that  I  was  a  mis- 
sionary from  Turkey,  thinking  therfeby  to  give  some  weight  to 
my  few  words  of  protest.  Dr.  Humphreys,  who  was  standing  on 
the  other  side  of  me,  cried  out  that  he  seconded  my  protest.  Dr. 
Smyth  did  the  same.  And  then,  to  my  great  delight,  one  after 
another,  if  I  do  not  mistake,  the  whole  American  delegation  backed 
us  up.  But,  nevertheless  the  report  was  adopted.  *  *  What 
followed  the  next  day  was  afterwards  reported  to  me.  After  a 
most  touching  prayer  *  *  by  the  Rev.  Gorham  Abbott  of  Mass- 
achusetts *  '*'  the  Americans  spoke  again  explaining  to  their 
English  brethren  that  the  state  of  public  sentiment  amongst 
Christians  generally,  in  their  country,  was  such  that  the  report 
could  not  be  sustained.  Accordingly  it  was  recommitted  and  so 
modified  as  to  be  acceptable  to  all." — Editor. 

It  was  returning  at  this  time  I  encountered  the  Great  West- 
ern Storm  in  company  with  so  many  clergymen. 

On  my  visit  to  England,  France  &c.  in  1846,  the  abolition 
excitement  was  at  its  height  through  the  instrumentality  and 
speeches  of  Frederick  Douglass,  a  coloured  man,  formerly,  as 
he  said,  a  slave  in  Maryland.  I  heard  of  him  for  the  first  time 
on  my  voyage  out  but  found  on  my  arrival  he  was  every  where 
spoken  about  and  by  many  most  disparagingly  and  damag- 
ingly,  both  as  to  morals  and  infidelity.  On  reaching  Belfast,  my 
native  city,  I  found  the  General  Assembly  in  Session  and  the 
city  in  a  hub-bub  about  this  said  Douglass.  A  deliberate 
scheme  was  laid  to  entrap  me  in  a  .legal  snare  because  I  refused 
to  meet  or  be  introduced  to  him,  or  publicly  debate  with  him. 
I  was  therefore  led  by  former  intimate  companions  to  repeat 


363 

what  I  had  heard  about  him  among  themselves,  and  on  this 
basis  a  suit  for  Hbel  was  instituted  and  writ  served  on  me  not 
to  leave  the  country.  My  friends  among  whom  were  the 
Rev.  Drs.  Dobbin,  father  and  son — the  former  the  successor 
of  my  uncle  in  Lurgan  church,  the  Rev.  Drs.  Cooke,  Edgar, 
Gibson,  Killen,  &c.,  found  that  the  introduction  of  my  name 
into  the  Assembly  would  lead  to  excitement  and  unpleasant 
remarks  and  by  my  request  withheld  it.  It  was  thereupon 
advertised  in  the  Unitarian  paper,  the  News  Letter,  that  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  in  his  own  native  city,  among  his  own  friends, 
and  notwithstanding  his  high  reputation  and  connections,  was 
excluded  from  a  seat  in  the  house  and  that  the  sexton  was 
instructed  to  exclude  me  as  a  slave  holder,  all  which  was  an 
abolition  lie  after  the  usual  order. 

After  receiving  considerable  trouble  in  relation  to  the  suit, 
the  matter  was  arranged  by  Dr.  Cooke,  in  whose  house  I  was 
afterwards  domesticated  for  some  days ;  during  which  I  at- 
tended a  splendid  dinner  party  out  of  town,  where  we  met  Sir 
James  Emerson  Tennent,  an  old  college  or  schoolmate  of  mine, 
then  representative  in  parliment,  author  of  a  work  on  Ceylon, 
where  he  was  in  public  office.  He  permitted  me  to  make  and 
publish  extracts  from  his  MS.  copy,  not  yet  published,  as 
the  Note  in  my  Unity  of  the  Races  on  the  aboriginal  degraded 
races  of  that  island.* 


To.  Mrs.  Plunket, 
Franklin,  Tennessee. 

CHARLESTON  March  lo,  1846. 
MY  DEAR  ANNA, 

I  duly  received  yours.  Margaret  was  confined 
announces  ^  month  ago  &  has  had  a  very  propitious  recovery, 
birth  of  the  The  baby,  a  daughter  (Sarah  Ann  after  the  two 
cr'^°v,'^  A  grandmothers)   is  an  amazingly  hearty,  fine  child 

with  black  thick  hair  &  dark  eyes.  Little  Susan 
has  become  very  hearty  &  Augustine  is  considered  one  of  the 
largest  &  finest  children  in  the  country.     Adger  also  is  well. 

I  have  been  preaching,  sermonizing,  &  writing  very  hard.  Did 
you  receive  my  address  on  Denominational  Education?  It  has 
been  much  thought  of  &  requested  for  republication  in  Virginia. 

*"The  Veddahs"  from  the  "Social  and  Christian  History  of 
Ceylon,"  by  Sir  James  Emerson  Tennent.  See  pp.  268  and  272, 
vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


364 

Our  church  was  never  so  prosperous  as  now. 

Ill    health.  5    .     .        ,    ,       ,  •  o  1 

15  joined  last  communion  &  perhaps  more  than 
20  may  join  at  our  approaching-  communion,  while  a  general 
state  of  seriousness  prevails.  I  am  very  sorry  to  have  to  leave 
them  now  but  I  begin  to  fail  again  in  health  &  to  suffer  from 
my  headache  much. 

I  heard  from  Mary  Cunningham  the  other  day;  I  saw  her 
in  Belfast.*^  She  is  a  very  large,  fine  looking  woman.  I  gave 
her  some  religious  books  to  read  &  she  writes  me  very  seriously 
&  has  I  trust  renounced  her  Unitarianism.  I  will  write  her  as 
she  wishes  advice. 

I  am  still  designing  to  go  over  tho  I  have  not  yet  made 
arrangements.     I  will  leave  if  I  go  in  May. 

If  Mr.  Plunkett  does  not  get  the  books  in  N.  York,  get  some 
way  to  send  to  me  or  let  me  know,  &  I  will  carry  them  to 
N.  York.  The  work  on  The  Apostolical  Succession  for  you  is 
at  Vincennes  with  several  others  I  sent  there  &  which  have 
arrived. 

Nothing  has  yet  turned  up  for  Mr.  Fauntleroy.  Would  it 
not  do  to  bring  him  here  in  case  any  situation  offered? 

I  write  in  haste,  in  much  regard  to  Mr.  P.  &  the  children  & 
to  Mr.  C— &  Remain  Affiy  Yrs, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

N.  B.  Dr.  Scott  of  N.  Orleans  wrote  that  our  brother 
James  was  to  join  the  church  last  Sabbath  morning  &  had  8 
children  to  baptize.  He  hoped  his  wife  would  also.  Would 
that  Mr.  P.  could  become  one  with  us  in  our  common  faith  & 
hope !  One  R.  Cath.  lady  unites  with  our  church  this  time  and 
another  is  inquiring. 

Reference  to  this  letter  was  made  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  a  note  con- 
nected with  it  and  with  a  poem  also,  by  the  writer,  on  page  20. 
The  omitted  portions  of  the  letter  speak  of  her  spiritual  uncer- 
tainty owing  to  her  restless   chaving  for  knowledge. — Editor. 

My  dear  friend,  GLENWOOD,    14  Jany..   1846. 

I  fear  my  letter  written  while  you  were  in  this 

From    Miss  -'  ,  ,  .       .  .  T 

Mary  Cun-       Country  never  reached,  under  this  impression,  i 


ningham  to       write  again,  to  express,  my  heartfelt  gratitude, 
myt  .       ^^^  your  solicitudc,  on  my  behalf;     *     *     * 
I  have  read  your  admirably  chosen  works,   I  trust,   with 

^Ten  white  and  five  coloured  persons.  This  was  the  beginning 
of  the  revival.  In  April  there  were  90  white  and  16  coloured.  See 
account  given  previously. — Ed. 

^During  his  visit  of  1844. — Ed. 


36.5 

benefit,  for  which,  and  your  own  talented  production.  Accept 
my  best  thanks ;     *     *     * 

I  had  hopes,  (and  still,  anticipate  the  realization  of  them.) 
that  we  should  enjoy  a  few  hours  of  your  society  in  the  ap- 
proaching spring;  if  I  mistake  not,  you  gave  intimation  of 
this  nature  before  leaving  us,  and  that  Mrs.  Smyth,  should 
accompany  you,  my  father,  and  family,  would  be  so  gratified, 
to  have  you,  even,  for  a  short  time,  beneath  their  roof.  We  all 
remember,  with  grateful  aifection,  the  guide,  and  companion, 
of  "those  that  are  gone." 

Abolitionism  ■"■  "^ust  now  tell  you  to  what  subject,  my  atten- 
and  Frederick  tiou,  has  been  lately  directed,  that,  of  "Slavery," 
Douglas.  from  the  eloquent,  and  affecting  lectures  addressed 

to  the  inhabitants  of  this  town  [Belfast]  by  a  Fugitive  Slave.'^ 
I  never,  before,  knew  the  heart  sickening  horrors,  of  this 
dreadful  system ;  and,  that,  among  a  people,  calling  themselves 
by  the  name  of  "Christians ;"  I  have  learned,  with  deep  regret, 
that  slave  holders  are  admitted,  to  Communion,  in  several 
Churches  of  "The  United  States,"  and  what  is  still  more  to  be 
deplored,  that  even  Ministers  of  "The  Gospel"  hold  their  fel- 
low creatures  in  this  state  of  frightful  bondage ;  O !  can  such 
things  be?  This  is  certainly  not  doing  the  will,  of  "Our 
Blessed  Lord,  and  Master,"  for,  he  says  "Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself,"  nor  obeying,.  His  commandments,  for, 
He  also  says,  "Do  unto  others  as  you  would  that  others  should 
do  unto  you."  Your  influence,  I  know,  is  great,  and  I  am  im- 
patient to  hear,  from  your  pen  if  not,  from  your  lips,  whether 
the  account,  that  we  have  heard,  be  true;  and  I  rejoice  greatly, 
that  I  am  enabled,  and  at  liberty,  through  your  kindness,  to 
make  inquiry,  from  such  a  source ;  You  reside  in  the  land, 
called  falsely,  (it  is  now  represented,)  "The  Land  of  Liberty," 
the  place  of  freedom,  the  picture  now  before  us,  is  dark  indeed, 
all  the  false  colouring,  has  been  wiped  away,  and  nothing  left 
for  the  eye,  to  gaze  upon,  but  the  gloomy,  ghastly,  features  of 
this  hideous  monster ;  we  need  much  to  be  enlightened,  as  to 
the  truth  of  these  statements. 

Oh!  the  thought  of  "liberty,"  the  birds,  that  wing  their 
joyous  flight,  above  the  clouds  of  Heaven,  afford,  ample  proof, 
of  the  wise,  beneficent,  and  glorious  intention  of  our  Heavenly 
Father,  contrasted,  with  the  drooping,  and  imprisoned  tenant, 
of  a  gilded  cage,  though  that  cage,  be  hung  in  the  palace  of 
an  Emperor. 

I  see  your  friends,  Mrs.  Wilson  and  her  family  frequently, 
with  whom  we  have  always  had  a  happy  intimacy ;  no  doubt, 

'Frederick   Douglass. — Ed. 


366 

you  have  letters  from  them  often.  Will  you  accept,  the  tender 
and  affectionate  remembrance,  of  our  fireside  circle,  and  pres- 
ent, my  kind  compliments  to  Mrs.  Smyth. 

Again,  imploring,  as  an  especial  favour,  and  a  boon  con- 
ferred, your  valued  reply,  believe  me 

Your  aff't  friend  and  fellow  traveller 
in  the  journey  of  life. 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.  MARY  CUNNINGHAM. 

Papers  relating  to  the  libel  suit  brought  against  Dr.  Smyth  by 
the  Scottish  Anti-Slavery  Society. — Editor. 

Note  to  Mr.  Zeigler. 

MY  DEAR  SIR. 

As  I  find  many  Conscientious  Scruples  have 
Subscri^Uon^  been  awakened  here  respecting  the  morality  of  re- 
ceiving the  money  of  persons  living  within  slave- 
holding  States  in  America,  I  think  it  right  to  inform  you  that 
I  am  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina;  and 
I  do  so  the  rather  because  so  many  have  given  credence  to  the 
statements  of  Messrs.  Douglass,  Wright,  &  Thompson,  which 
are  as  unfounded  &  false  in  fact  as  they  are  uncharitable  & 
unchristian  in  Spirit. 

Yours  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

N.  B.  Though  not  a  Slave-holder  or  haver  personally,  I  am 
bound  to  bear  true  witness  to  what  has  come  within  my  own 
knowledge  &  observation. 

The  Reverend 

Thomas  Smythe  D.  D., 

of  Charleston — America, 

.   Regent  Hotel,  Waterloo  Place,  Edinburgh. 

Scottish  Anti-Slavery  Society. 

EDINBURGH,  33  GILMOUR  PLACE. 
REV'D  SIR,  ^  •^^^3'.  1846. 

Dr    Sm  th  Having  learned  that  you  are  nov\?'  in  this  City, 

asked  to  meet   and  being  informed  that  the  Statements  lately  put 
abolitionist  in    forth    by    Messr    George  Thompson,    Henry  C. 
Wright,  Frederick  Douglass,  and  James  N.  Buf- 
fum,^  have  been  declared  by  you  to  be  as  unfounded  in  fact, 

*James  N.  Buffum  and  Henry  C.  Wright  were  two  of  the  fanat- 
ical band  of  New  England  enthusiasts  led  by  William  Lloyd  Gar- 
rison. They  were  engaged  with  others  in  a  crusade  against  all 
who  were  friendly  to  the  South,  and  in  particular  the   Free  Kirk 


367 

of  Scotland,  for  the  Abolitionists  were  still  endeavouring  to  force 
a  return  of  the  Southern  subscriptions.  It  is  readily  understood 
that  owing  to  the  prominent  part  taken  by  Dr.  Smyth  in  the 
Charleston  subscription,  they  should  have  spared  no  pains  to 
slander  him  in  advance,  or  to  entrap  and  persecute  him  after  his 
arrival  in  Belfast.  It  may  be  taken  as  evidence  that  they  entirely 
failed  in  their  efforts,  that  there  is  no  mention  made  of  these  legal 
proceedings  in  the  very  full  account  of  their  achievements  of  that 
year,  in  the  Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  vol.  III.  Frederick 
Douglass,  the  mulatto,  escaped  a  few  years  before  from  a  Mary- 
land plantation,  was  one  of  this  party  of  fanatics,  and  such  a 
condition  of  excitement  had  been  produced  that  in  his  words,  "Old 
Scotland  boiled  like  a  pot."  Attacks  were  made  on  the  Free  Kirk 
buildings,  smears  of  red  paint,  to  represent  the  blood  of  slaves, 
daubed  upon  their  walls,  and  placards  spread  broadcast  in  Glasgow 
and  Edinburgh  calling  upon  them  to  "Send  back  the  money."  Dr. 
Smyth's  name  was  posted  on  the  walls  and  pavements  of  Glasgow, 
(so  said  Dr.  John  B.  Adger  to  the  editor). 

The  fourth  man,  George  B.  Thompson,  was  an  Englishman  and 
later  a  member  of  Parliment.  He  worked  constantly  in  the  United 
States  from  the  beginning  of  the  Abolition  movement;  and  was 
the  companion  of  Garrison  on  the  excursion  to  Charleston,  ar- 
ranged by  Sec.  Stanton,  to  accompany  Gen.  Anderson  on  his 
mission  of  restoring  to  Fort  Sumter,  on  April  14,  1865,  the  identical 
flag  which  had  been  lowered  on  the  same  day  four  years  earlier. 
The  account  of  this  expedition  is  painful  reading  for  a  Chartes- 
tonian.  Gen.  Anderson's  party  were  about  80  persons,  while  an- 
other vessel,  chartered  for  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher  by  his 
congregation,  bore  180  passengers.  Many  of  us  know  that  it  was 
during  this  trip  that  Mrs.  Beecher  took  possession  of  the  panel 
/'rom  the  pulpit  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  which  however,  she  after- 
wards returned.  A  meeting  took  place  in  Zion  Church,  but  in 
the  description  of  it  there  is  no  recognition  of  the  founding  of  the 
church,  only  enthusiastic  accounts  0|f  the  eloquence  of  the  negro 
speakers,  especially  a  negro  called  Samuel  Dickerson.  At  a  meet- 
ing on  the  Citadel  Square  he  also  figures,  and  the  last  tableau 
described,  upon  the  crowded  wharf  from  which  their  vessels  sail, 
is  Samuel  Dickerson,  kneeling,  with  his  two  little  daughters 
clasped  in  one  arm,  waving  over  them  an  American  Flag.  (See 
Life  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  vol.  IV,  pp.  136,  etc.)  Samuel 
Dickerson  was  a  blatant,  aggressive  negro,  who  practiced  law  in 
Charleston,  in  reconstruction  days,  attaining  to  some  distinction 
for  his  eloquence;  he  became  a  Colonel  of  militia  and  was  suffici- 
ently important  in  politics  to  be  able  to  sell  his  influence  to  the 
Democrats  in  1876,  proving  himself  completely  untrustworthy.  It 
is  difficult  to  understand  the  point  of  view  which  enables  the  sons 
of  Garrison,  in  a  book  published  in  the  year  1911,  to  write  of 
emancipation  and  its  eflfects  without  one  word  to  show  their  cog- 
nizance of  such  facts  in  the  political  life  of  the  negroes  as  that 
just  given. — Editor. 


368 

as  they  are  unchristian  in  spirit,  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  if 
you  are  prepared  to  meet  any  or  all  of  these  Gentlemen,  and 
disprove  the  statements  which  they  have  or  which  any  of  them 
have  made,  either  in  regard  to  yourself  or  the  religious  party 
to  which  you  belong,  in  the  matter  of  Slavery,  a  public  oppor- 
tunity can  be  afforded  you.  A  public  discussion  of  this  matter 
will  be  the  fairest  to  all  the  parties  concerned,  and  if  you  are 
prepared  to  agree  to  this  the  time  and  place  and  terms  had 
better  be  fixed  without  delay.  I  have  the  honor  to  be — 
Rev'd  Sir,  Your  Mo.  ob.  Sert. — 
JAMES  ROBERTSON,— Secretary. 


Letter  to  James  Robertson,  Sec.  of  Scott.  Anti  Slavery  Soc. 

EDINB.  July  2,  1846. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr    Sm  th  ■'■  ^"^  ^^  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  ist  inst.  & 

refuses   de-       bcg  to  Say  in  reply : — 

bate  with  That  f or  many  reasons — many  of  which  are  well 

understood  by  the  conductors  of  public  meetings, 
I  do  not  believe  that  "a  public  discussion  of  this  matter  would 
be  the  fairest  to  all  the  parties  concerned,"  but  that  it  is  on  the 
contrary  best  adapted  to  give  plausibility  to  garbled  statements 
&  sophistical  declarations ;  and  to  promote  therefore  the  in- 
terests of  a  party  who  can  easily  gratify  the  self-righteous 
spirit  &  self-glorying  tendency  of  the  national  heart  by  the 
cheap  &  costless  defamation  of  christian  churches,  ministers,  & 
brethren  in  a  distant  land.  Such  a  discussion  therefore  I 
absolutely  decline.  But  were  it  not  objectionable  on  its  own 
account  I  should  feel  called  upon  to  decline  holding  it  with 
men  whose  general  character  &  reputation  as  religious  men  is 
such  as  is  attributed,  &  I  fear  too  justly,  to  the  parties  in 
question. 

On  any  proper  occasion,  however,  &  through  any  proper 
channel  I  am  prepared — when  provided  with  the  recorded 
statements  of  the  gentlemen  m  question, — to  sustain  mt  alle- 
gation— that  many  of  their  statements  are  wholly  unfounded; 
that  when  they  are  true  the  general  inferences  drawn  from 
them  &  the  wholesale  character  given  to  churches  &  societies 
is  false ;  and  that  the  spirit  &  manner  in  which  the  whole  sub- 
ject is  discussed  is  adapted  to  injure  the  cause  of  Christ,  the 
amelioration  of  the  system  of  Slavery,  &  the  best  interests  of 
the  slaves  themselves. 


369 

My  knowledge  is  based  upon  the  facts  of  having  gone  from 
this  country,  having  resided  some  fifteen  years  in  Charleston, 
&  having  no  direct  personal  pecuniary  interest  in  the  system. 
Yours  very  sincerely 
in  the  gospel 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

Scottish  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
EDINBURGH,  33  GILMOUR  PLACE. 

6  July,  1846. 
The  Reverend 

Thomas  Smyth  D.  D., 

of  Charleston — America. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

*     *     * 

Abuse  of  Dr. 

Smyth  by  Let  me  inquire  if  you  are  entitled  to   assume 

abolitionists,  guch  an  air  of  sanctity  and  superiority  over  those 
whose  statements  you  have  denied.  In  reference  to  Mr.  George 
Thompson  we  know  far  more  of  him  than  we  know  about  you. 
He  is  no  stranger  to  the  religious  and  benevolent  people  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  And  then  what  we  do  know  of  Air. 
Thompson  is  all  in  his  favour.  All  who  know  him  consider  him 
a  Gentleman  of  unbending  integrity  and  a  Christian  of  sincere 
and  ardent  piety.  He  is  known  in  fact  in  both  hemispheres  as 
the  true  friend  of  the  human  race.  Now  in  regard  to  your- 
self you  must  permit  me  to  say  that  what  is  publicly  known  of 
you  is  all  against  you  in  this  country.  You  come  from  Charles- 
ton, S.  Carolina,  and  altho'  a  Scotsman  by  birth,  you  are  the 
reputed  defender  and  Ally  of  man-stealers — You  are  accused 
of  being  the  enemy  of  our  race — of  being  identified  with,  if  not 
yourself  actually  guilty  of,  crimes  the  most  dreadful  and  heaven 
daring  of  which  men  on  earth  can  be  guilty.  Your  Christi- 
anity and  religion  are  in  question,  and  you  must  not  take  for 
granted  that  they  are  admitted.  Coming  from  the  land  of 
Slaves  and  where  men  consider  themselves  at  liberty  to  invade 
the  prerogative  of  God  by  claiming  to  hold  property  in  man, 
and  yet  call  themselves  Christians,  and  as  you  admit  their 
claims  to  be  consistant  with  the  christian  religion,  you  are 
bound,  even  according  to  the  lax  morality  of  Dr.  Candlish,  to 
show  how  this  can  be  made  out.  And  until  you  prove  that 
"the  blood  of  the  poor  innocents"  is  not  either  directly  or 
indirectly  upon  your  soul  we  are  bound  to  hold  you  as  a  sus- 
pected person,  and  it  will  not  do  for  you  to  assume  such  airs 
of  sanctity  as  you  seem  to  indulge  in. 

[241 


370 

In  regard  to  the  Gentlemen  from  America,  whom  you  de- 
nounce, I  have  to  say.  that,  they  came  to  us  and  were,  and  are, 
with  us  the  friends  of  our  Common  humanity.  They  appeal 
to  us  on  behalf  of  Three  millions  of  their  "Brethren  in  bonds." 
They  have  not  asked  us  to  indorse  their  Christianity.  They 
ask  us  to  help  them  to  break  the  Yoke — the  galling  Yoke  of 
Slavery  in  America.  But  while  we  have  not  been  asked  to 
vouch  for  their  Christianity,  I  have  no  difficulty  in  saying  that 
the  cause  on  which  they  have  come  to  us  and  their  behaviour 
while  amongst  us  are  more  fitted  to  recommend  them  to  the 
confidence  of  religious  people  here  than  your  position  and 
connections  can  be  to  recommend  you.  It  does  appear  to  me 
that  you  must  now  see  the  force  of  what  I  have  now  said.  Be 
advised  then  to  lay  aside  your  unseemly  airs ;  remember  that 
you  are  an  accused  and  suspected  man — that  you  are  consid- 
ered a  recreant  Scotsman  and  an  unfaithful  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ ;  forget  not  that  you  come  from  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina— the  land  where  men  and  women  are  degraded  to  the 
level  of  brutes — where  the  prerogative  of  God  is  invaded  and 
where  an  interdict  is  put  upon  the  Commission  of  the  Saviour 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature — where  the  laws  of  the 
Eternal  One  are  trampled  openly  under  foot  and  where  might 
and  not  right  is  the  rule  of  action  for  persons  who  claim  to  be 
the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ;  keep  in  mind  that  with  these 
monstrosities  you  are  either  directly  or  indirectly  identified. 
And  when  you  have  reflected  a  little,  say  to  yourself^  My 
place  is  to  be  humble  and  contrite.  There  are  serious  charges 
against  me,  affecting  my  humanity — and  the  validity  of  my 
christian  profession.  Perhaps  I  may  he  convicted  of  guilt. 
It  is  probable  that  the  blood  of  souls  shall  be  required  at  my 
hands.  Such  a  soliloquy  my  dear  Sir,  would  be  perfectly  in 
keeping  with  your  position.     *     *     * 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 
My  dear  Sir 

Yours  very  faithfully, 
JAMES  ROBERTSON, 

Secretary. 

BELFAST,  i6  July,  1846. 
MY  ONCE  DEAR  AND  BELOVED  THOMAS,  and  now 
I   know   not   how   to   address   you!      It   is   with 
From  a  boy.      ^  ^      -^  heartfelt  sorrow,  and  regret  that  I  take 

hood     friend.       fc>  r        »  •  i         i  t 

up  my  pen  to  address  one  with  whom  I  at  one 
time  enjoyed  such  warm  intimate  fellowship  and  for  whose 
character  for  everything  manly,  truthful,  compassionate,  and 


371 

kind  I  entertained  so  high  respect — when  I  find  that  a  few- 
years  connexion  with  a  .slave-holding  church  hath  cast  a 
withering  blight  over  what  was  before  amiable  &  lovely,  and 
has  so  blunted  your  sensibility  of  conscience  as  to  permit  you 
to  remain  in  connexion  with  a  Church  that  sanctions  a  system 
containing  in  its  bosom  the  blackest  crimes  that  could  dis- 
grace, not  only  a  professing  Christian  Church,  but  humanity 
itself.^ 

From  what  I  formerly  knew  of  you,  your  conduct  in  rela- 
tion to  Douglass,  a  poor  fugitive  slave,  in  retailing  and  cir- 
culating vile  hearsay  calumnies  against  him,  and  the  fact  of 
Rev.  Mr.  McCurdy  totally  denying  the  statements  you  im- 
puted to  him,  leaves  me  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  think. — 

So  from  all  that  has  occurred  and  from  what  I  know  of 
the  enormous  evils  connected  with  slavery,  which,  as  a  Min- 
ister of  him  who  came  to  break  every  yoke  and  let  the  op- 
pressed go  free — you  have  not  faithfully  testified  against  or 
strenuously  sought  for  its  extinction,  I  therefore  feel  myself 
impelled  to  withdraw  the  invitation  I  gave  you  to  visit  me  at 
Ballywooley,  fearing  I  would  thus  compromise  my  character 
as  a  consistent  friend  to  the  emancipation  of  the  poor  down- 
trodden slave. — 

Now  nothing  would  yield  me  greater  delight,  than  to  find 
that  some  arrow  of  conviction  as  to  your  sinfill  connexion  with 
a  Slave  Church,  many  of  whose  members  are  venders  of  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  men,  perpetrators  of  theft,  murder,  adul- 
tery, fornication,  and  cruelties  of  the  deepest  die,  would  by 
the  Spirit  of  Love  be  brought  home  to  your  conscience  & 
through  His  gracious  &  almighty  favor  bring  you  to  repentance 
&  change  of  conduct  touching  this  matter,  which  has  well 
been  denominated  the  sum  of  all  villanies,  which  I  pray  God 
for  His  dear  Son's  sake  to  grant,  as  till  then  I  cannot  bid  you 
God  speed. 

Yours  faithfully 

ROBERT  JACKSON  BELL.' 

„T„  BELFAST,  i6  July,  1846. 

biK, 

Df.  Smyth  ^^    hdiVe    been    consulted    by    Mr.    Frederick 

from  Doug-      Douglass  at  present  at  the  Victoria  Hotel  here, 

lass'   lawyers,    respecting  a  very  serious  libel,   alleged  to  have 

been  spoken  by  you,  in  reference  to  him,  which  requires  to  be 

^A  letter  from  Mr.  Bell,  among  those  Dr.  Smyth  brought  from 
Ireland,  shows  him  as  claiming  the  position  of  his  "most  intimate 
friend." — Ed. 


372 

met  with  promptitude  on  his  part.  The  purport  of  the  expres- 
sions used,  is  this,  that  he  (Mr.  Douglass)  was  an  Infidel,  and 
that  he  had  been  seen  coming-  out  of  a  Brothel  in  Manchester. 

These  are  Serious  charges,  doubly  so,  in  reference  to  a  per- 
son so  much  before  the  public  as  Mr.  Douglass  is,  and  advo- 
cating the  Cause  he  so  warmly  espouses.  If  true,  no  con- 
demnation can  be  severe  enough.  If  false,  no  punishment  too 
weighty  to  be  inflicted  on  the  libeller. 

We  have  seen  the  correspondence  which  has  taken  place 
between  Mr.  Douglass  and  you,  between  the  9th  and  the  nth 
inst,  and  it  is  neither  an  answer  to  his  demand  of  surrendering 
up  the  author,  nor  an  extenuation  of  the  offence,  you  reply, 
that  your  informant  resides  in  America.  And  with  respect  to 
the  second  charge,  we  have  ascertained,  that  the  Revd  Mr.  M. 
Curdy  never  directly  or  indirectly,  communicated  with  you  on 
the  subject  to  which  the  Libel  refers. 

You  must  be  aware,  that  to  repeat  a  Slander,  is  just  as 
Culpable  in  the  eye  of  the  Law  as  to  invent  it,  and  that  it  lies 
upon  you  to  bring  forward  in  this  Case,  the  parties  who  have 
so  foully  maligned  Mr.  Douglass. 

And  you  have  under  your  hand  avowed  one  Gentleman  to 
be  your  mformant,  which  Gentleman  has  certified  under  his 
hand,  that  he  never  communicated  with  you  on  the  subject, 
Mr.  Douglass  feels  bound  to  conclude  that  you  yourself  are 
the  Libeller ;  and  under  this  Conviction  he  has  instructed  us 
to  commence  an  action  against  you,  which  will  afiford  you  an 
abundant  opportunity  of  proving  the  truth,  (if  you  are  able) 
of  the  slanders  uttered. 

Unless  some  satisfactory  explanation  be  afforded  to  us 
tomorrow  in  Carrickfergus,  before  3  O'Clock  (where  we  shall 
be  in  attendance  at  the  Assizes)  we  shall  issue  the  necessary 
Writ  to  compel  you  either  to  remain  in  this  Country,  'till  after 
the  action  is  decided,  or  to  give  in  good  and  sufficient  bail  to 
abide  the  result.  We  are  Sir, 

Your  Obt  Servants, 


ReT/.  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 
Plough  Hotel. 


R.  DAVISON  &  TORRENS. 


BELFAST,  one  o'clock. 
Gentlemen,       •  ^^^y  '7,  1846. 

^^    g^  ^^  I  am  now  engaged  in  replying  to  your  letter 

acknowledges  in  behalf  of  Mr.  Frederick  Douglass — ^but  as  it 
the  preceding  ^[\i  occupy  me  3.  Considerable  time  in  copying 
^^"^''  documents —  I  fear  I  shall  be  unable  to  forward 

it  before  3  o'clock. 

For  your  satisfaction  and  to  prevent  the  unnecessary  expense 


373 

to  Mr.  Douglass  of  a  "ne  exeat  regno"  I  pledge  my  character 
that,  if  a  Lawsuit  be  unavoidable,  I  shall  tender  you  whatever 
security  you  require  that  I  shall  make  no  attempt  to  evade  it. 
I  remain.  Gentlemen ; 

Very  respectfully  yrs, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

N.  B.  As  I  intend  going  in  the  morning  to  Dublin  on 
business  I  will  if  necessary  name  individuals  who  will  become 
my  securities  &  who  will  I  am  sure  be  more  than  sufficient. 
You  can  address  me  at  the  Plough  Hotel. 

GENTLEMEN,^  BELFAST,  17  July,  1846. 

Dr  Sm  th's  ^^  relation  to  Mr.  Frederick  Douglass  1  have 
answer  to  been  twicc  interrogated ;  first  by  the  Rev  Isaac 
Douglass'  Nelson  and  Mr.  Robert  Bell — who  though  they 

awyers.  ^^^^^  spokc  to  me  as  private  friends,  it  afterwards 

appeared,  were  a  Deputation  from  the  Anti  Slavery  Society. — 
Upon  that  occasion  both  these  gentlemen  appeared  so  far 
satisfied  with  my  explanation  in  reference  to  what  I  had  said 
respecting  Mr.  Douglass,  that  they  concluded  by  challenging 
me  to  a  public  discussion  with  him  (Mr.  Douglass),  while  a 
formal  invitation  was  extended  to  me  by  Mr.  Bell  to  visit  him, 
on  the  grounds  of  an  old  and  intimate  friendship.  Afterwards 
I  was,  in  a  similar  manner,  trepanned  into  a  conversation  with 
Mr.  Robert  Bell,  whom  I  received  &  considered  as  an  old  & 
intimate  friend,  &  two  other  individuals  unknown. —  The  gen- 
tlemen however,  finally  turned  out  another  Deputation — and, 
though  I  might  have  felt  just  resentment  against  being  drawn 
a  second  time  into  conversation,  without  any  previous  intima- 
tion of  the  intentions  of  the  parties,  yet,  as  truth  and  justice 
were  my  only  objects  in  relation  to  Mr.  Douglass — I  gave  them 
my  authority  to  write  down  a  statement  to  the  following  ef- 
fect viz : — ■ 

Here  insert  the  statement^ 

Upon  the  next  day,  but  of  preceding  day's  date,  I  rec'd  a 
note  from  Mr.  Douglass  as  follows : — 

Here  insert  the  note.^ 

Whereupon,  in  reply  I  wrote  to  the  following  effect  as 
nearly  as  I  could  transfer  it : — 

Here  insert  reply.^ 

^This  letter  only  exists  in  a  much  revised,  rough  draft. — Ed. 
^These   documents   cannot  be  found. — Ed. 


374 

Now  this  I  had  hoped  would  prove  satisfactory  to  Mr. 
Douglass ;  as  it  did  at  the  time  to  his  friend  Mr.  Robert  Bell, 
who  conveyed  his  letter  here  &  the  reply,  &  who  said  the  latter 
he  thought  wd  be  sufficient;  but  as  from  your  letter,  it  now 
appears  otherwise,  I  beg  leave  to  make  to,  &  through  you  the 
following  statement. 

1.  I  never  said  that  Mr.  Douglass  was  an  Infidel. 

2.  I  never  said  that  Mr.  Douglass  was  seen  coming  out  of 
a  Brothel  in  Manchester. — 

3.  I  beg  to  observe  that  whatever  I  said  respecting  Mr. 
Douglass  was  merely  as  reports  that  I  had  heard,  and  that 
never  of  my  own  accord,  but  merely  in  reply  to  questions  at 
the  table  of  private  friends — where  according  to  the  ordinary 
principles  of  gentlemen,  I  looked  upon  every  word  as  uttered 
under  the  seal  of  confidential  conversation.  For  these  several 
reports  I  have  at  once  given  up  the  names  of  the  authors — &, 
in  reply  to  one  part  of  your  letter,  I  would  further  state  that 
I  can  well  understand  how  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCurdy  may  have 
denied  that  he  ever  stated  to  me  what  you  stated  to  him — but 
I  again  tender  him  as  the  individual  who  first  mentioned  the 
Report  to  me. — &  who  again  repeated  &  admitted  it  in  the 
presence  of  a  most  competent  witness,  whom  I  am  ready  to 
name  &  produce.  In  respect  to  Mr.  Hynes,  instead  of  being, 
as  you  have  been  led  to  suppose,  in  America,  I  have  every 
reason  to  believe,  he  is  in  England,  where  he  is  engaged  in  a 
tour  of  preaching;  &  who  is  moreover,  not  merely  an  anti- 
slavery  advocate,  but,  as  I  believe,  an  immediate  abolitionist. 

And  now.  Gentlemen,  I  have  done  all  that  occurs  to  me 
for  giving  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Douglass ;  but  beg  leave  to  add — 
that  if  you  will,  upon  his  part,  write  out  such  form  of  repara- 
tion, as  you  may  judge  more  satisfactory  than  any  I  have 
hitherto  offered — 'only  premising  that  it  do  not  commit  me 
to  admit  what  I  utterly  deny  ever  having  said — I  shall  take 
it  into  immediate  consideration,  &  judging  by  your  reputation 
as  gentlemen,  I  feel  little  doubt  that  whatever  you  may  thus 
offer,  I  shall  be  able  to  sign. 

But  if  this  letter  prove  unsatisfactory  to  Mr.  Douglass,  & 
if  this  last  proposal. of  submitting  the  matter  to  yourselves,  as 
his  law  advisers,  be  declined — ^then  I  have  only  to  add : — as  Mr. 
Douglass  has  taken  the  most  unwarrantable  liberties  with  my 
name,  even  before  my  coming  to  this  country,  &,  not  merely 
attempted  to  injure  me  deeply  in  public  opinion,  but  has  so 
far  succeeded  as  to  enable  me  to  prove,  if  desirable,  special 
damage,  (the  fact  of  which  I  am  ready  to  submit  to  you  in 
the  letter  of  a  former  friend,  as  well  as  in  other  instances)  ;  I 


375 

shall  then,  in  self-defense  feel  bound  to  appeal  against  him  to 
the  laws  of  my  native  country,  and  teach  him  to  respect  the 
characters  of  others  while  he  is  so  sensitively — &,  I,  will  add, 
justly — most  chary  of  his  own. 

I  remain.  Gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

In  response  to  this  communication  Dr.  Smyth  re- 
Second  letter  (.gjygfj  from  the  lawyers  representing  Frederick 
lawyers.  Douglass,  a  letter  dated  Belfast,  July  21,  enclosing  a 

form  not  only  of  apology  but  of  denial  of  the  prob- 
ability of  the  injurious  rumours.  They  stated  that  Mr.  Douglas 
had  no  vindictive  feelings  to  gratify  and  gave  Dr.  Smyth  a  few 
days  to  answer  it.  The  letter  was  addressed  in  care  of  S.  McDow- 
ell Elliott,  Esq.,  Arthur  Street,  Belfast. — Editor. 

LIVERPOOL  23  July,  1846.. 

Thursday. — 
MY  DEAR  SMITH, 

Pecommends  ^  havc  this  moming  received  a  Copy  of  Messrs 
following  Dr.  Davison  &  Torrens'  letter,  the  original  of  which 
Cooke's  ad-  j^^s  been  forwarded  to  you — I  certainly  would 
make  no  reply  to  it,  until  I  had  been  well  advised 
by  Dr.  Cooke*  or  some  other  friends  in  whose  cool  judgment, 
I  could  repose  entire  confidence — indeed  under  any  circum- 
stances, you  should  consult  Dr.  Cooke,  as  no  person  under- 
stands your  &  Douglass'  relative  position  so  well,  independent 
of  his  capability  of  giving  you  the.  advice  you  stand  in  need  of. 
The  Douglass  party  will  seek  to  identify  any  unguarded  ex- 
pression of  yours  as  originating  from  your  opposition  to  their 
anti-slavery  views — &  hold  up  any  unnecessary  apology  or 
retraction,  as  a  triumph. — 

I  would  not  be  at  all  hurried  in  point  of  time  by  Messrs. 
Davison  &  Torrens  letter — in  this  matter  your  conduct  will  be 
judged  as  a  public  character  &  this  is  every  reason  for  circum- 
spection— I  think  the  tide  of  public  feeling,  is  rather  leaving 
Douglass — (see  the  last  Belfast  Protestant  Journal).  I  leave 
then  today  for  Belfast — where,  should  you  come,  I  need  not 
say,  I  will  be  happy  to  see  you —  Believe  me,  dear  Smith, 

Most  sincerely  yours, 

s.  McDowell  elliott. 

*Dr.  Smyth's  early  friend,  whose  letters  are  printed  in  different 
parts  of  this  autobiography. — Ed. 


376 

DUBLIN  July  27,  1846. 
GENTLEMEN, 
Answer  to  J  have  just  returned  to  the  city  where  I  found 

letter    from  f.      .  i  t    i 

lawyers  of  yours  of  the  2ist,  and  as  I  have  not  yet  heard 
July  21.  from  the  gentleman  who  was  present  when  the 

statement  was  made  and  repeated,  to  which  I  referred  respect- 
ing Mr.  Douglass,  I  will  reply  as  soon  as  possible  and  in  the 
meantime  give  your  lettei  the  consideration  it  deserves,  & 

Remain  Gentlemen, 

Your  obedient  Servant, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

Next  follows  a  note  from  Mr.  Elliott  to  Dr.  Smyth,  ol  July  27, 
mentioning  a  form  of  apology  agreed  on  by  Dr.  Cooke  and  him- 
self.    This   form  cannot   be  found. — Editor. 

STEWARTSTOWN,  25  July,  1846. 
REV'D  SIR, 

I  have  received  your  note  of  21st  inst.  and  have 
M^^  McCufdy  ^°  cxpress  my  deep  regret  that  you  should  have 
fallen  into  such  serious  mistakes  as  I  doubt  may 
{not  through  me)  be  troublesome  to  adjust.  It  was  exceed- 
ingly unfortunate  that  my  name  should  have  been  mistaken 
for  that  of  any  other.  There  is  not  another  minister  of  my 
name  in  the  Assembly,  nor,  I  believe  in  Ireland. —  Besides  I 
have  suffered  more  from  slanders  than  perhaps  any  minister 
now  living — and  tho'  I  have  succeeded  in  both  Ecclesiastical 
&  Civil  Court  in  visiting. with  heavy,  but  merited  punishment, 
my  traducers, — after  all  this,  it  is  exceedingly  unpleasant  to 
have  my  name  again  before  the  public,  (as  it  is  now  in  Bel- 
.  fast)  in  connexion  with  new  falsehoods. —  Your  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  mistake,  which  it  may  yet  be  necessary  to  have 
made  a  little  more  public,  makes  it  my  duty  as  a  Christian  & 
Christian  Minister  to  say  I  am  satisfied;  but  it  is  a  question 
whether  in  other  quarters,  and  as  far  as  F.  Douglass  and  the 
question  of  Slavery  may  be  connected  with  the  affair,  a  similar 
view  will  be  taken  of  it. —  The  movement  in  making  it  a 
question  for  the  decision  of  Civil  law  is  not  mine,  nor  am  I 
in  any  measure  connected  with  it.  As  I  am  not  able  to  make 
out  the  address  to  which  you  direct  me  to  write — I  send  as 
heretofore  to  Rev'd  R.  Dill°  and  hope  you  may  receive  my 
note  in  due  course.  Permit  me  jocularly  to  say  that  your  re- 
turn to  Irish  ground  seems  to  have  exerted  an  influence  not 

^One  of  Mrs.  Magee's  executors,  an  old  friend  of  Dr.  Smyth. — 
Ed. 


877 

unfriendly  to  Irish   blundering,   for  you   address   me   at   Co. 
Kerry  which  is  rather  remote  from  Co.  Tyrone,  where  I  reside 

Wishing  you  safely  out  of  the  scrape  I  am  Rev'd  Sir, 

Yours  respectfully, 

Sam'l  McCurdy. 

P.  S.  Your  note  which  you  wish  returned  has  fallen  aside 
among  my  other  papers.  It  is  however  quite  safe  in  my 
keeping  &  I  have  no  intention  that  it  shall  be  employed  to 
your  injury.  .  S.  Mc.  C. 

SPA  WELLS, 
BALLYNAHINCH,  hdy  30,  1846. 
DEAR  DOCTOR, 

I  have  been  stopping  here  since  the  20th  Inst. 
The  right  Mr.    ^  consequently  did  not  receive  your  letter  in  due 

Maccourdie.  -i  y  j 

course  of  Post,  else  I  should  have  answered  you 
sooner. 

The  Gentleman  respecting  whom  you  inquire  is  the  Rev. 
John  A  Maccourdie,  of  Pleofarde. 

Yours  truly, 

T^u    T?       ^x.  Q      .T.    T^   -n  MOSES  BLACK.' 

ihe  Rev.   Ihomas  Smyth,  D.  D. 

DEAR  SIR  BELFAST,  6  August,  '46. 

We  have  communicated  your  letter  to  Mr.  Douglass,  who 

is  satisfied  with  your  explanation,  and  we  are  glad  to  say  that 

no   further   legal   communications   will   be   necessary   on   the 

matter.  „     ,     ,, 

iruly  Yours 

^     ,    ^      ^       ,  DAVIDSON  &  TORRENS. 

Kevd.  Dr.  omyth. 

Care  of  S.  McDowell  Elliott,  Esq. 

To  James  Robertson, 

Secretary  of 

Scottish  Anti-Slavery  Soc. 

j^gy_  Sjj^^  BELFAST,  Aug  7,  1846. 

I  am  only  now  in  possession  of  your  communication,''  &  from 
the  hurried  nature  of  my  movements  I  have  only  time  to  say 
that  in  imputing  to  me  the  Spirit  &  motives  you  ascribe,  you 

®A  minister  of  this  name  was  ordained  at  Kilmore,  by  Belfast 
Presbytery,  in  1833. — Ed. 

'This  communication  is  lost. — Ed. 


378 

seem  yourself  to  assume  the  attributes  &  prerogatives  of 
Diety.  If  you  can  conscientiously  publish  the  said  letter,  I  can 
only  leave  it  with  my  own  to  be  judged  by  "the  law  &  the 
testimony,"  "the  letter  &  the  Spirit,"  of  the  Word  of  God.  To 
him  we  are  both  accountable.  &  "him  that  walketh  proudly  the 
Lord  knoweth  how  to  abase." 

I  remain, 

Very  sincerelv  yours, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

Extract  from  Mr.  Robertsoa's  answer. 

''August  II,  1846. 
"I  am  not  able  to  find  any  passage  which  warrants  you  to 
say  that  I  seem  to  invade  the  prerogative  of  Deity  in  judging 
of  your  spirit  or  your  motives.  *  *  j  am  content  to  leave 
the  people  of  this  country  and  of  the  world,  to  judge  of  your 
conduct.  *  *  It  is  impious  to  refer  to  the  revelation  of 
the  blessed  God  as  you  do,  as  if  it  contained  a  single  line  to 
authorize  the  villainy  and  daring  wrong  of  the  man  stealer/' 

I1  must  have  been  at  this  time  that  the  visit  to 
Dr.  Smyth  -Qj.^  (^Qoke  took  place  and  the  dinner  out  of  town. 
Dr  Cooke  Whatever  the  explanation  sent  to  Frederick  Doug- 
lass, Dr.  Smyth  had  found  Dr.  Maccourdie  and  his 
witness,  the  Rev.  Moses  Black,  so  that  he  was  safe  and  his  friends 
relieved.  Even  the  Rev.  Samuel  McCurdy  must  have  been  ap- 
peased. 

The    Doctor's   business    in   Dublin   was   connected 
dtath  ^^^^^'^    with  the  death  of  his  aunt,  Mrs.  Magee,  the  details 
of  which  will  be  given  later. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  May  22.  1846.— 
Friday  Morning. — 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

This  morning  I  was  not  disappointed,  as  Father 

fo^^Dr^Sm^th  ^^"^  ™^  ^P  ^^^^^  °^  ^^^  ^9^^'  Tucsday.  *  *  * 
I  am  glad  you  are  at  Mr.  Henry's,  &  very  glad 
you  are  to  have  Dr.  Scott  as  a  companion  across  the  deep.* 
I  feel  anxious  to  hear  the  news  from  Paterson.  I  trust  in 
mercy  Mrs.  Smith  may  yet  be  spared  to  her  family,  &  for  her 
soul's  sake.  Deal  faithfully  with  her,  should  you  be  permitted 
to  see  her  alive.  I  fear  we  have  not  done  our  duty  to  her  in 
this  matter. 

^Dr.  Smyth  speaks  of  visiting  Mr.  Alexander  Henry,  President 
of  the  American  S.  S.  Union.  Dr.  W.  A.  Scott  was  his  frequent 
travelling  companion. — Ed. 


MRS.   SMYTH. 
From  a  Daguerreotype  in  the  possession  of  the  Family. 


380 

I  wrote  to  you  on  Monday,  immediately  upon  receipt  of 
yours  from  Washington,  &  directed  it  to  Paterson ;  this  I  will 
send  to  Boston.  You  tell  me  to  send  your  "Passport;"  I  will 
look  for  it  as  soon  as  young  Cai  berry  comes  from  the  Study 
where  he  now  is,  but  I  suppose  you  miscalled  the  paper,  & 
that  it  is  the  Certificate  of  American  citizenship  you  want. 
*  *  I  staid  at  home  last  night  &  let  Ellen''  go,  she  was  much 
delighted.  A  very  good  attendance,  Miss  Parker  met  the 
Session  last  night.  At  the  Church  meeting  on  Monday — the 
Com.  brought  in  their  plan  of  altering  the  Church,  but  it  was 
voted  down  by  an  overwhelming  majority,  as  was  also  the 
proposal  to  enlarge  the  present  Lecture  Room,  but  I  have  not 
heard  that  they  did  any  thing  on  the  other  side,  although  the 
boys  think  they  got  "a  famous  victory"  over  old  John.''  I 
sent  the  bundle  to  Mr.  Lumpkin,  &  also  to  Sam  R. — ■  I  wrote 
a  note  to  Miss  Timrod  proffering  Mr.  Porter  to  call  &  see 
her,  &  apologizing  for  you.  She  wrote  me  a  reply  with  many 
good  wishes  for  you,  but  declined  to  see  Mr.  P.  as  she  hoped 
soon  to  be  able  to  be  out.  Mrs.  S.  Robertson  gave  me  a  long 
message  expressive  of  her  regret  at  not  having  called  to  see 
you,  nor  even  of  stopping  to  shake  hands  with  you  before 
your  departure,  with  many  fervent  wishes  &c.  &c.  She 
charged  me  so  often  on  this  point  &  made  me  promise  so 
faithfully  that  I  am  obliged  to  comply.  Aunt  Margaret  Elli- 
son too  gave  me  many  kind  wishes  for  you — &  Mother  says, 
"be  sure  to  give  my  love  to  Mr.  Smyth."  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Dar- 
gan,  (Judge  Dargan)  came  down  yesterday,  are  at  Fathers 
&  will  be  there  a  week  longer.  Father  brought  up  three  pair 
Alteration  of  ^^  French  boots  for  you  &  paid  for  them  $21.00 
Spring  St.  he  believed — 2  pair  seem  Light,  &  one  pair  double 
house.  soled.     He  will  alter  the  house  I  believe,  but  not 

in  the  way  I  proposed,  he  suggests  a  plan  of  his  own  to  build 
on  an  addition  on  the  front,  closing  up  our  front  gate.  I 
believe  it  will  be  much  the  best,  but  will  /  think,  involve  more 
expense.  I  like  it  however  very  well,  but  if  it  is  carried  out, 
the  large  mulberry  tree  must  be  cut  away.     *     *     * 

"In  January,  1844,  when  the  second  Augustine  was  the  baby, 
Miss  Ellen  Crawford,  known  afterwards  to  her  grown-up  "babies" 
as  "Crawf,"  was  added  to  the  Smyth  household.  She  was  taken 
as  a  young  girl  from  the  Orphan  House  by  Dr.  Smyth,  who  chose 
her  from  a  number  of  others,  because,  when  he  spoke  of  a  baby 
to  care  for,  her  motherly  arms  reached  out  involuntarily.  Her 
devotion  to  her  nursling  and  the  whole  family  was  unbounded 
and  they  became  her  people.  She  lived  long  as  their  staunch  and 
loyal  friend  and  ended  her  days  among  them. — Ed. 

^Mr.  John   Robinson. — Ed. 


381 

Little  dear  Sarah  Anne  has  had  a  cold  which  cost  me  one 
or  two  sleepless  nights.  She  is  well  again,  &  grows  finely. 
The  musquitoes  however  have  manifested  too  much  fondness 
for  her,  I  have  been  obliged  to  put  up  all  the  nets.  A  great 
change  in  the  weather,  cool  easterly  winds.  Father  said  on 
Tuesday  night  "it  zvas  bitter  cold."  Augustine  stands  beside 
me,  he  says  "tell  Papa  that  I  am  good  sometimes  &  I'm  had 
sometimes  too, — &  I  pray  to  God  to  bring  him  home  safe 
again."—  He  &  Adger  have  been  made  perfectly  happy  by 
the  gift  from  me  of  a  Pluffer.  Adger  was  the  purchaser  &  it 
has  been  a  great  event.  Adger  sends  his  love  to  Papa.  I 
will  attend  to  what  you  say  regarding  him.  He  seems  feeble, 
if  it  continues  I  will  consult  Dr.  B.  for  him. 

Saturday  morning — I  wish  5^011  could  see  your  study,  how 
nice,  &  clean,  &  cool,  it  looks  this  morning — carpets  all  up  & 
put  away — &  blankets  &  woolens  &c. —  I  have  been  very  busy 
— so  has  Sam.*     *     *     * 

I  must  stop  now.     Found  your  passport  &  send  it,  you  are 

right  as  usual  &  I  am  wrong.     Father  says  it  will  be  of  no 

use  to  you.     If  you  have  any  idea  of  going  to  the  Continent, 

get  a  new  one  in  London  from  our  Minister  there — if  you 

meet  a  Mexican  privateer  you  had  better  not  claim  to  be  an 

American .°  ,, 

Yours  ever 

MARGARET. 

CHARLESTON,  May  26,  1846. 
Wednesday — 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

I  was  so  sick,  oh  so  very  sick  yesterday  as  to 
Mrs^^  Smyth      ^^  enable  to  write,  &  fearful  that  the  mail  of  todav 

to  Dr.  Smyth.  '  .  ,  .       t, 

might  miscarry,  &  you  might  not  receive  this,  I 
got  my  ever  kind  &  obliging  Sister  to  write  a  few  lines  for 
me.  I  hope  you  will  receive  this  &  hers  also.  I  am  better  to- 
day &  am  sitting  up  to  write  this.     *     *     * 

The  probability,  which  I  do  often  feel,  that  I  may  not  be 
much  longer  spared  to  my  children,  &  that  in  the  event  of  my 
removal  they  may  fall  in  other  hands  less  tender,  &  less  careful 
than  my  own ;  the  joy  I  experience  when  I  remember  that  we 
have  three  safely  housed,  &  that  whatever  may  befall  these 
four — the  other  three  are  happy  for  evermore;  these  consid- 
erations often  make  me  feel  that  if  it  were  the  Lord's  will  to 
remove  them  now  in  their  youth,  their  beauty,  &  their  inno- 

^Sam  Dent,  her  house-boy. — Ed. 

"This  was  during  the  war  with  Mexico. — Ed. 


382 

cence,  even  now  when  all  the  warm  &  deep  emotion  of  my 
heart's  love  is  gushing  out  towards  them,  even  now,  I  would 
rejoice  &  surrender  them  to  him  without  a  murmur,  although 
it  might  not  be  without  tears.     *     *     * 

I  saw  a  letter  from  Janey  to  Margaret,^  which  however  she 
had  requested  might  not  be  shown,  in  which  after  bewailing 
much  the  state  of  her  own  heart,  &  her  fear  lest  after  all,  she 
might  be  a  castaway,  she  speaks  of  the  preaching  she  has 
heard  from  Mr.  Fraser,  so  different  from  yours  although  it 
was  good,  &  she  supposed  orthodox — she  then  spoke  of  some 
of  your  lectures  which  she  said  she  would  never  forget,  nor 
the  hours  she  had  spent  in  that  Lecture  Room  which  she  said 
were  the  happiest  of  her  life. 

I  received  a  letter  from  your  Sister  Isabella  in  which  she 
begs  me  to  send  her  a  lock  of  your  hair  cut  immediately  from 
your  head.  I  suppose  if  you  are  inclined  &  have  the  time  to 
gratify  her,  the  postage  would  not  be  too  much. 

Philip  comes  for  my  letter.  I  must  stop.  It  will  be  the 
last  letter  you  will  receive  ere  the  v/ide  Atlantic  separates  us. 
My  own  dear  Husband,  farewell.  I  commend  you  to  the  care 
of  our  covenant  God.  Forgive  all  my  offences  &  all  my  frail- 
ties, &  think  of  me  only  as  your  own  attached  and  loving, 
(although  it  may  be  sometimes,  a  too  exacting  &  jealous,) 

^'^^^~  MARGARET  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

CHARLESTON,  June  i,  1846. 
MY  DEARLY  LOVED  HUSBAND, 

On  this  day  you  are  to  leave  our  shores  and 
t^^Dr^Smy^th  commit  yoursclf  to  the  mighty  Ocean.  May  He 
who  hath  the  winds  and  waves  under  His  com- 
mand, take  charge  over  you ;  send  you  a  safe  and  prosperous 
voyage ;  grant  you  renovated  strength ;  and  yet  a  long,  and 
useful,  and  happy  life.     *     *     * 

I  thank  you  for  the  promised  likeness,  I  shall  prize  it  very 
highly  when  I  get  it  and  appreciate  the  motives  which  prompted 
the  sending  of  it.  I  have  another  likeness  of  you  however, 
which  I  prize  yet  more  highly,  dear  little  Sarah  Anne,  who 
grows  every  day  more  lovely,  and  of  whom  every  stranger 
exclaims,  "how  like  to  her  Father  she  is !"  She  is  indeed  a 
precious  treasure.  I  see  the  likeness  increasing  every  day, 
and  yet  it  is  not  yourself,  I  think,  she  so  much  resembles,  as 
your  family.  The  shape  of  her  head  and  her  hair  is  like  your 
Father's ;   while   her   profile   and    features   all    are   like   your 

^From  Miss  Jane  A.  Adger  to  Mrs.  William  Adger. — Ed. 


383 

Mother's.  May  she  resemble  them  in  all  that  was  excellent 
and  amiable,  and  above  all  in  their  love  to  God,  and  to  their 
fellow  men.     *     *     * 

Adger  will  be  9  years  old  on  Monday  next,  June  8.  Ought 
he  not  to  be  studying  the  languages?  *  *  Augustine  says 
you  are  to  be  at  home  on  his  birthday,  (Oct  5)  when  he  will 
be  4  years  old.     *     *     * 

Your  own  wife, 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

CHARLESTON,  June  9,   1846. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

Much   to   my   grief   &    disappointment   Ellison 
Mrs^  Smyth      ^-^  ^^^  forward  my  letter  as  I  desired  him,  he 

to  Dr.  Smyth.  -^       .  .  ' 

thought  the  chance  of  its  getting  to  N.  Y.  in  time 
for  the  Great  Britain  was  too  small  to  warrant  him  paying  the 
postage,  &  yet  after  all  it  would  have  been  in  time,  as  she  did 
not  leave  until  the  8th.     *     *     '" 

Father  sold  the  poney  yesterday  to  Mr.  Rogers 
t^^houte  -^^^  something  under  $20. —  He  has  received  esti- 

mates for  altering  our  house  the  amt.  of  which 
are  $3000 — &  $2,800. —  I  was  astonished.  I  am  afraid  it  will 
not  be  done.  He  says  he  will  consult  other  workmen,  &  get 
other  estimates.  The  plan  now  proposed  does  not  contem- 
plate interfering  at  all  with  your  study  or  Library.  There 
will  be  one  large  room  down  stairs,  which  covers  the  whole 
front  of  our  yard,^  where  the  large  gate  now  is,  &  leaves  no 
entrance  from  the  street  except  through  the  hall  door ;  the  piazza 
of  course  will  be  removed,  but  will  be  put  up  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  new  building.  The  new  room  will  be  20  feet  by  22, 
&  have  six  windows,  2  at  the  North,  next  the  street,  2  at  the 
West,  next  the  lot ;  &  2  at  the  South,  opening  into  our  own 
yard.  There  is  to  be  a  similar  room,  in  size,  &c.  &c.  in  the  sec- 
ond storey  for  a  nursery — &  the  space  on  the  3rd  storey, 
Father  advises  to  have  made  into  2  bed  rooms  for  the  children 

'In  the  letters  of  1837  the  situation  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth's 
house  was  described.  Mr.  Robert  Adger  had  been  established  in 
the  house  south  of  Mr.  James  Adger's,  all  the  yards  communicat- 
ing, with  gardens  in  the  rear.  In  addition  to  this  there  was  a 
garden  in  the  large  lot  on  the  opposite  side  of  King  Street,  with 
a  Summer  house,  where  the  Adger  grand-children  played  and  had 
their  May-parties.  There  were  beds  for  vegetables  and  accommo- 
dations for  several  cows,  of  all  of  which  old  Daddy  Daniel  had 
charge.  A  part  of  this  large  lot  was  a  waggon-yard  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  farmers  bringing  cotton,  etc.,  to  market. — Ed. 


384 

as  they  grow  older.  It  is  too  large  for  one  room.  If  the 
work  is  carried  on  I  will  tirge  him  to  flatten  the  roof  of  the 
piazza.  It  is  a  terrible  job;  I  wish  it  was  finished.  *  * 
Father  desires  me  to  say  to  you,  that  he  has  insured  your 
Library  for  $8,000  wh.  he  thinks  was  the  sum  you  mentioned, 
at  Yz  per  cent  premium,  paying  $40. —     *     '•'     * 

Now  for  the  children.  Adger's  birth-day  is  over.  I  made 
them  a  present  of  a  joggling  board,  (for  which  you  must  pay 
$4.50,)  and  you  never  saw  such  delight.  Augustine  jumped 
&  danced  &  screamed  with  joy.  Adger  too  is  highly  delighted 
with  it.  He  seems  to  be  better,  i.  e.  stronger  than  when  you 
left.^  You  are  gone  one  month  tomorrow :  one  fifth  of  your 
term  of  absence  is  over.  Did  you  see  in  the  last  Watchman 
&  Observer  some  notice  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Watkins  on  your 
Sermons  on  Children? —  I  was  reading  your  note  to  Adger 
&  Augustine,  wh.  highly  pleased  them,  in  wh.  you  desire  them 
to  tell  you  what  to  bring  them  from  London.  Sam  was  stand- 
ing by,  "&  begs  Mr.  S.  will  bring  him  a  zvatch" !  !  He  comes 
to  me  to  day  with  the  same  request.  I  told  him  he  was  crazy. 
He  says  "No  mam,  you  ask  Mr.  S.  I  know  he  will  bring  it 
to  me."  So  his  ideas  of  your  generosity  or  of  your  purse  are 
very  large.  And  now  my  paper  is  finished.  Perhaps  I  may 
write  a  note  by  tomorrow's  mail.  Farewell.  May  God  bless 
you,  protect  you,  &  restore  you  in  safetv  to  the  arms  of  your 
own  Wife  M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

You  are  now  more  than  half  way  across  the  Atlantic  but  I 
can  not  expect  to  hear  for  three  weeks  yet. 

CHARLESTON,  June  18,  1846. 
Thursday  afternoon. 

MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

*      *     On  Tuesday     *      *     Adger  came  run- 
Mrs^  Smyth         -         >k     >;c     gxclaiming,  "Here  is  a  letter  from 

to  Dr.   Smyth.     ^     ^  „        ,         ,        ^  '^'        .        ,  i-    n        o 

Papa       "^     "^     It  was  received  most  cordially  & 
gladly.     *     *     * 

This  addition  to  our  house  will  involve  us  in  expense  in 
other  ways,  these  three  rooms  will  each  require  a  carpet  & 
other  furniture.  I  must  have  another  bedstead  for  the  chil- 
dren, &  some  articles   for  their  room  which  are   essential  & 

^Adger  was  delicate  from  his  birth  and  caused  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Smyth  constant  anxiety:  at  one  period  he  suffered  from  some 
disease  of  the  hip,  which  prevented  his  walking,  and  for  about  a 
year  had  to  be  carried  like  an  infant. — Ed. 


385 

necessary — ithen  when  we  go  to  housekeeping' — &  I  don't  see 
how  we  can  avoid  it,  we  must  have  more  servants ;  if  we  bring 
Betsy  &  her  two  children  home,  it  will  increase  the  size  of  our 
hominy  pot;  &  then  if  we  have  so  large  a  house,  we  will  be 
expected  to  entertain  more  company; — this  you  would  like, 
so  would  I,  if  I  had  servants  enough  and  money  enough  to 
buy  all  I  need.  I  tell  you  all  this  now  as  a  preface  to  a 
caution,  not  to  involve  yourself  too  deeply  or  in- 
uying    00  s.    g^^j-j^-g^j-^jy   -^^  (jg|^^  j^y  ^|^g  purchasc  of  books  & 

pictures;  of  the  last,  with  the  maps,  we  have  enough  now  to 
cover  all  the  walls,  even  of  the  new  rooms ;  &  the  books  are 
already  too  numerous  for  comfort  in  the  Study  &  Library. 
Sam  is  now  busy,  carrying  on  a  war  of  extermination  against 
the  Moths  there,  which  have  become  very  numerous  &  destruc- 
tive. But  I  would  enter  a  protest  not  only  against  books  & 
pictures,  but  all  other  things  not  necessary  &  which  can  come 
under  the  charge  of  extravagance.  Do  be  admonished,  & 
study  to  be  economical.  And  now  upon  the  back  of  this  I  am 
going  to  give  you  a  commission.  When  we  were  in  Montreal, 
&  I  was  going  to  buy  some  Une  cotton  stockings,  you  told  me 
not  to  mind  them  there  &  you  would  bring  me  some  from 
England.  I  cannot  get  fine  ones  here  of  a  large  size;  our 
Ladies  feet  &  ancles  are  all  so  small,  that  when  stockings  are 
fine  they  are  as  a  matter  of  course  small — I  mean  short;  and 
having  considerable  length  of  body  in  other  ways,  I  also  have 
it  in  my  foot  as  well  as  my  fingers.  Neal  marks  my  shoes 
5^.  .But  I  mean  now  to  make  a  change  in  my  order,  &  instead 
of  Cotton,  to  ask  you  to  bring  me  some  more  Lisle  thread 
stockings.  The  weather  is  now  so  warm,  I  have  been  wearing 
what  you  brought  me  two  years  ago  &  I  find  them  so  very 
pleasant,  &  so  much  cooler  than  the  Cotton  that  I  infinitely 
prefer  them. —  The  only  objection  is  I  fear  they  will  not  be  so 
durable,  but  Marg't  Adger  assures  me  they  will.  She  got 
some  in  England  &  has  tested  them. — 

I  have  been  interrupted  by  a  visit  from  Mr.  Porter,*  he  in- 
quired very  affectionately  about  you,  congratulated  me  upon 
hearing  from  you,  and  inquired  with  much  interest  as  to  when 
I  expected  to  hear  of  your  arrival.     I  shewed  him  a  Copy  of 

"Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth  had  never  really  "kept  house,"  but  had 
taken  most  of  their  meals  at  Mr.  Adger's,  preparing  at  home  only 
such  light  repasts  as  the  children's  supper.  Mr.  Adger  always 
kept  up  a  supervision  of  his  daughter  Margaret's  pantry,  regularly 
supplying  many  needs. — Ed. 

^A  Presbyterian  minister   supplying  Second   Church. — Ed. 


[25] 


386 

your  S.  S.  Sermons,  wh.  Mr.  Packard'  sent  me  3  days  ago 

he  asked  me  to  loan  it  to  him,  &  as  I  had  already  read  it 
through,  I  did  so.     *     *     * 

Mother  has  just  now  been  in,  she  lifts  up  her  hands  when 
she  sees  what  havoc  the  workmen  are  making — I  ask  her  if 
she  has  any  message  to  you,  she  says  "give  my  kind  love,  & 
tell  him  to  come  home  soon."  John  &  his  family  expect  to 
leave  Smyrna  20th  June,  to  come  home,  by  the  way  of  Eng- 
land— Adger  is  writing  you  a  letter,  but  as  it  is  quite  an 
undertaking  for  him,  he  may  not  get  it  done  in  time  for  the 
Steamer — if  he  does  I  will  add  a  P.  S.  but  for  fear  he  should 
not  I  will  finish  &  send  this  to-day  to  ensure  the  mail.  We 
are  all  well.     I  hope  soon  now  to  hear  from  you — ever  yours 

most  devotedly.  ,  ^    , 

^  M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

CHARLESTON,  June  22,  1846. 
MY  BELOVED  HUSBAND,  ^^"'^^^  morning. 

Can  you  realize  that  we  have  the  weather  now 
to'^Dr  Smyth.    ^'^  ^^'^^  ^^^^  "^'^  slccp  with  all  the  windows  closed? 

^         ^         ;!c 

Wednesday  morning: — 

Yesterday  Fleetwood  Lanneau  came  up  to  see  me  and 
brought  me  your  likeness.''  I  have  been  looking  for  it  with  so 
much  desire,  my  expectations  were  so  much  raised,  for  I  heard 
so  much  about  it,  that  on  opening  it,  as  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, I  was  disappointed,  for  who  was  ever  satisfied  with 
the  picture  of  one  they  love.  Lanneau  watched  my  counte- 
nance, although  I  carefully  avoided  any  expression  of  my 
feeling  by  words.  "Mrs.  Smyth,"  said  he,  "you  dont  like  it," 
and  he  seemed  as  much  disappointed  that  I  did  not,  as  I  was 
at  the  likeness.  It  is  indeed  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  art. 
The  eyes  are  good  but  there  is  something  about  the  mouth 
which  spoils  the  whole  picture,  and  yet  some  say  they  often 
see  your  mouth  in  just  that  position.  I  have  showed  it  to 
everybody  and  as  usual  everybody  has  a  dififerent  opinion. 
Father  says  it  is  not  like  you  at  all,  James  and  Sis  Susan  that 
it  could  not  be  better.  Mother  and  the  others  say  it  is  very 
good.  Do  you  know  that  Lanneau  had  eight  copies  taken  from 
it  of  a  small  size,  &  brought  them  home  as  presents  for  his 
friends !  He  told  me  he  knew  he  could  not  bring  them  any- 
thing which  would  please  them  more.  *  *  * 
Thursday  morning,  June  24. 

^Secretary  of  the  American  Sunday  School  Union. — Ed. 
^It  has  not  been  possible  to  identify  this  portrait. — Ed. 


387 

Yesterday  afternoon,  Jane  Ann  came  to  stay  with  our  dear 
boy,*  while  I  would  go  to  the  Society."  She  is  very  fond  of 
Augustine,  &  has  above  everyone  I  know  a  faculty  of  im- 
parting instruction  pleasantly.  I  like  him  to  be  with  her.  We 
had  a  large  meeting  of  our  Society.  I  took  your  likeness  there 
&  the  ladies  had  great  pleasure  in  looking  at  it.  It  was  passed 
from  one  to  another  until  I  began  to  fear  I  should  not  get  it 
again.  How  glad  I  am  you  had  it  taken  for  me,  but  I  wish  it 
had  not  such  a  sad  expression,  and  such  a  falling  of  the  lower 
lip.  (Dr.  Bellinger  objects  to  the  way  the  hair  is  arranged.) 
Still  I  think  it  is  a  good  likeness,  decidedly  the  best  I  have 
seen.     *     *     * 

The  bricklayers  are  now  busy  at  the  walls  of  our  new  room. 
I  wish  very  much  you  were  here  to  have  some  things  done 
which  I  know  you  would  like,  but  in  which  I  fear  I  will  not 
be  able  to  succeed.  I  cannot  stand  out  and  insist  upon  having 
things  as  you  can.  Still  I  hope  the  place  will  be  comfortable 
when  it  is  done.  It  is  a  very  expensive  job  &  certainly  a  very 
troublesome  one.  Although  I  wish  you  were  here,  when  I 
want  any  thing  altered,  or  any  change  made,  yet  upon  the 
whole  I  am  glad  you  are  not.  You  could  not  stand  the  noise 
&  turmoil,  the  exposure  to  the  sun  &c.  I  thought  much  of  you 
the  day  they  cut  down  the  mulberry  tree.  As  branch  after 
branch  was  cut  and  fell  to  the  ground  I  almost  shed  tears,  as 
if  each  one  was  a  friend,  &  when  the  naked  trunk  was  torn 
down  I  could  not  but  say  "I  am  glad  Mr.  S.  is  not  here  to  see 
this."  I  remember  you  told  me  once  you  would  not  take  $1000 
for  that  tree,  but  it  was  impossible  to  save  it  as  the  new  room 
will  extend  past  where  it  stands.  Houston  promises  to  have 
all  done  ist  Sep. — ■ 

It  will  be  ten  days  yet  before  I  can  expect  to  hear  from  you 
— it  is  a  long  time.     *     *     * 

Susan  has  just  come  in  to  take  her  morning  nap  &  seeing 
your  picture  on  the  Table,  she  says  "Sue  wants  to  see  Papa;" 
on  getting  it  into  her  hands  she  says  with  much  corriplacency 
"Sue's  Papa,  Sue  loves  Papa,  Sue's  Papa  gone."  She  is  a 
great  and  incessant  talker  &  is  improving  very  much  in  every 
way;  is  becoming  a  great  favourite  of  her  Grandfather's.  * 
*  Adger  is  a  boy  of  uncommon  promise,  if  his  health  is 
spared ;  he  possesses  a  mind  of  more  than  ordinary  power  & 

■"Augustine  was  not  well. — Ed. 

°The  Society  for  the  Education  of  Young  Men  for  the  Ministry, 
one  of  the  Church  organizations,  of  which  Mrs.  Smyth  was  mar^y 
years  president. — Ed. 


388 


will  be  a  student.  God  grant  his  powers  may  be  sanctified  & 
given  to  the  highest  and  best  of  causes.  My  own  dear  Hus- 
band, believe  that  I  am  ever  your  devotedly  attached  Wife, 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 


A  very  kind  letter  for  you  from  Smyrna— from 

■     Tr 

ical    Alliance. 


e       vange  -     J^^^       jj  ^j^^y  (-q^^^  ^J^gy  ^q  gQ  ]yy  ^^y  q£  LoudoU, 


leaving  Smyrna  the  last  of  July.  You  may  meet 
them  there,  if  you  attend  the  Convention.  But  I  suppose  you 
will  not  be  allowed  a  seat,  as  you  are  from  the  South. 

CHARLESTON,  July  4,  1846. 
MY  BELOVED  HUSBAND,  —Saturday- 

Father  has  hitherto  promised  to  bring  me  up  a 
t^^'^Dr^s'm^tii  letter  from  you  today,  but  now  he  says  I  must 
wait  until  Monday.  I  have  endeavoured  to  wait 
with  patience,  but  the  time  seems  long,  &  I  am  now  getting  to 
be  very  anxious.  I  hope  to  be  gratified  next  week.  We  were 
all  up  very  early  this  morning;  Father  had  promised  the  two 
Fourth  of  boys  to  take  them  "to  see  the  soldiers,"  &  I  ac- 
Juiy  Ceiebra-  compauicd  them,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life  to 
*'°"*  see  the  sight.     We  went  in  the  green  carriage; 

Susan  took  Ellen  &  the  tzvo  daughters  in  Robt's  carriage; 
Ellison  &  Janey  in  Father's  buggy.  So  we  were  all  on  the 
field.  When  we  got  home  &  had  breakfast  I  brought  the 
children  all  round,  undressed  &  put  them  to  bed,  they  had  a 
fine  sleep  of  two  hours ;  then  we  all  took  a  bath,  got  dressed 
again,  &  went  round  to  dine  on  ocra  soup.  Wm's  family  & 
Mr.  Porter  came  to  dinner.  We  had  quite  a  family  meeting, 
a  good  dinner,  soup,  iced  melons,  fine  banannas,  &c.  Stc.  still 
there  were  some  deficiences.  Robt.  wanted  his  wife  &  children. 
&  I  wanted  my  husband,  &  the  father  of  my  children.  This 
day  of  course  will  not  be  publicly  noticed  where  you  are  & 
unless  some  American  friend  would  remind  you  of  it,  it  is 
possible  it  may  pass  unobserved  by  you.  Here  such  a  thing 
would  be  out  of  the  question,  for  it  is  a  jubilee  among  children, 
mechanics,  &  negroes,  second  only  to  Christmas.  All  the 
schools  give  holy-day,  all  workmen  give  the  day.  The  con- 
course of  people  this  morning  on  the  Bay,  the  Battery,  &  the 
principal  streets  was  immense,  the  windows  all  filled,  &  the 
streets  thronged  with  ladies  in  their  carriages.  The  shipping 
in  the  harbour  all  displayed  their  flags,  they  were  hung  too 
from  all  the  public  buildings.  The  bands  of  music  with  the 
soldiers,  the  firing  of  the  cannon,  the  ringing  of  the  bells,  the 
noise  of  the  negroes,  all,  all  showed  it-  was  the  4th  of  July. 


389 

(Do  you  remember  the  first  you  spent  here  &  your  impressions 
then?)  Augustine  enjoyed  it  all  very  much.  He  is  getting 
better,  but  has  been  for  some  time  past  under  the  Dr's  care. 

Sabbath.  July  5.  This  day  has  been  set  apart  by  the  Gen'l 
Assembly  as  a  day  of  special  prayer  for  our  country  in  view 
of  its  present  state  of  war.  Mr.  Porter  preached  a  good  ser- 
mon from  "The  Lord  reigneth."     *     *     * 

Father  asked  me  on  getting  into  the  carriage  this  morning 
at  the  Church  door,  if  I  would  go  down  then  with  him  &  see 
for  a  letter  from  you.  My  desire  to  hear  was  great,  but  the 
offence  I  thought  too  glaring,  &  I  declined  his  invitation,  so 
he  did  not  go.  He  told  me  this  evening  as  he  was  retiring  to 
bed,  that  he  would  go  down  before  breakfast  &  bring  one  up 
for  me.  I  trust  then  to  hear,  as  there  are  now  3  or  4  mails 
due,  that  you  have  arrived  safely  &  have  been  benefitted  by  the 
voyage.  Good  night,  my  own  dear  Love,  may  the  Keeper  of 
Israel,  be  ever  near  you.  *  *  * 
■  July  7. 

My  birth-day—  H  you  do  not  remember  the  4th  will  you 
remember  this  week  of  anniversaries?  Will  you  remember 
the  pth  that  ever  memorable  day,  14  years  ago?"     *     *     * 

I  have  had  the  two  daughters  weighed — Susan  weighed  24 
lbs. — &  dear,  fat  Sarah  Anne — only  5  months  old — 16  lbs. — 
Sue  is  small  but  is  now  vei-y  fat,  but  she  wore  at  12  months 
a  little  muslin  dress  you  bought  in  Paris  which  is  too  small 
now  for  Sarah  Anne.  I  wish  you  could  see  this  darling,  lovely 
babe.  She  is  so  fat  &  rosy,  &  so  very  fair,  she  has  a  com- 
plexion like  that  of  our  dear  sainted  Augustine,  &  she  is  so 
very,  very  good^ — so  seldom  is  heard  to  cry.     *     *     * 

Adger  is  very  docile,  but  his  lessons  do  not  I  think  suffici- 
ently employ  him  now — he  ought  to  be  more  advanced.  I 
think  when  you  return  you  must  remove  him  to  a  higher 
school.  Mr,  Miller  does  not  teach  the  languages.  I  have  just 
paid  him  his  quarter's  bill — $10.50.  I  did  think  some  time  ago 
that  I  would  keep  Adger  at  home  during  the  three  next  months 
— but  we  have  so  many  workmen  about,  so  many  little  negro 
boys,  from  whom  it  would  be  impossible  to  keep  him,'  that  I 
have  concluded  it  was  best  for  him  to  continue  at  school.  He 
will  not  be  more  exposed  than  at  home  to  the  Sun.     *     *     * 

'The  7th  was  her  birthday,  the  8th  his  first  communion  service 
with  his  congregation,  at  which  James  Adger  and  his  son  William 
were  admitted  to  the  Church.  The  9th  was  their  wedding-day. — 
Ed. 

'Adger  recollects  constant  yielding  to  temptation  and  playing 
with  the  little  negroes  (a  sin  committed  also  by  Mrs.  Smyth's 
grandchildren,    to    her   ever-fresh   horror) ;    and   tells   that    on    one 


390 

MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND,        ^""^^  ^'  Wednesday.- 

I  have  just  been  gratified  by  receiving  the  tid- 

t^'^Dr^Smy^h  '^^^^  '^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  arrival  in  England.  YoLir 
package  containing  a  letter  to  the  congregation, 
(which  I  gave  to  Mr.  Dukes,)  a  letter  to  the  boys  which  has 
pleased  them  not  a  little,  &  a  letter  to  myself, — has  been  sent 
up  to  me  by  Robert  or  Father.  *  *  I  suppose  you  have 
been  engaged  with  Dr.  Scott,  your  hand  writing  &  the  ap- 
pearance of  your  letters  generally,  indicate  to  me  your  weak 
and  nervous  state.  I  look  now,  anxio^isly  for  the  next 
steamer.     *     *     * 

I  am  glad  to  hear  you  got  the  fly-brush  safe  on  shore,  I 
must  confess  I  did  not  expect  it,  and  all  your  other  goods  & 
chattels ;  but  as  the  negro  says  "you  are  born  lucky."  Let  me 
know  what  your  Aunt  thought  of  it  &  how  she  received  the 
other  things. 
July  9. 

Our  wedding  day — how  do  you  suppose  I  celebrated  it? 
By  attending  another  wedding  in  the  same  Church.  *  * 
Fourteen  years  ago  this  same  day,  about  the  same  hour,  I  went 
to  that  Church  as  a  bride.- —  How  has  the  time  slipt  away,  un- 
consciously almost  to  myself !  I  can  hardly  realize  that  it  is 
14  years.  One  thing  I  do  realize,  that  what  was  then  hardly 
confessed  even  to  myself,  is  now  my  chief  earthly  felicity ;  that 
I  love  you  most  sincerely  and  devotedly,  and  believe  that  I  am 
loved  by  you  in  return.     *     *     * 

We  assemble  together  every  morning  in  our  chamber  and 
read  together  and  pray  for  each  other  and  for  the  dear  absent 
father  and  husband.  I  think  I  see  the  good  effects  of  it,  I 
have  resolved  to  do  so  always  in  your  absence.     *     *     * 

Adger  has  taken  your  letter  to  school  today  to  show  it  to 
Mr.  Miller.  I  gave  it  to  Ellison  yesterday  to  read  &  he  took 
it  down  town  with  him  &  showed  it  to  Mr.  Dukes  &c.  &c.  So 
your  description  of  the  icebergs  will  be  quite  public — it  is  very 

°       '  Yours  only  and  ever. 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

occasion  his  father  on  his  return  home,  finding  that  this  law  had 
been  broken,  condemned  the  culprit  to  a  whipping  after  dinner, 
when  he  had  time  to  attend  to  it.  The  nine-year-old  sinner  grew 
anxious,  and  seeking  his  Mother,  asked  if  she  thought  it  possible 
for  Papa  to  give  him  that  whipping  now,  as  he  did  not  want  to 
have  to  wait  any  longer.  She,  wise  woman,  sent  him  up  to  the 
study  to  consult  the  oracle,  with  the  result  that  the  Doctor  with 
a  softened  eye,  thought — well — that  whipping  would  not  take  place 
at  all — but  it  must  never  occur  again. — Ed. 


391 

CHARLESTON,  July  24,  1846. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

After  some  days  of  anxious  waiting  the  letters  of  the 
Steamer  Cambria  arrived  yesterday,  &  I  duly  received  yours 
of  the  28th  June  &  2d  July  from  Edinburgh  &  Glasgow.  I  am 
truly  thankful  that  you  feel  yourself  at  all  benefitted,  &  yet  I 
desire  to  hear  of  more.  Mr.  Porter  thinks  you  are  keeping 
up  too  much  excitement  to  derive  any  advantage ;  you  are,  as 

usual  doing  too  much.  I  feel  very  sorry  that  you 
death  ^^^^^  ^   Were  not  permitted  to  see  your  Aunt  once  more. 

It  would  no  doubt  have  been  a  gratification  to 
her  to  have  seen  you ;  &  you  might  have  been  enabled  to  min- 
ister consolation  &  comfort  to  her  in  the  trying  hour.  But  it 
is  all  ordered  wisely  &  well,  &  on  some  accounts  I  am  glad 
you  were  not  there.  If  your  expectations  are  not  to  be  realized 
to  their  full  amount,  I  hope  you  will  be  enabled  to  bear  the 
disappointment  wisely  &  with  patience,  &  realize  the  belief 
that  it  is  best  for  you  it  should  be  so.  If  on  the  other  hand 
they  are  realized,  oh !  may  grace  sufficient  be  afforded  you. 
May  you  be  enabled  to  bear  prosperity  meekly,  believe  me  it 
is  harder  to  bear  than  adversity.  It  brings  with  it  greater 
dangers,  &  gf eater  temptations,  &  oh!  greater  responsibilities. 
*     *     * 

I  almost  hope  Thompson  the  Abolitionist  will 

Abolitionism.  ,  ,  .  ,•  .  j.   j.i      j. 

not  agree  to  your  terms  of  controversy,  not  that 
I  think  you  unprepared  or  unable  to  meet  &  cope  with  him,  but 
I  think  it  will  do  no  good  in  that  country.  &  I  think  it  will  do 
you  essential  harm;  by  calling  upon  you  to  write  &  study  & 
make  mental  efiFort,  when  you  should  be  enjoying  yourself, 
by  relaxation  from  all  study ;  &  have  left  home  for  that  very 
purpose.     *     *     * 

Our  own  dear  children  are  all  well ;  the  three  younger  ones 
especially.     Augustine   with   his   curly   head^  is   now   playing 

^Augustine's  curly  head  possessed  perhaps  the  tenderest  corner 
in  his  Mother's  heart,  but  it  cost  her  her  most  serious  disagree- 
ment with  her  father.  The  child  was  very  handsome,  and  his 
golden-brown  curls  were  allowed  to  grow  long;  while  his  admir- 
ing mother  dressed  him  so  handsomely,  that  she  confessed  after- 
wards to  have  overheard  once,  in  the  street,  whispered  comments 
as  to  such  a  costume  for  a  minister's  child.  As  he  grew  older  and 
more  conscious  of  such  things  he  found  both  the  curls  and  the 
attention  irksome,  so  that  when,  one  day,  his  grandfather  suggested 
that  he  might  like  to  have  his  hair  cut,  he  joyfully  agreed  and 
fetched  a  pair  of  scissors  with  prompt  obedience.  Old  Mr.  Adger 
parted  the  hair  in  the  middle,  cut  one  side  close,  and,  giving  the 


392 

around  the  table  at  which  I  write,  sometimes  on  the  top  of  it, 
then  on  the  sofa,  or  on  the  v/indow  seat;  anon  throwing  him- 
self out  of  the  windows  to  the  piazza  floor.  He  possesses 
amazing  strength.  He  is  now  quite  full  of  learning  to  read, 
&  is  always  spelling  or  singing  Hymns.  Little  Sue  is  very  fat 
&  is  I  think  more  amiable.  Dr.  B.  says  her  fretfulness  is 
caused  by  her  weakness ;  her  inability  to  run  about  &  cope  with 
Augustine,  &  as  she  acquires  more  strength  she  will  lose  that 
sense  of  fear  which  often  makes  her  now  cry.  Dear  fat  Sarah 
Anne  is  as  lovely  a  babe  as  you  ever  looked  at,  &  as  good  as 
she  is  fat.  *  *  You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  (although 
not  more  than  I  am  myself,)  that  I  have  sent  Adger  to  spend 
the  remainder  .of  the  summer  with  Elizabeth  Ellison*  in  Fair- 
field. I  received  an  invitation  from  Wm.  Ellison  when  Jane 
Ann  came  home,  to  send  Adger  up  to  him,  &  he  would  make 
him  "strong  &  hearty" — &  Eliz'th  promised  "to  take  good  care 
of  him."  I  thought  at  the  time  it  w'd  be  good  for  the  child 
to  accept,  but  I  c'd  not  bear  to  part  with  him,  nor  think  of 
sending  him  alone,  to  be  among  strangers.  Two  weeks  ago 
however  I  had  a  conversation  with  Dr.  B.  whom  I  met  in 
James'  room ;  he  told  me  had  for  some  time  been  noticing 
Adger  with  painful  anxiety,  unless  his  constitution  was  ma- 
terially altered  he  would  grow  up  a  very  feeble  man ;  & 
recommended  that  he  be  removed  from  school,  taken  from 
books,  &  allowed  to  run  wild,  thought  he  ought  to  be  left  per- 
fectly free  &  unrestrained,  except  as  far  as  his  morals  were 
concerned,  for  at  least  2  years.  The  family  all  urged  me  to 
send  him  to  Fairfield,  assured  Eliz'th  w'd  take  every  care  of 
him  &  that  he  would  there  get  the  kind  of  exercise  most  useful 
to  him,  blended  with  amusement.  He  will  ride,  climb,  run,  hunt, 
&c.  &c.  I  proposed  it  to  Adger,  to  my  surprise  he  was  quite 
ready  to  go ;  &  although  his  heart  did  fail  him  &  he  w'd  some- 
times put  his  arm  around  me  &  say  he  did  not  want  to  leave 
me — especially  his  little  Sister  to  whom  he  is  very  strongly 
attached,  yet  he  went  off  cheerfully  or  I  could  not  have  let  him 

handful  of  beautiful  curls  to  Augustine,  sent  him  through  the 
connecting  back  yards  to  his  mother.  Her  outraged  feeling  can- 
not be  described  as  she  clipped  the  rest  of  the  beloved  curls. 
She  confessed  in  later  life  that  she  made  up  her  mind  to  go  to  her 
father's  stable  and  shear  the  luxuriant  tails  of  his  highly-valued 
carriage  horses.  But  she  held  herself  in  check  and  outwardly 
made  the  best  of  it,  though  it  was  years  before  she  finally  forgave 
her  father. — Ed. 

^Elizabeth  Adger  of  the  earlier  letters,  who  had  married  Mrs. 
Adger's  nephew,  William  Ellison. — Ed. 


393 

go.  I  have  never  felt  so  much  in  parting  from  him.  His  Uncle 
Wm.  was  appointed  by  Session  to  attend  a  meeting  of  Presby- 
tery in  Columbia  &  took  charge  of  him  that  far  on  Wednesday. 
Wm.  returned  to  day  &  tells  me  he  was  to  go  up  to  Winnsboro 
to  day  in  the  carriage  with  Joseph  Adger  &  his  wife,  &  that 
he  was  in  fine  spirits.  I  trust  it  will  be  for  his  good.  Should 
I  hear  that  it  becomes  sickly  up  there  I  will  have  him  im- 
mediately brought  home.  I  think  this  will  be  more  to  his 
advantage  than  sending  him  to  the  North.  A  holiday  spent 
shut  up  in  a  Hotel,  or  in  a  Steam  boat  or  Car  is  of  no  great 
advantage  to  him.     *     *     * 

CHARLESTON,  July  28,  1846. 
„     ,,     .  *     *     J    -^ould    have    written    vou    this    letter 

Trouble     in  .  '  . 

the  Church  ycstcrday  morning  but  just  as  I  was  preparing  to 
from  coloured  g{^  down  Catto  Called,  &  as  he  seemed  in  trouble 
'"^"^     ^'  I  listened  to  his  stors'  until  I  found  it  too  late. 

I  told  him  to  write  to  you,  he  brought  me  up  a  letter  this 
morning  which  I  sent  to  W^m.  to  forward.  It  will  do  for  you 
to  shew  there  as  from  a  negro  in  Carolina — ^but  he  is  not  a 
negro.  I  don't  know  when  I  have  been  as  much  pleased  with 
the  conversation  of  any  one  as  with  his.  I  am  truly  sorry 
for  the  state  of  things  as  he  represents  them  in  the  Church. 
I  would  rather  part  with  Johnson,  Mitchell,  &  Matthews,  all, 
to  retain  him :  but  I  am  afraid  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  go 
either  to  Liberia  or  Hayti.""  I  do  not  know  that  we  ought  to 
retain  him,  if  he  will  have  a  wider  field  abroad.  I  told  him 
he  ought  to  stay  until  you  returned,  &  at  any  rate  to  go  & 
have  a  free  conversation  with  Wm. —  I  gave  him  a  copy  of 
your  S.  S.  Sermon  &  loaned  him  a  Geography  which  he 
wished.     *     *     * 

CHARLESTON,  August  13,  1846. 

Saturday  morning. 

*     *     Little  Sue  seems  to  feel  the  heat,  she  is  not  well.     I 

am  sending  her  to  the  Bathing  House  every  day.     She  is  in 

quite   good   order   though,    &   sometimes    very   playful.      She 

attracts  great  attention  down  there,  by  the  beauty  of  her  eyes. 

^Dr.  Smyth  speaks  of  him  later  in  Washington,  he  did  not  go 
to  Liberia.  See  p.  205.  But  Joe  Corker,  a  free  man  of  colour, 
who  was  sufficiently  intelligent  to  be,  in  a  small  way,  a  contractor, 
went  to  Liberia,  taking  with  him  his  wife,  Mom  Sue,  the  children's 
nurse.  The  old  woman  was  broken-hearted  at  leaving  and  did 
not  live  many  years  in  her  new  home.  She  was  perfectly  black 
and  always  wore  a  head-handkerchief. — Ed. 


394 

Mr.  John  Crawford^  dined  with  us  on  Thursday,  when  he 
saw  Sarah  Anne,  he  exclaimed  "that  is  as  lovely  a  baby  as  I 
ever  saw,  whose  child  is  it?"  I  told  him  "all  my  children  were 
lovely" — he  said  "they  were,  Augustine  was  a  fine  looking- 
boy,  but  this  child  surpassed  them  all.  she  was  a  perfect 
Camellia  Japonica." —  Am  I  not  vain  to  tell  you  all  this !  But 
it  is  all  true,  every  word  of  it.  Her  complexion  is  beautiful, 
for  this  she  is  indebted  to  you,  Augustine  however  is  his 
Mother's  likeness.  He,  &  he  alone  of  all  our  children  at  all 
resembles  me  personally.  I  have  been  led  unawares  into  this 
preamble  about  the  children.     *     *     "^ 

The  coloured  '^^^  affair  among  the  coloured  people  they  seem 
Church  mem-  to  havc  siftcd  vcry  thoroughly,  and  unanimously 
'°^^^-  agreed  to  suspend  Matthews  from  the  duties  of 

Leader.  Catto,  they  think,  will  remain.  It  has  made  a  great 
stir  among  them.     *     *     * 

I  asked  Father  if  he  would  write  to  you  today 
Mrs.   Magee's   ^^^  ^^  ^^-^  ^^  ^^^  alreadv  Said  all  he  could  to 

will.  -' 

you.  To  tell  you  to  hold  on  to  all  you  could.  It 
will  have  a  strange  appearance  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  if  a 
legacy  to  Foreign  Missions  should  be  contested  by  two  clergy- 
men. In  Mr.  Dill  it  will  appear  inconsistent.  But  if  the  other 
Legatees  claim  and  get  it — these  chergymen  might  as  well 
have  their  share.  Father  says  the  Missionary  Society  will  not 
get  it,  at  any  rate :— it  will  all  go  to  the  heirs-at-law.  Oh  these 
riches,  how  they  tempt  us !  How  selfish,  close,  &  calculating 
they  make  us.  Your  poor  old  Aunt,  how  little  she  thought 
those  around  her  to  whom  she  was  so  munificent,  would  en- 
dfeavour  to  change  the  current  of  her  charities. —     *     '■'     * 

My  own  Love,  Farewell.     May  God  keep  you  ever.     The 
time  is  long  till  you  return. 

Your  ever  affectionate  Wife 

M.  M.  A.  S. 


Letter  from  my  Father  when  83,  while  I  was  in  England. 
Though  I  insisted  on  helping  him,  he  did  not  actually  require 
it;  and  would  have  been  comfortable  (as  he  had  erected  a  good 
stone  house)  had  he  not  loaned  considerable  without  security 
to  my  brother  Robert,  by  whose  death  it  was  lost.  He  had  a 
great  passion  for  building,  fixing,  &c.  and  I  told  him  to  in- 
dulge himself  within  any  reasonable  limits. 

'Of   Columbia. — Ed. 


395 

My  Dear  Madam,  Vincennes,  3^  Aug*,  1846. 

Samuel  ^  ^^h'  ^^C^  your  kind  letter  yesterday  Sunday 

Smith  to  by  which  I  Received  yours  Covering  a  Draft  for 

Mrs.  Smyth,     ^^q  j  g^g  ^y  ^^^^.g  ^^^^  ThoHias  has  traveled  a 

great  deal  through  Different  Contrys  he  had  a  most  Exclent 
man  for  a  Companion  I  am  sorry  he  had  not  been  in  Dublin 
before  the  Death  of  his  Ant  will  he  go  there  do  you  think  I 
think  he  ought  I  am  glad  to  here  of  his  Improving  and  hope 
he  will  Return  much  Improved  Isabella  shall  have  what  you 
mention  but  I  may  say  it  is  all  for  the  good  of  the  house  for 
I  make  no  use  of  any  of  it  for  my  self  I  have  Cloths  plenty 
and  for  Doctors  I  never  make  use  of  anything  they  have  nor 
strong  Drink  I  have  not  tasted  for  ten  years,  so  that  I  Con- 
tract no  Debts  on  my  own  account  you  mention  your  Eldest 
Son  is  of  a  Delicate  frame  my  Son  Joseph  was  much  so  in  his 
young  Days  I  always  sent  the  family  for  three  months  to  the 
Saltwater  Thomas  was  more  Delicate  when  young  I  have  been 
thinking  if  he  would  take  his  family  to  the  Salt  water  I  think 
it  would  be  better  for  his  own  &  childrens  helth  than  all  the 
sailing  and  Coaching  he  goes  throug  and  for  half  the  Expence 
he  is  at  I  do  not  want  him  to  go  to  any  of  those  high  floon 
places,  but  to  look  out  for  a  private  Cheap  place  if  he  adopts 
this  he  will  find  himself  5  P  C*  better  than  what  he  dos 

I  hope  in  God  he  will  do  the  above  if  all  is  spared  to  next 
Summer  I  am  in  wonderful  health  if  I  live  to  the  11*''  Ins'  I 
will  be  83  years  old  I  find  in  the  last  year  or  two  a  great 
wakeness. 

May  God  Restore  your  Dear  Husband  hom  in  much  Im- 
proved health  my  best  love  to  mother  Father  and  Miss  Susan 

&  vou  self  and  Children  „       1  r-     ■  1 

Sam    Smith. 

"AN  OLD  ACTOR  IN  THE  PULPIT.'—  A 

Knowies  Loudou   Correspondent   of   the   Boston    Christian 

Watchman  went  to  hear  the  once  great  actor  and 

now  Baptist  minister,   Sheridan   Knowies,   preach   in  Vernon 

Chapel.     He  writes  : — 

"He  was  an  older  person  than  I  anticipated  seeing ;  I  should 
think  him  well-nigh  three-score  and  ten,  and  he  was  very 
infirm  in  his  tread ;  but  his  eye  was  as  bright  and  his  voice  as 
clear  and  loud  and  musical  as  ever.  The  sermon  was  good, 
but  lost  much  of  its  power  because  he  read  every  word  of  it ; 
and  English  people  do  not  like  written  sermons.  His  reading 
of  the  hymns  and  the  Scriptures,  and  his  prayers,  I  shall  not 

^A  newspaper  clipping. — Ed. 


396 

soon  forget.  His  Scripture,  the  chapter  commencing  with 
"Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  people,"  was  read  as  I  never 
heard  it  read  before.  The  congregation  well-nigh  arose  from 
their  seats.  His  utterance  thrilled  ever}^  heart — he  seemed  to 
make  it  a  living  word.  It  was,  undoubtedly,  a  favorite  chap- 
ter of  his,  since  he  hardly  referred  to  the  Bible  during  its 
rehearsal. 

"After  sermon  he  closed  with  prayer — the  Lord's  Prayer — 
and  never  before  did  I  hear  it  so  effectively  offered ;  such  an 
enunciation,  such  an  accentuation,  such  pathos  is  indescribable ; 
and  as  his  own  heart  soared  heavenward  the  hearts  of  his 
congregation  accompanied  it.  The  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England  use  the  prayer  referred  to  in  their  public  worship 
more  than  all  the  rest  of  the  clergymen  combined,  and  many 
of  them  are  apt  to  hurry  over  it  with  all  the  speed  possible, 
seemingly  forgetting  it  is  the  prayer  of  our  Saviour,  and 
uttered  as  the  model  of  all  prayers,  and  prefaced  with  the 
command,  "After  this  manner  pray  ye."  No  one,  I  am  sure, 
can  be  in  doubt  as  to  what  that  manner  was ;  and  I  would  that 
the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  are  at  fault  on  this 
point,  could  at  this  time  have  listened  to  Mr.  Knowles,  as, 
with  unaffected  reverence,  he  prayed  in  our  Saviour's  own 
words." 

He  was  my  Teacher  for  two  sessions. 

Sheridan  Knowles  was  a  celebrated  teacher  in  the  Academ- 
ical Institution  in  Belfast  in  which  I  received  my  education, 
and  connected  with  which  was  the  College,  afterwards  called 
the  Royal  Belfast  College,  until  its  bounty  was  transferred  to 
the  present  Queen's  College.  Mr.  K.  was  New  Light  or 
Unitarian,  as  far  as  he  was  religiously  anything.  He  was  very 
devoted  to  the  Stage  and  himself  a  very  successful  actor  and 
performer. 

His  conversion  to  Evangelical  Orthodoxy  and  zeal  as  a 
lay  preacher,  are  among  the  many  superhuman  trophies  to 
the  power  of  divine  grace. 

Besides  plays,  he  composed  several  long  Debates  for  his 
pupils  in  which,  as  already  noted,  I  have  taken  part. 

Visit  to  Among   the   pleasant   reminiscences   of   an   un- 

Archbishop  evcutful  life,  and  even  tenor  of  whose  way  has 
whateiey.  flowed    smoothly    and    rippingly    along,    may   be 

enumerated  my  interview  with  Archbishop  Whateiey  at  the 
Episcopal  Palace  in  Dublin,  in  1846.  I  carried  a  letter  to  him 
from  Professor  and  Dr.  Ogilby,  of  the  Episcopal  Seminary  in 
New  York.    This  he  very  courteously  acknowledged  by  send- 


397 

ing  his  Senior  Chaplain  to  call  on  me,  and  invite  me  to  visit  him 
either  at  his  town  or  country  residence.  I  chose  the  former 
on  a  reception  day.  I  was  received  into  an  ante-room  where 
there  was  wine,  cake  &c.  and  several  clergy  in  waiting.  Soon 
I  was  ushered  into  his  reception  chamber  where  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  his  six  chaplains,  among  whom  were  the  present 
Bishop  Hinds  of  Hertford,  Dr.  Bernard,  and  others  since 
advanced.  He  met  me  cordially  and  I  felt  able  to  talk  freely 
and  easily.  He  was  dressed  canonically,  and  wore  the  long 
grotesque  apron.  He  is  very  tall,  over  six  feet  I  should  judge, 
and  of  a  very  nervous  awkward  manner.  He  stood,  and  in- 
dulged in  the  Coleridge  style  of  colloquial  discourse.  He  was 
quite  interested  in  American  affairs,  and  pleased  with  my  dec- 
laration of  very  exalted  estimation  of  his  writings  and  my 
report  of  their  high  rank  among  numerous  transatlantic  ad- 
mirers. I  ventured  to  ask  whether  he  was  the  author  of  an 
anonymous  work  on  Church  and  State,  which  however  he 
repudiated  as  not  his.  I  told  him  there  was  another  writer 
whose  writing  I,  in  common  with  many,  much  admired,  Mr. 
Hinds,  author  of  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Chris- 
tianity, The  Three  Temples,  &c.  Turning  round  to  one  of  the 
Chaplains  (who  had  not  been  introduced,)  he  remarked  pleas- 
antly, ''So  you  see  Mr.  Hinds,  you  are  also  known  in  America." 
Mr.  H.  came  forward  and  shook  hands,  and  next  day  called 
and  left  several  of  his  own  and  of  the  Archbishop's  works, 
as  well  as  letters  of  introduction  to  Dr.  (since  Bishop,)  Hamp- 
den of  Oxford  and  Dr.  Whewell  of  Cambridge.  I  visited 
both  of  these  and  was  very  cordially  received,  dining  with  them 
in  their  Colleges. 

The  Autographic  memorials  of  these  are  in  the  uniformly 
bound  edition  of  Whateley's  Works  in  the  Smyth  Library. 

[Letters  concerning  Dr.  Smyth's  visit  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Richard 
Whately,  D.  D.,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  found  in  "Elements  of 
Logic,"  1st  vol.,  Whately's  Works,  in  the  Smyth  Library.  Both 
Archbishop  Whately  and  Bishop  Hinds  are  quoted  largely  in  Dr. 
Smyth's  Works. — Ed.] 

The  Archbishop  is  in  town  every  Wednesday 
from  12  o'clock  for  3  or  4  hours,  &  w"  be  happy 
to  receive  D''  Smyth  at  the  palace — if  D''  S.  does 
not  stay  in  town  till  next  Wednesday,  perhaps  he 
would  be  able  to  go  out  to  the  country  residence 
near  Stillorgan,  about  4  o'clock,  where  he  w"  be 
more  likely  to  find  the  Abp.  than  in  town. 
Rev  D'  Smyth— 

[Written  on  the  card  of  the  Rev.  Doctor  West.] 


898 

[From  Archbishop   Whately.] 

Thursday. 
DEAR  MR  PROVOST, 

The  Rev''  D'  Smyth,  an  American  Presb"  Minister,  a  friend 
of  Mr.  Ogilby,  is  desirous  of  seeing  the  University.  I  dare 
say  you  can  procure  for  him  all  the  information  he  wishes. 

Y"  faithfully 
(The  Rev"  R.  DUBLIN. 

The  Provost 
Trin.  Coll.) 
R.  Dublin. 

[From  Archbishop   Whately.] 

Palace 

Thursday 
The  Ab"  wishes  the  Revd  D'  Smyth,  an  American  Presb" 
Minister,  to  be  shewn  all  that  is  now  to  be  seen  at  the  Model- 
School  ;  and  perhaps  he  would  be  interested  in  visiting  one  of 
the  N.  Schools  whose  vacation  may  be  over. 

(M.  Cross  Esq' 
or,  Kelly  Esq" 
&c.  &c. 
R.  D.  Model-School 

Marlb  S\) 

[Cards  of] 

The  Archbishop  of  Dublin. 

Rev"  John  H.  Mason. 

Chaplain  to  His  Grace  The  Archbishop  of  Dublin 
Clanbrassil  Place 

Rev"  B.  Powell 

Prof  &c.   &c. 
and  Rev"  D'  Hampden 

&c.    &c. 
And  Prof  Danberrv 

Magd.  Coll. 


Great   West 
em    Storm. 


For  a  full  account  of  the  terrific  storm  I  went 
through  aboard  of  the  Great   Western,  refer  to 
my  little  work — God  in  the  Storm. 
The  Discourse  in  it  and  plan  &c.,  I  prepared  on  board,  lying 
on  the  Saloon  table  seats.     Mr.  Carter  f  was  on  board. 

fRobert  Carter,  the  New  York  publisher. — Ed. 


399 

Extract  from  "God  in  the  Storm." 

Of  this  feeling,  in  connexion  with  this  very  subject,  I  had 
a  recent  and  most  powerful  illustration,  which  at  once  sug- 
gested, and  led  to  the  immediate  preparation  of  this  discourse, 
while  on  board  the  Great  Western  Steamer  during  her  recent 
voyage.  We  left  Liverpool  on  September  12,  (1846,)  with 
about  130  passengers  on  board,  amid  the  congratulations  of  a 
numerous  throng  of  spectators  and  friends ;  with  a  smooth  sea 
and  a  favouring  breeze;  full  of  hope  and  buoyant  anticipation 
of  a  speedy  voyage  and  a  happy  reunion  with  our  families  and 
friends.  For  eight  days  our  voyage  was  unusually  peaceful 
and  prosperous ;  but  like  Israel,  in  our  prosperity  we  forgat 
God,  and  failed  to  recognize  His  hand,  and  to  recount  His 
mercies.  For  while  we  had  two  services  on  the  Sabbath,  we 
had  no  daily  service  of  praise  and  prayer,  although,  as  it  sub- 
sequently appeared,  there  was  on  board  a  large  number  of 
professors  of  religion,  and  but  few  despisers  of  it.* 

On  Saturday  evening,  (September  20),°  we  were  overtaken 
by  a  gale  blowing  from  the  S.  W.  Probably  not  a  passenger 
on  board  slept  during  the  night.  Indeed,  every  thing  was  in 
commotion,  both  below  and  upon  the  decks.  Whatever  was 
moveable  was  heaving  to  and  fro ;  and  while  the  howling  of 
the  winds,  as  they  swept  by  the  masts  and  cordage,  the  break- 
ing of  timbers,  the  shattering  and  flapping  of  the  shivered 
sails,  and  the  rattling  of  chains,  chairs,  furniture,  and  utensils, 
filled  the  mind  with  ''a  fearful  looking  for  of"  impending 
dlestruction ;  all  the  strength  of  the  passengers  was  necessary 
to  prevent  themselves  from  being  hurled  from  their  places  of 
repose.     The  morning  brought  with  it  a  realization  of  these 

"Probably  a  disposition  \o  have  such  a  service  (which  was  gen- 
erally attended  by  nearly  all  the  passengers  during  the  remainder 
of  the  voyage)  was  repressed  by  a  doubt  whether  its  observance 
would  be  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  ship,  especially  as 
many  of  the  passengers  had  knowledge  of  the  harsh  and  illiberal 
policy  enforced  on  board  the  Cunard  line  of  steamboats,  in  one 
of  which,  I  am  informed,  a  petition  of  a  large  number  of  passen- 
gers to  be  allowed  to  hear  a  very  distinguished  preacher  was 
refused,  and  that,  too,  when  no  other  minister  officiated. — T.  S. 
[Many  of  the  delegates  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance  were  on  board, 
among  them  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher. — Ed.] 

°The  date,  as  given  by  an  extract  from  the  ship's  log  and 
verified  by  a  calendar,  was  Saturday,  Sept.  19,  1846.  The  sermon 
was  prepared  on  board  the  ship  after  the  storm,  of  course  in  great 
confusion  and  excitement.  He  had  written  a  sermon  the  night 
and  morning  before   sailing! — Ed. 


400 

midnig-ht  fears.  All  was  confusion  and  alarm.  But  little 
provision  could  be  prepared,  and  that  little  could  with  difficulty- 
be  received.  The  lights  over  the  cabins  had  been  broken  by 
the  force  of  the  waves,  which  were  now  sweeping  over  the 
vessel  in  all  directions,  so  that  every  place  was  wet  and  com- 
fortless. It  was,  indeed,  almost  impossible  to  make  a  passage 
from  the  forward  cabin  to  the  principal  saloon.  The  wind — 
which  shifted  about  20  points  during  the  gale — had  roused  so 
many  cross  seas,  and  seas  of  such  stupenduous  size  and  ir- 
resistible fury,  that  although  we  were  lying  to,  with  the  helm 
hard-lashed,  and  avoiding  as  much  as  possible  the  approach 
of  the  waves  towards  the  sides  of  the  vessel,  they  were 
nevertheless  driving  against  her  with  increasing  number  and 
incalculable  power.  Many  of  them,  it  was  computed,  could 
not  have  combined  less  than  fifty  tons  of  water,  which  was 
impelled  with  the  momentum  of  an  avalanche.  The  vessel, 
too,  was  enveloped  in  an  atmosphere  of  spray,  so  that  none 
but  the  hardiest  seaman  could  venture  on  the  deck,  and  fre- 
quently even  these  could  only  secure  their  footing  by  the  help 
of  some  firm  fixture. 

About  mid-day,  after  repeated  floodings  of  the  cabin,  a  huge 
wave  struck  the  vessel  at  midships ;  tore  away  the  whole  cov- 
ering and  protection  of  the  paddle-wheel,  and  bent  the  wheel 
itself ;  swept  from  its  firm  foundation  and  split  into  two 
pieces,  the  entire  house  devoted  to  the  keeping  of  provisions ; 
tore  from  its  fastenings  the  immense  iron  life  boat  which  hung 
over  the  middle  of  the  ship,  and  almost  carried  it  overboard; 
ripped  up  a  part  of  the  deck  with  the  funnel  guard  of  the  ma- 
chinery ;  carried  away  the  guards  to  the  deck  stairways ;  and 
then  poured  its  vast  contents  over  the  upper  deck,  sweeping 
with  it  the  captain,  who  had  been  stunned  by  a  blow  from  the 
broken  timbers,  and  was  preserved  only  by  the  iron  guards ; 
and  then  burst  from  their  firm  stancheons  the  boats  fastened 
to  the  ship's  side.  I  was  looking  upward  from  the  saloon 
when  this  wave  rolled  over  us,  after  making  every  one 
reel  and  stagger  under  its  shock  like  a  drunken  man.  It  al- 
most obscured  the  light  of  day,  and  I  felt  that  we  were  actu- 
ally within  the  bosom  of  the  deep.  Soon,  however,  it  appeared 
as  if  we  should  be  completely  submerged  in  water,  for  the 
impetuous  torrent  forced  its  way  down  the  Cabin-stairs,  and 
filling  its  broad  gangway,  forced  a  passage  through  the  win- 
dow into  the  ladies'  saloon,  and  from  thence  poured  along  the 
cabins.  Fearful  was  that  moment  which — as  we  felt  the  ves- 
sel through  all  her  timbers  tremble  under  the  dreadful  stroke — 
brought  the  sad  and  awful  prospect  of  a  speedy  and  inevitable 


401 

destruction,  in  terrible  reality  before  every  mind.  Then  the 
most  unyielding  hearts  shrunk,  and  the  most  hardened  became 
soft  and  tender,  while  those  who  were  most  skilled  in  nautical 
affairs,  and  most  experienced  in  sea-faring  life,  were  most 
anxious  and  apprehensive  for  the  future.  Indeed,  our  captain, 
and  another  who  had  made  some  hundred  voyages  in  some 
twenty  different  vessels,  had  never  seen  so  fierce  a  hurricane, 
of  such  long  and  therefore  aggravating  force. 

At  this  moment  the  captain  was  seen  retiring  to  his  cabin 
to  recover  from  his  shock  and  the  violence  of  the  blow  he  had 
received,  and  from  beneath  the  curtain  was  observed  standing 
with  clasped  hands  and  tearful  eye  before  the  portrait  of  his 
wife  and  child,  whom,  as  he  afterwards^  confessed,  he  never 
expected  to  see  again  in  the  flesh,  since  he  looked  for  a  repeti- 
tion of  such  shocks,  and  the  consequent  ruin  of  the  vessel, 
whose  deck  timbers  had  already  manifested  signs  of  being 
shaken.  It  was,  therefore,  with  emotions  of  peculiar  solemn- 
ity the  passengers  constituted  a  meeting  for  prayer,  and  cast 
their  helpless  souls  upon  the  mercy  of  that  only  Being  who 
could  hold  in  His  hands  the  winds  and  the  waves,  say  unto 
them,  "thus  far  shalt  thou  go,"  and  command 
Communion       ^j^^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^  pcacc.    And  as  the  evening  brought 

Service.  .  J^  .  so 

no  cessation  of  the  storm,  it  was  proposed,  in 
addition  to  prayer,  to  administer  the  communion  to  such  as 
were  prepared  to  receive  it.  Never  had  I  witnessed  such  a 
scene,  and  never  could  I  have  realized  its  solemnity.  About 
seventy  sat  around  the  tables,  about  eight  of  them,  after  con- 
versation with  the  minister,  for  the  first  time,  and  there,  in 
silent  reverence,  avouched  their  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  their 
confidence  in  His  blood  and  merits,  and  their  hope  for  death, 
Judgment,  and  eternity,  through  His  interceding  love  and 
mercy.  The  effect  was  most  happy.  A  calm  and  delightful 
repose  seemed  to  take  the  place  of  anxious  solicitude,  and  we 
all  sought  some  situation  where  we  might  await  the  issues  of 
another  night. 

New  terrors  awaited  us  during  that  eventful  night.  The 
winds  had  gathered  fresh  force,  and  the  waves  intenser  vio- 

'It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  captain  manifested  any  signs 
of  fear,  or  in  any  way  encouraged  despondency  or  fostered  ^^e- 
spair.  His  conduct  on  this  occasion  was  in  the  supposed  secrecy 
of  his  own  private  cabin,  and  gave  proof  of  genuine  tenderness  of 
heart  and  of  true  manhood;  while  his  immediate  return  to  duty 
and  exposure,  and  his  undisturbed  calmness  and  courage  proved 
him  to  be  worthy  of  the  high  and  responsible  situation  he  occupies 
with  so  much  honour  to  the  Directors,  and  so  much  gratification 
to  all  his  passengers. — T.  S. 

[26] 


402 

lence.  Instead  of  being-  driven  before  the  fury  of  a  pursuing 
enemy  too  powerful  for  resistance,  we  were'  exposed  to  the 
rage  and  clamour  of  contending  hosts,  and  shattered  by  that 
very  violence  with  which  they  dashed  one  against  another. 
The  fiercest  winds  of  heaven  exhausted  their  vengeance  on 
the  deep,  and  the  deep  aroused  its  angry  billows,  with  which 
it  mounted  up  to  heaven  to  repel  and  drive  back  its  dread 
assailant.  And  as  the  hurricane  wheeled  about  to  make  its  on- 
set from  some  new  quarter,  the  waves  dashed  one  against  an- 
other, and,  worked  up  into  ungovernable  rage,  poured  their 
united  force  in  all  directions,  against  the  invisible  foe.  In  the 
midst  of  these  assailants,  thus  encountering  one  another,  we 
lay  helpless  and  hopeless.  We  mounted  up  to  heaven,  and 
then  descended  into  the  depths;  were  now  carried  upwards  as 
if  to  sink  stern  foremost  into  the  abyss,  and  again  rolled  upon 
our  beam-ends  as  if  about  to  be  overturned,  and  cast  forth  into 
the  bowels  of  the  deep. 

There  we  lay,  with  as  little  power  to  resist  or  escape,  as 
when  the  avalanche  has  loosened  itself  from  its  hold,  and  pours 
down  its  mountain  mass  upon  the  helpless  villagers  below. 

For  thirty-six  hours  we  had  hung  balanced  between  life  and 
death,  with  the  weight  that  pressed  the  scales  of  death  down- 
ward increasing  momently,  and  the  hopes  that  still  preserved 
the  downward  tendency  of  the  scale  of  life  becoming  fainter 
and  fainter.  But  while  the  gates  of  death  were  opened  to  re- 
ceive us,  He  who  has  the  keys  of  death  and  hell  in  His  hands, 
delivered  us  from  going  down  to  the  pit,  and  rescued  us  from 
the  very  jaws  of  destruction  which  were  wide  opened  to  engulf 
us.  The  winds  obeyed  His  voice,  and  retired  to  their  secret 
chambers.  The  waves  hear  His  command,  and  shrunk  within 
their  appointed  bounds ;  and  that  ocean  which  seemed  to  have 
been  aroused  to  a  ceaseless  agitation,  gave  evidence  of  ap- 
proaching rest. 

"The  waters  saw  thee,  O  God ;  the  waters  saw  THEE ;  they 
were  afraid ;  the  depths  also  were  troubled.  The  voice  of  thy 
thunder  was  in  the  heaven.  Thy  way  was  in  the  seas,  and  thy 
path  in  the  great  waters."  "He  divided  the  sea,  and  caused 
us  to  pass  through ;  and  he  made  the  waters  to  subside.  When 
we  cried  unto  Him  in  our  trouble,  he  saved  us  out  of  our  dis- 
tresses." "At  his  rebuke  the  winds  and  the  waves  fled,  and 
at  the  voice  of  his  thunder  they  hasted  away."  The  noise  of 
their  battle  was  hushed,  and  the  fury  of  their  encounter  stayed. 
All  their  power  against  us  was  nought. 

We  passed  through  the  waters,  but  they  did  not  overflow  us, 
and  through  the  floods,  but  they  did  not  get  hold  upon  us.    God 


403 

walked  upon  the  wings  of  the  winds,  so  that  they  could  not 
harm  us ;  and  set  a  bqund  to  the  waters,  so  that  they  could  not 
overwhelm  us.  Then  were  we  glad  because  their  fury  was 
quieted,  and  we  were  enabled  to  hope  that  God  would  bring  us 
to  our  desired  haven. 

The  violence  of  the  hurricane  having  now  abated,  although 
still  tossed  about  like  a  feather  in  the  air,  we  were  found  on 
Tuesday  morning,  with  almost  no  exception,  in  the  main 
saloon,  to  return  solemn  thanks  to  Him  whom  the  winds  and 
the  waves  had  obeyed,  and  to  "praise  the  Lord  for  his  good- 
ness, and  for  his  wonderful  works  to  the  children  of  men !" 
And  as  our  service  proceeded,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lyman 
Beecher,  in  full  consonance  with  the  occasion,  depicted  the 
dangers  we  had  escaped,  and  the  duties  we  now  owed,  and 
portrayed  the  still  greater  dangers  of  everlasting  destruction 
from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  the  duty  of  at  once  flying 
from  the  wrath  to  come,  every  heart  was  melted,  and  those 
who  had  never  prayed  before,  were  bent  in  humble  supplication 
to  the  Lord. 

It  was  then  proposed  that  resolutions  be  adopted  expressive 
of  our  thankfulness  to  God ;  and  that,  as  a  testimonial  of  our 
gratitude  to  Him,  and  to  those  brave  seamen  who  had  so  nobly 
acted  as  His  instruments,  we  should  raise  a  contribution,  to  be 
divided  among  the  captain,  officers,  and  crew,  and  also  con- 
tribute something  towards  the  foundation  of  an  Institution  in 
New  York,  to  be  called  The  Great  Western  Institution,  for 
the  relief  of  the  Widows  and  Orphans  of  those  who  have 
perished  at  sea.  The  amount  collected  was,  for  the  former 
$1000,  and  about  $600  for  the  latter. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  12  Nov.  1846. 
DEAR  THOMAS, 

I  waited  on  Mr.  Scott  since  his  return  and  he 
James    Smith    {-^-^iQ^YnQd  mc  of  the  success  of  your  Mission  to 

to  his  brother.  ■' 

Ireland.  He  said  he  believed  that  Aunt  Magee 
died  about  the  same  day  you  landed  at  Liverpool,  and  that 
she  had  remembered  you  by  a  small  legacy.  I  read  of  her 
death  in  our  Newspapers  and  her  munificent  donation  to  the 
Irish  Presbyterian  Church.  I  have  no  other  particulars.  Her 
Irish  relatives  at  home  must  have  been  quite  disappointed. 
Mr.  Scott  preached  on  Sunday  after  his  arrival,  but  did  not  in 
any  way  refer  to  the  dangers  of  your  voyage.  He  had  a  large 
Congregation ;  many  were  there  to  hear  the  details  of  the  voy- 
age and  were  quite  disappointed. 


404 

Since  the  ist  Inst.  I  have  opened  a  general  commission, 
forwarding,  &  Grocery  business  under  the  names  of  James 
Smith  &  Co.,  No.  21  Gravier  St.  New  Orleans.  I  have  no 
partner  and  have  added  the  Co.  to  be  identified  at  the  Post 
Office.  If  any  of  your  mercantile  friends  have  use  for  an 
Agent  here,  I  can  do  their  business  satisfactorily.  I  have 
rec'd  no  letter  from  you  since  the  one  written  on  the  eve  of 
your  departure  from  Boston.  You  then  mentioned  the  delicate 
health  of  Mrs.  Jo.  whom  I  have  since  heard  has  died.  I  have 
written  two  letters  to  Jos.  directed  to  Paterson  N.  J.  and  have 
received  no  reply.     What  is  the  reason? 

Isabella  wrote  to  me  of  her  (Mrs.  Jos.'^)  death  &  also  that 
Joseph  had  a  son  in  business  in  New  York.  Write  to  me  what 
is  the  style  of  the  house  and  what  business  they  are  engaged 
in,  I  think  we  might  profit  each  other. 

Since  becoming  a  member  of  the  Church*  I  have  been  very 
attentive  to  the  outward  observances  of  its  institution.  I  have 
attended  Prayer  Meetings  twice  each  week  &  abstained  from  all 
business  matters  on  Sunday.  I  have  endeavoured  to  persuade 
my  acquaintances  to  accept  of  the  Saviour  when  opportunity 
presented.  I  have  held  nightly  family  devotion  by  singing  a 
hymn,  reading  a  chapter  (regularly  through  the  New  Testa- 
ment), &  latterly  by  audible  extempore  prayer.  In  all  this  I 
trust  I  am  influenced  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  am  perfectly 
convinced  there  is  no  other  foundation  for  an  inheritance  in 
heaven,  than  by  faith  in  the  atonement  made  by  Jesus  Christ. 
I  grieve  often  to  find  myself  so  absorbed  by  the  world  &  have 
been  examining  my  heart  to  see  the  line  of  demarcation  be- 
tween temporal  &  spiritual  duty.  I  have  a  large  family,  8 
children,  3  of  whom  are  grown.  Sam,  Sarah,  &  Maria ;  Sarah 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Church  and  I  trust  feels  the  unspeak- 
able gift  of  God  in  sending  His  Son  to  die  for  Sinners. 

When  do  you  expect  to  visit  New  Orleans?  Mr.  Scott  said 
you  spoke  of  making  a  visit  here. 

My  best  regards  to  your  wife  and  family. 

Yr  affectionate  brother, 
JAMES  SMITH.     . 

'He  speaks  of  death  of  Mrs.  Joseph  Smith,  whose  extreme  ill- 
ness was  referred  to  by  Mrs.  Smyth  in  a  letter. — Ed. 
'See  his  letter  of  1829,  p.  38. — Ed. 


405 

Chapter  III. 

MRS.  MAGEE'S  WILL. 

Papers  relating  to  Mrs.  Magee's  Will  &  my  interest  in  it. 
From  J.  Henry  M.  D.^ 

DUBLIN.  July  22,  1845. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

How  Mrs.  You   must,    I   supposc,   think  me   very   unkind 

Magee  signed  not  eveu  to  Write  you  one  line  for  some  months 
the  will.  past.     I  wrote  you  a  short  note  thanking  you  for 

your  kind  present  of  Rice,  but  I  fear  you  did  not  get  it  from 
my  not  hearing  from  you  since.  Mr.  Dill  is  also  writing  to 
you  by  this  post,  and  I  leave  him  to  give  you  all  the  news 
about  the  commission,  and  his  new  church  &c  &c.  Now  my  dear 
friend,  the  cause  of  my  not  writing  sooner  was  hoping  every 
day  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  Mrs.  M.  had  made  some  ar- 
rangements about  her  affairs,  but  until  the  week  before  last, 
and  about  half  an  hour  previous  to  her  receiving  your  letter, 
nothing  was  done; — on  that  morning  she  signed  a  will,  the 
contents  of  which  I  do  not  exactly  know,  but  Mr.  Greer  who 
drew  it  told  me  (tho'  he  was  not  at  liberty  to  state  particulars,) 
that  you  were  left  a  very  considerable  sum,  also  Mr.  Dill, 
Miss  Fleming,  and  myself;  and  Mrs.  M.  told  me  herself  that 
she  had  left  £20000  towards  building  a  new  presbyterian  col- 
lege &  iioooo  to  home  &  foreign  missions,  and  within  the  last 
will,  Mr.  Dill  told  me,  she  wishes  some  alteration  made  in  it 
as  she  quite  forgot  £20000  she  has ;  but  as  yet  no  change  has 
been  made,  nor  can  be  until  Mr.  Greer's  return  from  Scotland, 
where  he  is  to  be  married  the  last  day  of  this  month.  He 
(Mr.  Greer)  I  imagine,  has  been  left  a  large  sum,  but  he  is 
the  only  one  (Mr  D.  I  think  does,)  who  knows  particulars. 

Mr.  Hyde  is,  I  may  say,  quite  out,  he  is  only  admitted  once 
every  two  or  three  times  and  that  most  generally  in  presence 
of  a  third  party.  The  making  of  the  will  was  caused  in  a 
most  wonderful  way.  She  gave  me  £2:1:6  to  pay  the  fire 
Insurance  on  the  house  and  furniture,  and  when  I  called  at 
the  office  I  was  told  it  was  paid  by  Mr.  Hyde  some  days  pre- 
viously, and  which  was  four  days  before  it  was  due.  I  came 
back  and  told  her  so  in  presence  of  Mr.  Dill — which  bothered 

^Dr.  Smyth  was  always  convinced  that  Dr.  Henry  had  not  been 
quite  fair  in  his  dealing,  and  that  he  had  used  his  influence  against 
any  possible  increase  in  the  amount  of  the  legacy  finally  left  Dr. 
Smyth  by  Mrs.  Magee. — Ed. 


406 

her  very  much;  next  day  she  again  resumed  the  subject,  and 
asked  what  I  thought  of  it.  I  told  her  what  I  really  believed, 
that  he  might  have  done  it  to  shew  he  had  particular 
interest  in  the  house  &c.  &c.  in  case  any  thing  happened  to 
her,  and  that  she  ought  to  ask  him  for  the  rec't  which  most 
likely  would  be  found  in  his  own  name.  She  did  so  next  day, 
but  on  that  night  she  asked  me  to  go  for  Greer  to  draw  her 
will,  saying  at  the  same  time  she  would  disappoint  him,  (Hyde) 
&  that  she  now  believed  it  was  true  enough  what  "Robbin" 
had  often  told  her,  that  he  had  a  forged  one  made.  "Robbin" 
I  need  not  tell  you  repeated  the  old  dose  with  increased 
strength,  then  Dill,  Miss  Fleming,  and  tho'  last  not  least, 
myself,  all  "going  ahead"  for  the  same  object.  I  need  not 
stop  here  to  tell  you  I  made  no  unnecessary  delay  fetching 
Mr.  Greer  who  made  a  draft  of  the  document,  which  was  left 
past  for  some  days,  &  all  began  to  fear  (except  myself,)  that 
there  was  an  end  to  it.  Meantime  Mr.  Hyde  brought  the  rec't 
(a  duplicate,)  not  like  the  former  ones,  but  written,  not  printed, 
&  this  again  excited  her  suspicion,  and  Greer  was  again  sent 
for;  and  I  was  sent  to  the  office  again  where  I  was  told  Mr. 
Hyde  had  been  and  got  the  Duplicate,  &  had  told  them  he 
lost  the  first  with  his  pocket  Book,  &  £15 ; — all  was  nothing  to 
this — we  kept  blowing  until  at  length  she  fixed  this  morning 
to  sign  in  presence  of  Dr.  Hutton  (my  particular  friend,) 
,&  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goudy  of  Strabane,  which  she  did  in  the  most 
complete  way  you  can  imagine ;  since  doing  so  she  seems  much 
more  at  ease. 

She  is  now  wonderfully  well  except  for  her  legs,  which 
trouble  her  a  good  deal  but  nothing  of  consequence.  She 
gave  Mr.  Dill,  &  me  your  letter  to  read,  and  requested  both 
of  us  to  write  to  you  and  ask  you  over.  Now  I  may  as  well 
tell  you  she  does  not  expect  you  this  Summer  or  rather 
Autumn,  as  she  says  it  will  be  too  far  advanced  in  the  season 
when  you  receive  the  invitation,  but  she  certainly  will  expect 
you  early  next  Summer.  I  do  consider  as  your  friend  you 
ought  to  be  making  arrangements  to  come  over,  &  I  question 
very  much  if  those  periodical  visits  are  not  preferable  to  living 
here,  as  I  understand  she  has  not  left  Capt.  McCousley  one 
shilling,  who  was  living  with  her  for  some  time,  and  it  is  Mr. 
Dill's  opinion  that  it  is  very  injudicious  for  Mr.  Greer  to 
come  live  next  door  to  her.  She  asked  Mr.  D.  to  take  the 
same  house  &  he  refused  to  do  so. 

I  was  exceedingly  sorry  to  learn  that  you  were  in  bed  from 
a  *  sick  headache. —  I  hope  you  are  not  often  troubled  with 
them,  you  must  wish  for  them  when  you  keep  writing.     Still 


407 

I  do  wish  you  would  stop — you  will  naturally  say,  "What  a  re- 
turn for  my  present  of  Books,"  but  I  feel  you  will  understaind 
what  I  mean. 

I  hope  very  soon  to  hear  from  you  &  I  promise  you  I  shall 
not  be  so  long  till  I  write  again.  Mrs.  H.  Miss  Still,  and  all 
my  little  ones  unite  with  me  in  the  kindest  regards  to  Mrs. 
Smith,  your  little  ones,  &  yourself ;  And  believe  be  ever  your 

Sincere  friend, 

J.  HENRY. 

P.  S.  Please  remember  me  to  your  sister  &  brother-in-law, 
whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  here. 

J.  H. 

[Written  on  margins  of  letter.] 

I  have  written  this  in  a  great  hurry. 

Your  books  are  to  be  here  from  Liverpool  in  the  morning. 

Private  &  confidential.  When  you  are  writing  me  have  one 
note  that  I  can  read  to  Mrs.  Magee'and  dont  hint  at  what  I 
have  told  you  in  it.  She  is  quite  as  well  in  health  as  when  you 
left  this. 

From  the  Rev.  Richard  Dill; — an  invitation  to  visit  my  aunt; 
which  I  set  out  to  do,  but  zvas  too  late;  the  news  of  her  death 
reaching  me  at  Dr.  Chalmers'  house  in  Edinhurgh. 

DUBLIN,  21  July,  1845. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Mrs   Magee  ^  ^^vc  had  the  privilege  of  reading  your  letter 

summons  to   Mrs.   Magcc  &  regret  that  it  conveys   intelli- 

Dr.  Smyth.  geiicc  of  your  suffering  from  ill  health.  You  will 
kill  yourself  if  you  work  as  you  have  been  doing.  It  is  not 
only  foolish,  it  is  wrong.  You  have  written  enough  for  a 
long  life  &  are  now  fairly  entitled  to  enjoy  the  otium  cum 
dignitate.  You  ought  to  be  denied  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  & 
condemned  to  at  least  four  hours  active  exercise  every  day. 
Your  Aunt  speaks  often  of  you  &  always  with  interest  &  affec- 
tion. She  desires  me  to  say  that  she  recommends  you  to 
visit  this  country  for  the  sake  of  your  health  next  Summer  & 
that  she  will  be  most  happy  to  see  you.  I  am  glad  to  inform 
you  that  she  has  partly  arranged  her  affairs,  &  whilst  her 
gifts  to  the  Missionary  &  Collegiate  institutions  of  our  Church 
are  most  munificent,  you  will  find  yourself  handsomely  re- 
membered. 


408 

This  I  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  inform  you,  but  it  is  in  the 
strictest  confidence.  She  may,  you  are  aware,  alter  her  in- 
tentions, indeed  it  is  very  probable  that  she  will  in  some 
respects,  &  it  is  wiser  &  better  to  keep  matters  close.  Her 
health  is  much  the  same  as  when  you  saw  her.  Miss  Fleming 
is  with  her  at  present.  Dr.  Henry  still  continues  to  occupy  a 
high  place  in  her  regard.  Indeed  he  seems  rising  in  her 
estimation,  &  the  more  I  know  of  him,  he  appears  to  me  the 
more  deserving.  Hyde  on  the  contrary,  is  completely  cash- 
iered. Indeed)  all  matters  relating  to  Mrs.  Magee  are  in  such 
a  state  as  must  be  gratifying  to  you  and  all  her  friends,  &  I 
think  she  is  becoming  more  and  more  sensible  of  the  import- 
ance of  eternal  things  &  of  the  approach  of  death.  Her  purse 
&  her  heart  are  open  to  every  deserving  object  &  I  am  happy 
in  being  made  a  frequent  channel  of  her  charities. 

Our  Assembly  passed  over  quietly.  The  leading  topics  of 
discussion  were  the  proposed  New  College  &  a  memorial  from 
Derry.  The  latter  received  but  little  support,  &  judging  from 
the  discussion  upon  it,  voluntaryism^  appears  to  have  but 
few  advocates.  *  *  Our  new  Church  is  being  erected  in 
the  very  best  situation  in  Dublin.^  The  foundation  stone  was 
laid  on  the  5th  by  the  Mod'r  of  the  last  Assembly  &  the  present 
Moderator  of  the  Free  Church.  The  journals  of  the  day,  con- 
taining an  account  of  the  ceremony,  were  sent  you,  and  I  hope 
will  have  reached  you  before  you  receive  this.  Robt.  sent  you 
several  papers  &  a  letter  which  he  is  aiixious  to  know  the 
fate  of.  *  *  Wilson  is  about  to  sell  Adelaide  St.  Church 
&  go  to  some  other  part  of  the  city.     *     * 

I  had  almost  forgotten  to  thank  you  for  your  present  which 
I  understand  is  on  its  way.  I  am  the  convener  of  a  Publica- 
tion Committee.  If  you  are  resolved  to  write,  I  will  gladly 
send  you  a  list  of  subjects  on  which  we  wish  a  series  of  short 
tracts,  and  perhaps  you  would  be  good  enough  to  employ 
your  pen  for  a  few  hours  on  one  of  them.  Before  you  reach 
the  end  of  this  wretched  scrawl  you  will  wish  that  I  had,  like 
yourself,  a  wife,  who  would  officiate  as  my  amanuensis.  Alas ! 
I  have  no  one  to  assist  or  sympathize  or  solace.  A  miserable, 
solitary  celebate, 

RICHARD  DILL. 


"The    Voluntary    System   of   Missionary   Boards   as    opposed   to 
their  control  officially  by  the  General  Assembly. — Ed. 

'This  church  was  largely  the  gift   of  Mrs.   Magee. — Ed. 


409 

Will  of  Mrs.  Magee. 

In  the  name  of  God  Amen!  I  Martha  Maria  Magee  being  weak 
in  body,  but  of  sound  and  disposing  mind  memory  and  under- 
standing, and  mindful  of  the  uncertainty  of  life,  do  hereby  make 
and  publish  this  my  last  will  and  testament  hereby  revoking  all 
former  wills  by  me  at  any  time  previously  made.  In  the  first 
place  I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  Rev.  Richard  Dill  of  Dublin  and 
the  Rev.  John  Brown  of  Aghadowy  D.  D.  and  James  Gibson  Barris- 
ter at  law,  the  sum  of  £20,000  in  trust  to  apply  the  same  to  the 
building  and  endowment  of  a  College  for  the  Education  of  young 
men  in  preparation  for  the  Christian  Ministry,  in  connection  with 
the  General  Assembly,  the  same  to  be  built  when  the  said  trustees 
or  the  majority  of  them  shall  determine  and  to  be  subject  to  such 
rules  and  regulations  and  discipline  as  they  shall  determine,  sub- 
ject to  the  advice  and  directions  of  the  General  Assembly,  in  the 
first  instance  [and]  from  time  to  time,  as  there  may  be  occasion  for 
altering  the  same.  In  the  next  place  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my 
dear  friend  and  Minister,  the  Rev.  Richard  Dill  the  sum  of  five 
thousand  pouifids;  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear  friend  Samuel 
Macreedy  Greer  Barrister  at  law  the  sum  of  five  thousand  pounds, 
I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear  friend  James  Henry,  Surgeon  the 
sum  of  three  thousand  pounds,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  Margaret 
Stewart  and  Jane  Stewart  and  to  their  brother  Robert  Stewart  all 
of  Antrim,  an  annuity  of  sixty  pounds  per  annum  to  be  paid  to 
them  and  the  survivors  of  them  in  equal  shares  and  proportions, 
the  last  survivor  to  receive  the  entire  amount  during  his  or  her 
life.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  faithful  and  attached  servant 
Robert  McDowell  an  annuity  of  fifty  pounds  during  his  life,  and  to 
his  Mother  Margaret  McDowell  widow  an  annuity  of  twelve  pounds 
during  her  life.  I  also  give  and  bequeath  an  annuity  of  forty 
pounds  to  my  faithful  and  attached  servant  Rachel  Brozvn  the 
same  to  be  paid  and  payable  to  her,  for  her  sole  and  separate  use, 
and  upon  her  own  receipt,  notwithstanding  coverture,  and  to  be 
free  from  the  debts,  control,  and  interference,  of  any  husband 
with  whom  she  may  intermarry.  And  it  is  my  will  and  desire 
that  the  stock  or  principal  sums  required  to  produce  and  yield 
the  annuities  aforesaid  shall  be  vested  in  Government  2/4  reduced 
stocks  or  some  other  Government  securities  &  that  the  said  principal 
sums  shall  be  handed  over  by  my  Executors,  from  time  to  time 
as  the  said  annuities  respectively  shall  cease  to  be  payable,  to  the 
Trustees  for  the  time  being  of  the  Female  Orphan  School  connected 
with  the  Presbyterian  Congregation  of  Usher's  Quay  and  now  about 
to  be  removed  to  upper  Ormond  Quay,  to  be  applied  by  the  said 
trustees  to  the  purposes  of  the  said  school  to  make  it  more  ex- 
tensively useful.  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dear  friend  Eliaa 
Fleming  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds,  and  to  her  brother  James 
Fleming  of  Lurgan,  five  hundred  pounds.  I  give  and  bequeath  to 
the    directors    for    the    time    being,    of    the    Home    Mission    of    the 


410 

Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  the  sum  of  five  thousand  pounds,  to 
be  invested  by  them  in  Government  or  other  good  securities,  from 
time  to  time,  and  the  annual  dividends,  interest,  and  profits,  thereof 
to  be  applicable,  and  to  be  applied  to  the  annual  expenditure  or 
other  purposes  of  the  said  mission,  the  receipt  of  the  Treasurer  of 
said  Home  Mission,  for  the  time  being  to  be  a  sufficient  discharge 
to  my  Executors  for  said  sum.  I  also  give  and  bequeath  a  sum 
of  five  thousand  pounds  to  the  Directors  for  the  time  being  of  the 
Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  the  same  to 
be  invested  in  Government  or  other  good  and  sufficient  securities 
from  time  to  time,  and  the  annual  dividends  interest  and  profits 
thereof  to  be  applied  to  the  annual  expenditure  of  the  said  Foreign 
Missions,  or  such  other  purposes  as  may  be  deemed  expedient,  the 
receipt  of  the  Treasurer  of  the  time  being  of  the  said  Foreign 
Missions  to  be  a  sufficient  discharge  to  my  Executors  for  said 
bequest. 

I  give  and  bequeath  the  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds  to  my  dear 
friend  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth  of  Charleston  D.  D.  if  living  at  my 
decease — and  I  hereby  solemnly  declare  that  although  the  pre- 
amble of  this  instrument  purports  to  revoke  all  former  wrills,  I 
have  never  before  this  time  made  or  published  any  will,  or  executed 
any  deed  of  assignment,  or  otherwise  disposed  of  any  part  of  my 
property.  And  I  hereby  nominate  and  appoint  the  Rev.  Richard 
Dill  and  lames  Fleming  of  Lurgan  to  be  the  Executors  of  this  my 
last  will  and  testament. 

Signed  sealed  published  and  declared  as 
and  for  her  last  will  and  testament  by  Mrs. 
Martha  Maria  Magee  in  presence  of  the  fol- 
lowing witnesses  who  in  her  presence  and  Martha  M.  Magee. 
the   presence   of  each   other  have   herewith 
signed  their  names  this  eleventh  day  of  July 
one  thousand  and  eight  hundred  and  forty-five. 
As  witnesses  thereto; 
Edward  Hutton. 
Alex""  P.  Goudy. 

Richard  Dill, 
James  Fleming, 

signed  after  opening 
and  reading. 

In  the  Name  of  God  Amen!     I  Martha  Maria  Magee 
°  '*^*  ■  do  hereby  make  and  publish  this   Codicil  to  my  last 

Will   and    Testament   bearing    date    the    nth    of   July    1845,  and  do 
hereby  confirm  and  republish  the  same. 

I  also  give  and  bequeath  to  the  funds  of  the  Indian  Mission  of 
the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  all  my 
East  Indian  property  now  vested  or  secured  in  the  East  Indies  or 
the  East  Indian  Company  Stocks,  Shares,  or  securities,  &  of  which 


411 

at  present,  I  receive  the  annual  dividends  or  produce,  the  same  to 
be  paid  or  transferred  to  the  Treasurer  for  the  time  being  of  the 
said  Indian  Mission  &  the  receipt  or  other  acquittance  of  such 
Treasurer  to  be  a  sufficient  discharge  of  my  Executors  for  the 
amount  of  this  bequest.  I  give  &  bequeath  to  my  dear  friend 
Arabella,  Wife  of  Mr.  Hugh  Orr  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds, 
the  same  to  be  for  the  sole  &  separate  use,  free  from  controul  & 
not  liable  to  the  debts  of  her  said  husband,  her  own  receipts  not- 
withstanding her  coverture  to  be  a  sufficient  discharge  for  the 
same  or  for  the  annual  proceeds  thereof.  I  give  and  bequeath  to 
my  good  friend  the  Rev.  Edward  Kent  Rector  or  Incumbent  of 
Aushilt  in  the  County  of  Down,  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds. 
I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  good  friend  Mr.  John  Stevenson  one  of 
the  Clerks  of  the  Bank  of  Ireland  the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds. 
I  give  &  bequeath  to  Miss  Jane  Moore  formerly  of  this  city  but 
now  residing  in  Scotland  with  Mrs.  Major  Walker,  the  sum  of 
thirty-two  pounds  a  year  during  her  life  as  a  token  of  the  friend- 
ship &  regard  I  entertained  for  her  while  in  Dublin,  &  it  is  my 
will  &  desire  that  the  several  pecuniary  legacies  contained  in  my 
said  will  of  nth  of  July  1845  &  in  this  Codicil  thereto  given  to  my 
friends  for  their  own  use  should  be  given  free  and  discharged 
from  legacy  duty.  The  entire  rest  residue  &  remainder  of  all  my 
property  real  or  personal  of  whatever  nature  or  kind,  I  give  & 
bequeath  to  and  among  the  several  legatees  in  the  said  Will  of 
the  nth  of  July  1845  &  in  this  Codicil  respectively  mentioned,  to  be 
divided  among  them  in  proportion  to  the  sums  or  legacies  already 
bequeathed  to  them,  the  value  of  the  annuities  being  calculated 
by  a  notary  or  the  actuary  of  some  respectable  Insurance  office, 
and  each  annuitant  to  partake  of  such  residue  in  proportion  to  the 
value  of  his  or  her  annuity  when  so  ascertained,  but  no  part  of 
said  residue  to  go  to  the  Charitable  bequests  in  said  will  &  codicil 
contained.  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  affixed  my  hand 
this  tenth  day  of  May  1846  the  words  "during  her  life"  being  pre- 
viously interlined  above  the  sixth  line  from  the  foot  of  the  first 
page  of  the  Codicil. 

Signed  and  delivered  by  the  above  named 
Martha  Maria  Magee  as  &  for  a  Codicil  to  her 
last    Will   &    Testament   in    the   presence    of 

the  undersigned,  who  in  her  presence  and  Martha  M.  Magee. 

the  presence  of  each  other  have  hereunto 
affixed  their  names  as  Witnesses  thereto  on 
this  said  loth  of  May  1846.   ■ 

Edward  Hutton  M.  D. 

Thomas  Mangan. 

(  Richard  Dill, 
<    James  Fleming, 
I        signed  after  being  opened  &  read. 


412 

In  the  Name  of  God  Amen!     I  Martha  Maria  Magee 
Codicil  ^°   hereby  make   this   my   second   Codicil  to   my   last 

will  &  testament  bearing  date  the  nth  July  1845  & 
to  the  former  Codicil  thereto  bearing  date  the  lOth  of  May  1846 
hereby  confirming  the  same  save  as  hereafter  altered — &  I  hereby 
give  &  bequeath  to  my  friend  James  Henry  Surgeon  in  addition  to 
what  I  have  previously  bequeathed  him  and  as  a  token  of  my 
regard  for  his  extreme  attention  to  me  during  my  illness,  my 
East  India  Stock  or  Bond  which  will  give  him  the  power  of  voting 
for  Directors  of  the  Honorable  the  East  India  Company,  together 
with  all  Dividends  or  Interest  now  due  thereupon  for  his  sole  use 
and  benefit. 

Signed  and  delivered  by  the  Above  men- 
tioned Martha  Maria  Magee  as  &  for  a  sec- 
ond Codicil  to  her  last  Will  &  Testament  in 

the  presence  of  the  Undersigned  Witnesses  Martha  M.  Magee. 

who  in  her  presence  &  the  presence  of  each 
other    have    hereby   affixed   their   names    as 
Witnesses  thereto  this  24th  May  1846. 
Tho^.  Mangan. 
G.  Mangan. 

Richard  Dill, 
J.   Fleming, 

Signed  after  the   opening 
and  reading. 

^/oHihernia  via  Boston  CHARLESTON,  10  Aiig't,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SON, 

I  have  rec'd  yours  of  the  15  ult  and  congratu- 
t  "^r  Sm^th  ^^^^  y^^  ^^  ^^^  prospect  of  getting  something 
from  your  Aunt's  Estate ;  you  say  to  consult  Mr. 
King  about  how  you  should  act  respecting  leaving  a  Powder 
of  atty  with  B.  S.  &  Co;  he  is  in  the  Country,  but  the  matter 
is  very  plain ;  speak  to  Mr  Brown  or  Mr  Shipley  about  it, 
saying  you  wish  to  leave  a  Power  of  atty  with  them  to  receive 
and  give  rec'ts  for  you  for  what  you  are  to  get,  they  will  have 
a  proper  power  got  for  you  to  execute,  (and  you  must  pay  for 
it,)  if  you  leave  the  matter  to  them  they  will  have  it  properly 
drawn,  I  will  by  this  conveyance  write  them  and  request  them 
to  attend  to  it  for  you,  you  had  best  get  a  Copy  of  the  Will 
to  bring  Home  with  you  and  if  there  is  anything  that  Mr 
King  can  do,  when  he  sees  it  he  can  direct  you  knowingly,  I 
will  also  request  B.  S.  &  Co  to  let  you  have  about  iioo  or 
what  you  may  require  for  expenses,  I  was  under  the  impres- 
sion I  had  given  you  a  letter  for  that  purpose  when  you  went 
away ;  we  are  all  well  here,  Margaret  of  course  will  give  you 


413 

all  the  family  news,  we  are  getting  on  with  the  addition  to 
your  House  which  I  hope  will  please  you  when  you  see  it. — 

I  remain 

Yours  affectionately, 

zp     .  ,  n      -r;  c      ./  JAMES  ADGER. 

Rev  a  Dr.  1  nomas  o  myth, 

Care  of  Messrs  Brozvn,  Shipley  &  Co; 

London,  Eng. 

Letter  from  Dr.  Henry  and  his  estimate  of  my  Aunt's 
property. — 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  should  have  rep'd  to  your  letter  before  this, 
entered  ^^^^^  Waiting  for  some  news,  and  I  deeply  regret 

to  inform  you  that  there  is  now  a  real  caveat 
entered  in  the  names  of  Margaret  &  Robt.  Stewart,  by  Brown, 
in  CO.  with  Anderson  &c.  tho'  I  dont  think  this  will  avail,  yet 
I  am  satisfied  it  must  for  certain  delay.  It  is  just  as  I  always 
suspected,  that  Anderson  entered  the  first  caveat  at  law  in 
order  to  give  him  enough  time  to  tamper  with  Miss  S.  through 
Brown. 

Brown  called  on  Robbin,  "to  ask  him  to  request  Mr.  Dill  to 
bring  the  legatees  together,  &  if  they  did  not  give  something 
handsome  to  the  poor  relatives  he  would  enter  a  caveat,"  and 
at  this  very  moment  it  was  entered.  Had  this  not  been  so  all 
would  have  been  settled  in  September,  but  it  cannot  be  now 
before  November,  &  may  not  for  months,  or  even  years ;  tho' 
my  feeling  is  they  must  &  should  get  tired  very  soon,  &  that 
this  attempt  has  been  made  to  frighten  us  into  a  compromise. 

I  hope  you  have  been  quite  well  since  you  left  &  that  the 
finger*  is  all  right. 

Write  me  a  line  in  course. 

United  by  Mrs  H.  &  Miss  Still  in  kindest  regards,  believe  me 
my  dear 

friend  yours 

Most  truly, 

J.  HENRY. 
Ang.  15/46 

P.  S.  You  are  likely  to  see  Mr.  Greer  in  London  next. 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND. 

I  duly  received  your  letter  of  the  26th,  and  was  glad  to 
hear  that  you  were  well. 

*Dr.  Smyth  had  suffered  from  an  inflamed  finger. — Ed. 


414 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  getting  the  particulars  of  the 
India  money,  from  all  I  can  learn  the  Calcutta  funds  will  go 
to  the  Mission  being  Chattel  property,  &  not  coming  therefore 
under  the  charitable  bequest  article.     *     * 

Friend  Dill  is  going  to  Belfast  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  the  College  question. 
When  do  you  purpose  being  in  Liverpool,  and  are  you  likely 
to  visit  Dublin  before  you  leave? 

Should  you  go  to  Edinburgh  I  wish  you'd  make  enquiry 
about  schools  suitable  for  boys  such  as  mine.  '  Mr.  Dill 
preached  at  Bray  last  Sabbath  &  remained  there  overnight,  & 
next  morning  he  met  Mr.  Hyde,  who  commenced  talking  of 
the  will  and  also  of  the  one  he  drew;  a  Copy  of  which  he  has 
promised  to  Mr.  D.  &  in  it  the  same  sum  is  left  to  the  Misses 
Stewart,  which  is  of  course  another  proof  in  favour  of  the  last 
will — •  and  it  appears  they  do  not  intend  questioning  the  will, 
merely  the  codicils,  which  if  disproved  would  send  them  be- 
tween £40,000  &  £50,000.  Some  gentleman  called  the  other 
day  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Brown,  with  Dr.  Hutton,  to  make  par- 
ticular enquiry  how  the  will  was  executed  &c  &c,  but  Dr.  H's 
information  did  not  seem  by  any  means  agreeable  to  him. 
He  told  Dr.  H.  "they  did  not  find  fault  with  the  Will,  and  that 
it  would  appear  she  (Mrs  M.)  fully  intended  all  her  Indian 
money  &  residence  to  go  to  Miss  Stewart,"  but  had  I  heard 
him,  I  should  have  asked  him  why  she  provided  so  particu- 
larly for  them  not  only  by  the  Will,  but  by  a  former  deed. 

Mrs  H.  &  Miss  Still  unite  with  me  in  kindest  regards  to 
you  &  believe  me 

Always  yours  very  sin'ly 

J.  HENRY. 
August  29,  1846. 

Enclosure  endorsed  Martha  Maria  Magee,  dec'd. 
Statement  of  assets. 

Royal    Bank    : £3304 :  16 :o. 

Bank    of    Ireland    3952:10:7. 


7257:  6:7. 

3%   per    Cent   60000. 

In  Bank  Stock  £1490  about  3000. 

£70257:  6:7. 
Bequests 

College    £20000. 

Home    Missions    5000. 


415 
Foreign    Sooo. 


£30000.         30000:  0:0. 


Mr.    Dill    5000.         40257:  6:7. 

Greer    5000. 

Henry    3000. 

Dr.  Smyth 2000. 

Mr.    Stephenson"  500. 

Mr.    Orr    500. 

Fleming    500. 

Miss    Fleming   500. 

Mr.    Kent    500. 

Annuitants    (about)    2200. 


19700. 
Legacy    duty 4000.' 


23700. 
Will   expenses 1500. 


£25200.         25200:  0:0. 


Less  pd.         15057:  6:7. 

Residue. 

In  addition  to  these   Monies  in   Irish  Securities   there  is  also  left 
to  the  India  Mission 

Indian     Securities     £25400. 

Int 500. 


£25900. 


From  Rev.  Mr.  Dill,  Executor. 

SHABANE,  21  June,  1847. 
The  will  pro-  My  dear  Sir, 

bated.  I  expected  to  have  heard  from  yoii  previously 

to  your  departure  from  England  and  you  probably  anticipated 
hearing  from  me  before  this.  I  was  waiting  until  I  should 
have  something  definite  &  decisive  to  communicate  in  refer- 
ence to  your  Aunt's  will.  I  am  happy  to  have  it  at  length  in 
my  power  to  inform  you  that  it  has  been  established — probate 
was  taken  out  on  Monday  last.  You  were  aware  before  leav- 
ing Ireland  that  a  caveat  had  been  entered  in  the  name  of  Miss 
Stewart — 'another  however  was  subsequently  entered  by  cer- 
tain persons  pretending  to  be  Mrs  Magee's  nephews.  It  be- 
came necessary  in  consequence  as  a  preliminary  step,  to  ascer- 
tain who  was  next  of  kin  &  entitled  to  dispute  the  will,  &  the 


416 

prerogative  court  was  occupied  on  this  point  up  till  March 
last.  Thus  far  the  contest  lay  between  Miss  Stewart  &  the 
pretended  nephews,  &  either  from  want  of  means  or  inclina- 
tion, there  was  no  symptoms  of  its  being  brought  to  a  close. 
Indeed,  it  was  supposed  that  the  contest  would  extend  over 
the  second  long  vacation,  unless  the  Executors  should  inter- 
fere. Mr.  Fleming  &  I  thought  it  better  to  incur  some  ex- 
pense rather  than  do  this,  so  we  accordingly  took  the  field  & 
speedily  drove  the  fictitious  relatives  from  it.  We  then  came 
to  close  quarters  with  Miss  Stewart's  party  &  finding  that  they 
must  either  fight  or  run,  they,  after  several  clever  attempts 
to  induce  a  compromise,  withdrew  &  all  may  now  be  con- 
sidered as  settled.  Besides  the  delay  &  law  expenses  a  very 
considerable  loss  has  been  sustained  through  the  depreciation 
of  the  funds.  They  were  97  at  Mrs  Magee's  death — they  are 
now  88,  which  will  cause  a  diminution  of  at  least  £6000  of  the 
residuary  Amt.  It  might  be  better  to  allow  the  money  to  lie 
in  government  stock  for  sime  time,  but  as  the  Executors  are 
only  allowed  one  year  after  the  decease  of  the  testatrix  to 
arrange  affairs,  it  is  probable  that  the  Assembly,  which  is 
greatly  pressed  for  money  to  support  the  missions,  will  call  on 
us  to  pay  the  legacies  as  speedily  as  the  money  can  be  come  at. 
We  have  laid  a  case  before  Sergeant  Warren  for  his  opinion 
on  this  &  many  other  points  connected  with  the  will.  I  have 
selected  a  very  handsome  plan  of  a  monument  which  will  be 
finished  during  the  course  of  the  Summer  &  will  Cost  £150. 
It  will  be  the  finest  in  the  cemetery  &  I  am  happy  to  tell  you 
that  a  still  finer  monument — our  new  church — will  be  finished 
about  the  same  time.  It  is  by  far  the  handsomest  Church  in 
Ireland  for  the  size,  of  any  denomination,  but  the  cost  will 
greatly  exceed  both  the  estimate  &  our  means.  I  had  hoped 
that  Chalmers"  would  have  opened  it  &  know  not  now  to  whom 
to  apply.  Were  you  a  little  nearer  I  would  ask  yourself,  and 
hope  to  hear  your  voice  one  day  within  its  walls.  ^  It  is  pro- 
posed to  buy  an  annuity  of  £10  or  12  for  a  servant  girl,  long 
with  Mrs  Magee  in  Lurgan,  and  who  attended  on  her  on  her 
death'bed.  It  is  also  proposed  to  do  some  other  little  matters 
of  the  same  kind  which  will  cost  the  legatees  about  one  per 
cent  on  their  direct  legacies,  i :  e :  about  £20  on  your  £2000. 
Please  let  me  know  by  next  mail  whether  you  consent  to  this. 
Let  me  also  know  how  or  to  whom  you  wish  your  legacy  paid. 
It  can  either  be  transferred  in  the  funds  or  paid  in  cash,  but 

*Dr.   Thomas    Chalmers    died   at   Morningside,   near    Edinburgh, 
on  May  31,  1847. — Ed. 


417 

in  either  case  some  one  will  be  required  to  receive  the  transfer 
or  cash.  Some  time  will  probably  be  necessary  before  the 
exact  amount  of  the  residuary  legacies  can  be  paid — probably 
it  will  be  arranged  to  pay  the  direct  legacies  first  &  then 
residuary  as  soon  as  possible  afterwards.  Hoping  to  hear 
from  you  at  length  by  the  earliest  mail,  I  am 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

RICHARD  DILL. 
Rev  Dr  Smyth,  &c  &c. 

N.  B.  Mrs  Magee's  relatives  still  ask  for  some  gratuity. 
Let  me  know  if  it  be  your  intention  to  accede  to  their  request, 
&  to  what  amount.  Robt.  &  Rachel  are  both  married  &  Dr 
Henry  has  gone  to  the  Continent.  I  return  to  Dublin  after 
the  Assembly  if  alive  &  well.     R.  D. 

We  did  not  wish  to  part  with  any  papers  while  the  suit  was 
pending.     I  will  now  send  you  out  any  you  may  wish  for. 

From  Mr.  Haslett,  Attorney,  &c. 

LURGAN  10  July,  1847. 
Magee  deceased. 
DEAR  SIR, 

Suit  insti-  "'■  ^^^^  ^hc  plcasurc  of  informing  you  that  the 

tuted  in  suit  as  to  the  validity  of  the  will  &  codicils  of  the 

Court  of  late  Mrs  Magee  is  at  an  end,  and  that  Probate  has 

ancery.  j^ecu  obtained  by  the  Executors,  who  will  there- 

fore be  in  a  condition  to  pay  off  the  personal  legacies  very 
shortly,  and  you  will  please  to  transmit  a  proper  authority  or 
power  of  Att'y,  with  respect  to  your  bequest,  and  the  same 
document  should  contain  a  provision  for  receiving  your  share 
of  the  residue.  Some  time  will  however  elapse  before  the 
residue  can  be  disposed  of,  inasmuch  as  the  Ex'ors  have  been 
advised  by  eminent  Counsel,  before  whom  the  will  &  codicils 
have  been  laid,  that  the  bequests  as  to  the  College,  and  for  the 
Home  &  Foreign  Missions,  and  for  the  Indian  Mission,  are 
not  sufficiently  intelligible  to  allow  of  their  being  paid  except 
under  the  sanction  or  direction  of  a  Court  of  Equity,  and  the 
Executors  mean  therefore  to  institute  a  suit  in  the  Court  of 
Chancery  for  that  purpose,  to  which  the  several  Annuitants 
and  Legatees  must  be  made  parties  Defendants,  and  of  Course 
you  among  the  Number.  You  will  therefore  be  so  good  as  to 
authorise  me  to  have  an  appearance  entered  and  to  put  in  an 
answer  for  you  if  necessary,  and  you  may  rely  upon  every 
attention  being  paid  to  your  interests,  the  suit  in 
Suit  strictly      £^^^  ^j||  ^^  strictlv  an  amicable  one,  and  the  costs 

amicable.  -  ' 

will  either  fall  upon  the  specific  bequests  that  have 

[27] 


418 

caused  the  proceedings  to  be  instituted,  or  be  paid  out  of  the 
residuary  fund,  most  probably  the  former. 

Your  friends  here,  are,  I  believe,  all  well,  the  Crops  about 
this  town  and  over  the  Country  generally  are  most  promising, 
especially  (so  far)  the  Potatoes,  and  the  weather  is  every 
thing  that  could  be  desired,  there  is  a  good  deal  of  fever 
thro  the  Neighborhood,  but  it  is  not  of  so  malignant  a  type 
as  it  was  a  short  time  since,  the  price  of  provisions  coming 
down  rapidly,  and  if  a  Merciful  Providence  should  allow  the 
promise  of  the  Harvest  to  be  realized,  distress  and  suffering 
that  have  weighed  upon  the  poorer  classes  of  the  Community 
to  an  extent  that  almost  mocks  description,  will  be,  if  not  al- 
together abrogated  at  least  considerably  ameliorated, 
believe  me  Dear  sir 

Yours  very  truly, 

r>  ^  T,  c       .;      n     n  JOHN  HAZLETT. 

Keverend  1  nomas  Smyth,  D.  D. 

Charleston, 

South  Carolina. 

DEAR  SIR  CHARLESTON  Aug.  6,  1847. 

Yours  of  July  10  has  come  to  hand  and  has 
m;.  'Zltl:   been  duly  considered. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  information 
and  news  about  my  friends  in  Lurgan ;  the  others  I  have  been 
informed  of  through  Mr.  Dill,  in  accordance  with  whose  de- 
sire I  have  forwarded  by  the  last  Steamer  a  power  of  Attorney 
to  Messrs  William  Brown  or  Joseph  Shipley,  of  the  house  of 
Messrs  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co.  of  Liverpool,  to  give  receipts 
both  for  the  personal  and  for  the  residuary  legacies. 

I  have  duly  considered  your  information  as  it  regards  the 
charitable  bequests. 

In  reply  I  would  say,  that  if  it  is  practicable  in  any  way,  it 
would  be  very  convenient  and  desirable  to  me  to  receive  that 
amount  of  the  residuary  fundis  which  it  would  appear  to  me, 
must  at  once  be  determinable,  even  should  the  above  bequests, 
one  or  all  of  them,  hold  good.  I  would  therefore  authorize  and 
request  you  to  further  these  wishes  in  the  premises  as  speedily 
as  may  be. 

I  would  also  authorise  you  'to  have  an  appearance  entered 
and  to  put  in  an  answer  for  me  if  necessary,  in  regard  to  the 
suit  to  be  entered  by  the  several  legatees  in  reference  to  the 
bequests  to  the  College,  &  for  the  Home  &  Foreign  Missions, 
and  for  the  Indian  Missions ;  and  to  pay  every  needful  atten- 
tion to  my  interests  in  the  premises. 


419 

I  sincerely  hope  the  matter  will  be  conducted  in  the  ami- 
cable manner  you  speak  of,  and  that  what  is  right  may  be 
speedily  &  securely  determined  with  the  least  possible  delay  & 
expense. 

With  kind  regards  to  Mr.  Dobbin,  Mr,  Mrs,  &  Miss  Flem- 
ing, and  all  friends, 

I  remain 

in  high  regard, 

Yours  very  respectfully, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

From  Counsellor  Greer,  since  Member  of  Parliament. 
SPRINGVALE,  COLERAINE, 
MY  DEAR  DOCTOR,  IRELAND,  20  April,  '49. 

You  will  be  concerned,  like  the  rest  of  us,  to 
J^the^iaw!'''  ^«^™  th^t  further  delays  have  occurred  in  the 
winding  up  of  Mrs  Magee's  affairs.  In  the  will 
which  was  filed  in  Chancery  a  year  &  half  ago,  when  admin- 
istering the  Charitable  funds  &  residue  of  her  Estate,  under 
the  advice  &  signature  of  the  late  Serg't  Warren,  &  also  with 

the  advice  of  the  present  Judge    ,  Att.  Gen.  &  the 

trustees  of  the fund  were  made  defendants,  &  we 

were  delayed  a  long  time  waiting  for  the  Answer  of  the 
trustees,  among  whom  some  misunderstanding  has  arisen. 
Subsequently,  &  after  still  further  delay,  the  Att.  Gen's  An- 
swer was  put  in.  &  then  when  we  expected  to  be  soon  ready 
for  a  hearing,  Messrs  Green  &  Christian  Q.  C,  the  Plaintiffs' 
Counsel,  advised  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  make  all  the . 
residuary  trustees  answering  parties.  The  principal  incon- 
venience of  this  course  is  the  delay  which  it  will  occasion,  & 
there  will  also  be  some  additional  expense.  To  reduce  the 
delay  and  expense  as  much  as  possible  I  am  now  communicat- 
ing with  most  of  the  legatees,  &  taking  steps,  in  conjunction 
with  Dr  Henry,  for  having  a  joint  answer  prepared  &  ready 
for  filing  as  speedily  as  possible.  For  this  purpose  we  have 
authorized  my  half-brother,  Robt.  S.  Anderson,  who  is  a 
solicitor,  to  take  the  necessary  steps,  &  if  you  will  concur  with 
us  in  this  proceeding,  I  shall  feel  obliged  by  your  writing  me 
to  that  effect  as  soon  as  convenient.  Your  reply  will  be  here 
quite  soon  enough  for  putting  in  the  Answer,  which  in  your 
case  will  be  a  matter  of  form  more  than  anything  else,  as  it 
must  be  rec'd  without  your  oath  or  signature.  Your  joining 
in  our  answer  moreover  will  cause  no  additional  expense,  & 
will  so  far  protect  the  residue. —  Our  friend  Mr  Dill  is  en- 


420 

joying  excellent  health,  but  there  is  no  appearance  of  his 
abandoning  his  state  of  single  blessedness.  Dr  Henry  has 
been  rather  laid  up  for  some  time  with  a  hurt  in  his  knee;  & 
I  have  been  suffering  a  little  from  rheumatic  gout,  or  some- 
thing of  that  kind.  I  hope  Mrs.  Smyth  &  your  family  are 
enjoying  good  health,  in  common  with  yourself. 

Have  your  Presbyterian  Churches  got  any  book  of  discipline 
or  Code  of  laws  for  their  guidance,  apart  from  the  old 
Scottish  Authorities ;  &  what  are  they  ?  I  have  been  studying 
our  Ecclesiastical  Jurisprudence  in  this  Country,  and  find  it 
in  many  respects  defective.  I  would  like  to  gain  useful  sug- 
gestion for  amending  our  Code  from  all  quarters.  Ancl  if  you 
can  put  me  on  the  plan  of  getting  any  information  across  the 

Atlantic  you  will  very  much  oblige       ,^  , 

Yours  very  truly, 

„       r.     o      ^;  S.  M.  Greer. 

Rev  Dr  Smyth. 

Charleston. 

Receipt  thus  far  from  said  zvill. 
(Copy.)  DUBLIN,  14  April,  1853. 

46  Lower  Dominick  St. 
Messrs  Brozvn  Shipley  &  Co^ 

Liverpool. 
Ex'ors  Magee  v.  Brozvn. 
GENT'N, 

The  proportion  of  the  assetts  of  late  Mrs  Ma- 
Amount   fin-  ^^  ^^^j^^  ^^^  -^^^   Doctor  Smyth  of  Charles- 

ally    received,      o      '  ^  j  ^ 

ton  has  been  found  entitled,  as  one  of  the  residuary 
legatees,  is  ^1359:5  :o  from  which  certain  deductions  are  to  be 
made  as  specified  on  the  other  side,  leaving  a  nett  balance  of 
£1321  :2  :9  to  be  remitted  to  you  on  his  account,  and  on  your 
returning  the  enclosed  receipt,  signed  by  you,  I  will  forward 
letter  of  credit  in  your  favor  for  above  amount. 

I  am,  Gentlemen, 
Your  very  obt  servant, 
(Signed,)     JOHN  HAZLETT. 

Proportion  of  assetts  to  which  Dr.  Smyth  is  entitled:  £1359.5.0. 

Deductions: 

Amt.    due   by   Dr.    Smyth   for   furniture    of   Tes- 
tatrix bought  by  him  &  interest, £10.17.9. 

His  proportion  of  costs  as  a  party  in  the  cause,  25.  0.0. 

Receipt    stamp, lo.o. 

Premium   on   Letter  of   Credit, 1.13.6.  38.1.3. 

£1321.3.9 


431 

{Copy.)  DUBLIN  19  April,  1853. 

46  Lower  Dominick  St. 
Messrs  Brozvn  Shipley  &  Co. 
Liverpool. 
Ex'ors  Ma  gee  v.  Brozvn. 
DEAR  SIRS, 

My  absence  in  the  North  of  Ireland  from  Saturday  last 
until  this  morning  has  prevented  an  earlier  reply  to  your  favor 
of  the  1 6th  Instant. 

The  sum  specified  in  the  receipt  forwarded  to  you  on  the 
14th  Inst  is  the  amount  allocated  to  Dr  Smyth  by  the  Masters 
Report  of  the  ist  April  1853,  as  his  proportion  of  the  sum  of 
£13,230.3.2;  being  the  nett  residue  of  the  assets  of  Testatrix 
now  divisible  among  the  residuary  Legatees ;  but  at  the  death 
of  Miss  Jane  Moore,  who  has  a  life  annuity  of  £32  a  year  be- 
queathed to  her  by  Testatrix,  a  sum  of  £1066.15.0  Consols, 
which  has  been  set  apart  to  pay  the  said  annuity,  will  become 
divisible  also,  and  of  course  Dr  Smyth  will  be  entitled  to  his 
proportion  of  that  sum,  when  that  event  happens,  as  specified 
in  Master's  report.  If  you  think  it  necessary  to  alter  the 
receipt  by  stating  that  £1359.5.0  is  the  amount  nozv  payable 
to  Dr.  Smyth,  you  can  of  course  do  so,  tho'  his  rights  suffici- 
ently appear  on  the  report. — 

I  am.  Dear  Sirs 
Yours  faithfully, 
(signed,)  JOHN  HAZLETT. 

LIVERPOOL,  23  April,  1853. 
The  Rev"  Dr  Smyth, 

Charleston. 
DEAR  SIR, 

We  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  the  law-suit  in 
respect  of  the  Estate  of  the  late  Mrs.  Magee  has  at  length  been 
terminated,  and  the  amount  to  which  you  are  entitled  as  one 
of  the  residuary  legatees,  is  £  1359.5s.  from  which  sundry 
deductions  have  been  made  amounting  to  £30.1.3  as  per  par- 
ticulars in  the  copy  of  Mr.  John  Hazlett's  letter  annexed, 
leaving  the  sum  of  £1321.3.9  which  we  have  received  and 
placed  at  your  credit. — 

You  will  notice  from  the  copy  of  Mr.  Hazlett's  second 
letter,  also  annexed,  that  you  will  be  entitled  to  a  share  in 
the  sum  of  £1066.153  Consols  which  has  been  set  apart  for 
the  payment  of  an  annuity  of  £32  a  year  to  Miss  Jane  Moore, 
on  the  decease  of  that  ladv. — 


422 

We  have  also  to  advise  having  received  yesterday  from  Dr. 
Henry  the  sum  of  ii2  :ios  on  your  account,  which  will  like- 
wise appear  at  your  credit. — 

We  remain, 
Yours  respectfully, 
BROWN  SHIPLEY  &  CO. 


AUTHENTIC  REPORT  OF  THE 
PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE    GENERAL    ASSEMBLY, 

RELATIVE  TO 

THE  BEQUESTS  OF  THE  LATE  MRS.  MAGEE. 

Mr.  Dill  (Dublin)  intimated  that  he  had  an  important  com- 
munication to  make  to  the  house,  having  reference  both  to  their 
College  and  their  Missions;  and  he  wrished  to  ascertain  the  mind 
of  the  Assembly  as  to  whether  he  should  make  this  now  or  defer 
till  tomorrow. 

After  some  conversation,  it  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Dill  should  be 
heard  now. 

Mr.  Dill  then  addressed  the  house  in  the  following 
Mr.    Di  I  s  terms: —    Moderator,    I    have    some    important    an- 

nouncements to  make  bearing  upon  the  subject  of 
the  new  College,  as  well  as  that  of  our  missions;  and  if  such  be 
the  mind  of  the  Assembly,  I  will  now  proceed  to  make  them. 
Under  other  circumstances  I  might  not  have  felt  myself  warranted 
in  making  these  announcements;  but  as  rumours  have  been  exten- 
sively circulated  on  the  subject  to  which  they  refer,  which  are  not 
correct,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to  give  an  accurate  statement  of 
facts.  It  will  be  generally  understood  that  I  refer  to  the  subject 
of  the  late  Mrs.  Magee's  bequests.  That  lady  has  left,  in  India 
securities,  a  sum  of  about  £25,000,  from  which  is  derived  an  annual 
revenue  of  from  £900  to  £1,000  to  our  mission  in  India.  As  the 
money  was  accumulated  in  India  by  her  brother,  a  colonel  in  the 
Indian  army,  she  supposed  she  could  not  more  appropriately  apply 
it  than  in  extending  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  amongst  the 
inhabitants  of  that  country.  She  has  left  £5000  to  our  Foreign 
Mission,  to  be  employed  in  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  in  India 
or  elsewhere,  as  the  directors  of  that  mission  may  deem  right, 
£5,000  to  our  Home  Mission,  and  £20,000  to  the  erection  and 
endowment  of  a  Presbyterian  College.  I  may  also  state  that  she 
has  left  the  reversion  of  £5,000  to  the  Female  Orphan  School  of 
Usher's  Quay,  Dublin;  and,  besides  a  large  sum  already  given 
towards  the  building  of  the  new  Presbyterian  Church  on  Ormond 
Quay,  which  will  be  one  of  the  handsomest  Presbyterian  Churches 
in  Ireland,  she  has  left  a  further  sum  of  £1,350  for  the  benefit  of 


433 

that  church.  Altogether  she  has  left  above  £60,000  to  purposes 
connected  with  this  Church.  I  think  it  will  be  felt  that  on  the 
occasion  of  announcing  to  this  Assembly  the  most  munificent 
bequests  which  this  Church  has  ever  received,  it  becomes  me,  as 
the  pastor,  the  friend,  and  one  of  the  executors  of  the  testatrix,  to 
make  a  few  observations  regarding  her.  Having  enjoyed,  for 
several  years,  the  closest  and  most  confidential  intimacy  with  her, 
I  can  speak  of  her  freely  and  unhesitatingly.  She  was  a  native 
of  Lurgan,  and  belonged  to  an  ancient  and  respectable  family  of 
the  name  of  Stewart,  now  almost  extinct.  She  became  the  wife 
of  the  Rev.  William  Magee,  Presbyterian  minister  of  Lurgan,  who 
died,  leaving  her  with  two  sons,  and  with  very  limited  means  for 
their  education  and  support.  As  she  could  not  endure  the  idea  of 
obligation  or  dependence,  she  lived  in  the  most  retired  manner, 
and  with  the  most  exact  economy.  By  her  own  unaided  exertions 
both  her  sons  entered  the  army,  one  as  an  ensign  and  the  other 
as  a  surgeon.  She  lived  for  her  sons.  It  pleased  God,  however, 
to  bereave  her  of  them  both  in  the  flower  of  their  youth.  One 
died,  as  was  supposed,  in  consequence  of  a  fall,  the  other  perished 
of  hydrophobia,  in  India.  She  was  a  woman  of  great  fortitude, 
and  she  bowed  with  resignation  to  these  awful  strokes;  but  she 
was,  at  the  same  time,  a  woman  of  strong  and  devoted  affection, 
and  till  the  last  moment  of  her  life,  she  could  not  allude  to  their 
death  without  manifesting  that  her  heart  continued  to  bleed;  and 
after  many  years  had  elapsed,  she  would  often  retire  to  her  cham- 
ber for  hours  together,  and  weep  over  their  letters,  and  some  other 
memorials  of  them,  she  had  treasured  up.  Sometime  after  their 
decease,  her  two  brothers,  both  officers  of  the  army,  high  in  rank, 
died,  leaving  her  the  mistress  of  a  princely  fortune,  but  almost 
alone  in  the  world — almost  the  last  of  her  race.  She  removed  to 
Dublin  for  the  easier  management  of  her  affairs,  and  joined  one 
of  our  Presbyterian  Churches.  She  subsequently  joined  the  Epis- 
copal Church  in  the  vicinity  of  her  abode.  It  was  at  this  time  I 
became  acquainted  with  her,  and  some  time  after  she  became  a 
member  of  my  congregation.  She  lived  in  Dublin,  as  she  had 
done  in  Lurgan,  with  the  utmost  plainness.  The  sudden  acces- 
sion of  great  wealth  made  little  change  in  her  mode  of  life.  She 
viewed  the  pomps  and  luxuries  of  the  world  not  only  with  indif- 
ference but  with  contempt.  She  saw  little  society,  and  spent  most 
of  her  time  in  reading.  She  possessed  an  intellect  naturally  of  a 
high  order,  and  which  she  had  improved  by  the  diligent  culture 
of  a  long  life.  She  had  read  much — she  remembered  much — and 
she  had  reflected  much;  and,  whilst  she  studiously  avoided  any 
exhibition  of  her  attainments,  it  was  impossible  to  converse  with 
her  for  the  briefest  period  without  discovering  her  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  a  highly-gifted  and  richly-stored  mind.  It  was,  however, 
for  the  qualities  of  her  heart  that  she  was  most  distinguished. 
Her  warmth  of  aflfection,  her  munificent  generosity  of  disposition, 
and  her  nobleness   of  nature  were  her  chief  characteristics.     Her 


424 

friendships  were  widely  different  from  those  of  the  generality  of 
the  world.  They  were  ardent,  enthusiastic,  and  devoted.  Her 
affections,  having  lost  those  objects  to  which  nature  had  led  them 
to  cling,  attached  themselves  readily  and  strongly  to  those  whom 
she  deemed  worthy.  When  she  took  an  interest  in  any  object,  she 
did  so  with  her  whole  heart.  She  could  not  endure  to  do  anything 
by  halves,  or  on  a  small  scale.  She  gave  not  by  pounds,  but  by 
fifties,  by  hundreds,  by  thousands,  and,  in  some  instances,  by  tens 
of  thousands.  I  have  been  frequently  amused  to  observe  the 
astonishment  which  the  unexpected  magnitude  of  her  contribu- 
tions excited,  especially  on  some  of  our  Northern  ministers,  who 
had  not  been  habituated  to  any  extraordinary  munificence.  Such 
princely  liberality  as  her's  must  be  considered  the  more  extraor- 
dinary that  she  had  been  accustomed,  during  the  greater  part  of 
her  life,  to  an  exceedingly  limited  expenditure,  and  still  continued 
to  exercise  the  strictest  economy  in  the  management  of  her  own 
expenses.  How  few  can  abandon  the  habits  of  a  life,  and  enlarge 
their  spirit  with  the  increase  of  their  fortune,;  but,  in  her  case,  it 
would  seem  that  her  princely  spirit  only  awaited  the  arrival  of  a 
princely  fortune  to  exhibit  itself,  for  her  hand  and  her  heart  ex- 
panded at  once  to  the  full  measure  of  her  ample  means.  These 
means  became  her's  late  in  life,  when  she  had  no  member  of  her 
family  left  her  to  enjoy  them.  She  seemed  to  feel  that  Providence 
had  given  them  to  her  merely  to  dispense;  and  knowing  that,  in 
all  likelihood,  she  would  have  but  a  short  period  in  which  to  do 
this,  it  appeared  to  be  the  chief  study  and  object  of  her  life  to  deal 
out,  in  the  way  she  deemed  best,  the  gifts  that  God  had  entrusted 
to  her  disposal.  (Hear,  hear.)  Never  was  there  a  more  sponta- 
neous or  a  less  ostentatious  giver.  She  needed  no  solicitation, 
nor  would  she  allow  it.  What  she  did  she  did  freely — generally  at 
her  own  impulse,  and  according  to  her  own  judgment.  She 
seemed  far  more  anxious  to  avoid  the  applause  of  the  world  than 
to  obtain  it.  Few  things  annoyed  her  more  than  to  find  that  her 
benefactions  had  been  divulged  or  spoken  of.  As  may  be  readily 
imagined,  she  was  often  imposed  upon.  Her  liberality  was  often 
met  by  ingratitude;  and  the  more  frequently  she  dispensed  her 
favours  to  some,  the  more  was  she  harassed  by  their  importunities; 
but  whilst  these  must  often  have  distressed  and  disgusted  her,  she 
never  wearied  of  doing  good.  The  stream  of  her  benevolence 
flowed  on,  deep  and  wide,  however  unworthy  and  unthankful  those 
that  received  its  waters.  Mrs.  Magee  affords  another  of  the  in- 
numerable instances  which  show  how  little  riches  can  do  to  ward 
off  or  remove  the  severest  ills  of  life.  She  was  a  great  sufferer. 
She  had  suffered  much  from  family  bereavements.  She  suffered 
much  from  a  complication  of  diseases;  but  suffering,  which  gen- 
erally renders  selfish,  made  her  more  willing  to  sympathize  in  the 
sufferings  of  others.  She  frequently  forgot  her  own  woes  in 
relieving  the  woes  of  those  around  her.  Even  during  her  last 
illness,  which  was  often  agonizing,  her  thoughts  seemed  to  dwell 


4-25 

more  on  others  than  herself.  On  the  very  day  before  her  death, 
and  only  two  or  three  hours  before  she  became  insensible,  she 
employed  me  in  the  grateful  office  of  conveying  a  handsome  sum 
to  one  in  whom  she  took  an  interest,  and  whose  circumstances  she 
considered  such  as  would  render  her  aid  acceptable.  The  same 
dislike  of  profession  or  parade  that  marked  every  other  part  of  her 
character,  was  peculiarly  manifested  in  her  religion.  So  far  from 
professing  more,  I  believe  she  professed  much  less  than  she  felt. 
When  her  state  of  health  permitted  it,  she  felt  it  a  duty  and  a  privi- 
lege to  attend  the  public  ordinances  of  religion,  and  towards  the 
close  of  her  life  she  made  efforts  to  enjoy  this  privilege,  to  which 
her  strength  was  far  from  equal.  She  was  ever  willing  and  glad  to 
join  in  the  domestic  exercises  of  religion,  and  took  a  deep  interest 
in  the  religiotis  prosperity  of  her  household,  of  the  congregation 
to  which  she  belonged,  and  of  the  Church  generally.  The  cause 
of  missions  she  had  deeply  at  heart.  She  contributed  liberally 
towards  them  when  living,  and  left  a  large  portion  of  her  prop- 
erty to  them  at  her  death.  The  Female  Orphan  School  of  the 
Usher's  Quay  congregation  was  one  of  the  objects  of  her  deepest 
interest.  She  herself  snatched  several  of  the  orphans  of  that  in- 
stitution from  want,  and  probable  crime  and  ruin;  and  she  has 
left  the  school  a  testimony  of  her  benevolence  that  may  rescue 
many  a  poor  female  orphan  from  want  and  ruin  long  after  her 
bones  have  mouldered  into  dust.  The  orphans  of  that  establish- 
ment very  properly  appeared  as  chief  mourners  at  her  funeral, 
and  stood  around  her  grave  during  the  delivery  of  my  address.  I 
need  hardly  say  that,  whilst  she  felt  it  her  duty  and  her  happiness 
to  employ  as  she  did  the  gifts  of  Providence,  she  placed  no  de- 
pendence on  her  doings  or  her  givings  as  a  ground  of  merit  with 
God;  she  had,  on  the  .contrary,  the  humblest  ideas  of  herself  as  an 
unworthy  and  unprofitable  servant,  and  looked  to  the  mercy  of 
God  in  Christ  alone  for  salvation.  Her  views  of  the  Gospel  were 
clear  and  Scriptural,  and  her  trust  in  Jesus  such  as  enabled  her 
to  meet  death  with  resignation,  composure,  and  humble,  yet  firm 
confidence.  She  once  or  twice  expressed  a  wish  to  live  for  a  few 
months  longer,  to  accomplish  some  benevolent  purposes  which  she 
cherished,  but  she  declared  herself  neither  unwilling  nor  afraid  to 
die.  She  endured  a  long  and  painful  illness,  with  a  degree  of 
fortitude  and  patience  which  none  who  attended  her  death  bed 
ever  saw  surpassed,  and  at  last  breathed  forth  her  spirit  into  the 
hands  of  God  without  a  struggle.  There  was  no  child,  no  husband, 
no  relative,  to  close  her  eyes  in  death — no  relation  to  attend  her 
bier,  or  to  stand  by  her  grave.  Father,  mother,  brother,  sister, 
husband,  and  child,  had  all  gone  before;  but  whilst  those  who 
performed  the  last  sad  offices  for  her  were  bound  by  no  ties  of 
blood,  they  were  bound  by  ties  of  gratitude,  affection,  esteem,  and 
reverence;  and  cold  and  callous  must  be  their  hearts  if  they  do 
not  cherish  her  memory  whilst  they  continue  to  beat.  Her  body 
lies  in  a  lonely  grave.     Her  spirit,  I  trust,  has  reached  the  city  of 


426 

the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  is  joined  to  an  in- 
numerable company  of  angels,  and  the  general  assembly  and 
the  church  of  the  first  born,  and  God  the  Judge  of  all, 
and  Jesus  the  Meditator  of  the  nev^r  covenant.  To  this 
Church  she  has  left  such  tokens  of  her  attachment  as  it  has 
never  before  received.  Her  name  must  be  associated  with  this 
Church  whilst  it  endures;  and,  whilst  her  memory  is  cherished 
and  revered,  I  trust  her  example  will  be  imitated.  Few  possess  her 
means,  but  whether  we  have  ten  talents,  or  five,  or  two,  or  only 
one,  let  us  employ  them  in  the  service  of  Him  who  gave  them. 

The  Moderator  then  rose,  and  spoke  as  follows: 

I  am  sure  that  I  express  not  only  the  mind,  but 
The  Modera-  ^^le  heart,  of  every  member  of  the  Assembly,  when 
tor  s     answer.  i  t     i         •     i        i  i  ,  , 

1  say  that  i  do,  indeed;  respond  to  those  observa- 
tions which  we  have  just  heard,  and  to  the  spirit  in  which  they 
were  made.  I  have  never  listened  to  an  address  which  could  be 
pronounced  more  appropriate.  This  announcement  has  come  to 
us  on  a  very  stirring  occasion;  and  there  is  no  Christian  heart 
which  would  not  be  impressed  with  the  simple  and  dignified  tone 
of  Christian  expression,  as  well  as  of  deep  Christian  feeling,  which 
distinguished  it.  I  should  be  glad  to  see  that  address  in  a  more 
permanent  form.  I  should  rejoice  to  see  it.  Sir,  published  under 
your  own  eye,  and,  shall  I  say,  fathers  and  brethren,  under  your 
direction? —  for  I  do  think  that  some  record  of  the  venerated 
memory  of  this  Christian  lady  should  be  preserved  by  us.  I  am 
sure  that  I  state  the  feelings  of  you  all  when  I  say  that  my  views 
of  the  obligations  under  which  that  lady's  munificence  has  placed 
us  are  such  as  to  render  me  altogether  incompetent  to  express 
them.  (Hear,  hear.)  Would  it  not  be  proper,  in  this  Assembly, 
to  appoint  a  Committee  to  consider  and  report  what  record  should 
be  made  of  our  views  and  feelings  on  this  matter?  (Hear,  hear.) 
Mr.  Dill  said  that  these  bequests  are  the  most  munificent  ever 
made  to  this  Church.  He  might  have  said  more;  for  where,  in 
late  days,  has  such  liberality  been  shown  towards  any  Protestant 
Church?  This  event  marks  a  new  era  in  Christian  generosity. 
When  we  consider  that  those  gifts  were  made,  not  from  the  influ- 
ence of  any  individual  upon  that  lady's  mind,  but  from  the  dictates 
of  her  own  enlightened  judgment  and  Christian  mind;  and  when 
we  see,  as  the  evidence  now  before  us  shows,  that  the  donor  had" 
no  confidence  in  those  doings — that  she  gave  her  benefactions,  not 
as  a  burnt-offering,  but  as  a  meat-offering — that  she  regarded  them, 
not  as  a  ground  of  confidence  in  God,  but  as  an  expression  of 
gratitude  to  Him — when  we  review  these  considerations,  we  must 
look  on  these  gifts,  not  only  as  valuable  in  themselves,  but  as 
grounds  of  gratitude  to  God  from  us.  I  hope  that  God  will  enable 
us  to  profit  by  them  as  we  ought — ^that  we  shall  use  the  talent  as 
it  becomes  us  to  do — that  we  shall  practise  the  lesson,  which  our 
brother    has    taught — namely,    to    use    aright    those    talents    which 


427 

God  has  committed  to  us,  whether  they  be  ten,  or  five,  or  one. 
(Hear.)  I  could  not  avoid  giving  expression,  as  I  have  done,  to  my 
feelings  on  this  subject,  incoherent  though  that  expression  has 
been.  I  was  not  altogether  taken  by  surprise  by  the  announce- 
ment; but  I  feel  myself  to  be  in  such  a  position,  that  the  depth  of 
my  feelings  will  not  allow  me  to  express  all  that  I  feel. 

The  Moderator,  with  Mr.  Dill,  and  Dr.  Hanna,  were  then  ap- 
pointed a  committee,  according  to  the  suggestion  of  the  former,  to 
consider  and  report  upon  the  most  fitting  record  of  the  Assembly's 
veneration  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased  lady. 

(Note  by  editor.)  This  College,  founded  by  this  will,  and  now 
known  as  the  McCrea-Magee  Presbyterian  College,  is  in  the  city 
of  Londonderry,  Ireland.  It  is  a  fine  institution,  with  large  grounds 
in  which  stands  the  main  building,  a  Gothic  edifice  of  grey  stone, 
surrounded  by  the  residences  of  the  faculty,  and  spacious  recrea- 
tion fields. 

It  admits  female  students,  but  the  chief  work  still  carried  on  is 
the  education  of  young  men  for  the  Presbyterian  Ministry.  In 
the  year  191 1  there  were  about  150  students  in  attendance.  The 
College  is  under  the  management  of  the  General  Assembly. 

The  following  quotation  from  a  newspaper  is  in  Dr.  Smyth's 
MS.,  but  is  without  date: — 

"The  Magee  College,  Derry,  is  in  progress.  It  has  now  en- 
dowments for  a  seven  professorships.  Mr.  Porter,  late  the  As- 
sembly's Missionary  at  Damascus  is  appointed  Professor  of  Biblical 
Theological  Literature,  in  the  room  of  the  deceased  Dr.  Wilson. 
The  number  of  candidates,  and  the  high  attestations  to  their 
qualifications,  gave  gratifying  proof  that  amid  the  spirituality  and 
activities  of  the  Revival,  solid  and  extensive  learning  and  sound 
theology  are  not  neglected.  Altogether,  God  is  doing  great 
things  for  the  Assembly;  and  his  people  rejoice  with  thanksgiv- 
ing." 


428 


Chapter  IV.     1847  to  1862. 

VINCENNES  Sept.  24,  1847. 
Friday  evening,  9  o'clock. 
REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D. 

My  dear  Sir, 
The  death  of        ^  have  to  announce  to  you  the  sad  intelHgence 
Samuel  that  death  has  visited  our  abode  and  broke  into 

Smith.  Q^j.  famjiy  circle.     Our  aged  father  and  friend — 

Mr.  Smith,  has  just  fallen  asleep  in  his  beloved  Jesus.  He  was 
taken  ill  with  Pneumonia  on  last  Wednesday  week,  With  the 
exception  of  a  severe  cough  he  suffered  very  little,  and  in 
answer  to  his  own  and  our  prayers,  he  died  so  calmly,  so 
peacefully  and  so  gradually  that  we  hardly  knew  when  to  say 
he  was  gone.  God  Almighty  bless  him,  and  reunite  him  eter- 
nally with  his  well  loved  and  faithfully  remembered  wife,  in 
Heaven.  He  had  some  word  of  love  for  us  all,  and  at  about 
twelve  oclock  he  pressed  my  dear  boys  to  his  very  heart ;  after 
which,  he  would  simply  answer  our  questions  and  then  relapse 
into  unconsciousness,  until  about  three,  when  he  lost  all  power 
of  speech,  never  again  opened  his  eyes,  and  sank  sweetly  to  his 
long  repose.  If  the  gates  of  Heaven  are  to  be  thrown  wide  to 
any,  if  there  is  a  saving  grace  in  our  Redeemer  to  sanctify  and 
to  transform  any  to  his  own  image,  he  surely  and  deservedly 
now  rests  in  the  bosom  of  his  God ! 

I  have  but  a  few  moments  to  give  to  each  of  his  children, 
being  weak  and  just  recovering  from  slight  illness :  but  I  must 
inform  you  now  of  Isabella's  extreme  desire  to  go  to  Franklin. 
A  great  improvement  in  my  health,  and  some  recent  efforts  in 
my  profession  induce  her  to  urge  me  to  seek  this  new  field. 
Doubtlessly  I  could  do  much  better  there  than  here,  where 
there  is  such  a  dearth  of  business ;  and  then  the  joy  of  living 
near  Mr.  Plunket — of  uniting  two  sisters  who  so  love  one 
another,  and  of  our  always  having  in  each  other  reliable 
friends,  would  be  a  great  comfort  even  to  our  present  ad- 
versity. Now  that  her  father  is  gone,  Isabella  is  most  earn- 
estly entreating  me  to  determine  to  go,  and  so  to  inform  you. 
She  declares  that  she  will  no  longer  live  away  from  Anna.  I 
will  go  over  to  Franklin  as  soon  as  I  have  strength,  and  see 
what  prospect  there  is  of  my  earning  a  livelihood,  and  if  there 
is  the  least,  I  will  not  hesitate  to  settle  there. 

I  cannot  write  longer.  Need  I  say  to  you,  grieve  not  too 
deeply  for  your  father !  He  had  been  spared  a  long  life ;  he 
had  become  very  feeble,  and  he  no  longer  desired  to  live.    He 


429 

was  perfectly  prepared,  entirely  reconciled  to  go,  and  was  so 
mercifully  delivered  from  his  trials,  that  we  should  be  mod- 
erate in  our  sorrow,  and  praise  God  for  such  manifest  love  to 
his  good  and  faithful  servant. 

With  our  most  affectionate  love  to  yourself,  wife,  and 
family,  and  earnest  prayer  for  your  health  and  happiness, 
I  am  ever 

Most  affectionately  yours, 

H.  FAUNTLEROY. 

OBITUARY. 

DIED,  at  Vincennes,  Indiana,  on  the  evening  of  the  24th 
September,  1847,  Mr.  Samuel  Smith,  in  the  85th  year  of  his 
age. 

Mr.  Smith  was  a  native  of  the  city  of  Belfast,  Ireland, 
where  he  lived  for  sixty-eight  years,  rearing  a  large  and  noble 
family,  and  at  one  time  enjoying  a  considerable  degree  of 
prosperity  and  wealth.  The  tide  of  trade,  however,  set  against 
him  in  his  old  age,  and  his  reverses  induced  his  six  sons  to 
leave  their  paternal  home,  to  seek  their  fortunes  on  the 
shores  of  America.  His  heart  went  in  exile  with  his 
children.  The  land  of  their  adoption  became  endeared  to  him, 
and  in  1830,  with  his  wife  and  two  daughters,  he  left  beloved 
old  Erin,  the  land  of  his  youth  and  of  his  manhood,  to  pass 
his  declining  days  in  a  strange  clime  and  a  new  world.  In  the 
following  year  he  arrived  at  Vincennes,  where  he  has  ever 
since  resided,  honored  by  all  for  his  exemplary  piety,  and 
respected  for  his  manly  virtues.  He  had  faults,  but  most  of 
those  faults  were  peculiarities  of  old  age,  and  above  them  all 
shone  conspicuously  in  his  character  the  rare  and  lovely  jewel 
integrity.  His  religion  was  distinguished  by  an  ever  earnest 
zeal,  and  by  almost  constant  prayer  and  devotion  in  his  long 
preparation  for  death ;  and  as  he  proved  himself  a  good  and 
faithful  servant,  we  have  every  confidence  that  he  now  re- 
poses peacefully  in  the  bosom  of  his  God.  His  constancy  of 
character  was  exemplified  in  his  cherishing  most  sacredly  the 
memory  of  his  well  beloved  and  sainted  wife,  and  as  he  now 
lies  by  her  side  in  the  quietude  of  the  grave,  so  are  their  spirits 
side  by  side  in  an  eternity  of  bliss  in  Heaven.  The  affections 
of  his  nature  were  displayed  in  his  exceeding  care  for  the 
education  and  establishment  of  his  children.  He  hesitated 
not  to  strip  himself  of  all  for  their  welfare,  and  his  attention 
to  their  moral  culture  was  well  requited  in  their  kindness  to 
him  in  the  days  of  his  infirmity.     He  might  well  be  proud  of 


430 

such  a  son  as  the  Rev.  Dr  Thomas  Smyth,  of  Charleston,  to 
whose  abiHties  the  church  and  the  world  are  greatly  indebted, 
and  to  whose  generous  and  filial  love,  he  himself  owed  the 
comforts  of  many  years. 

He  asked  to  be  delivered  from  his  toilsome  pilgrimage,  and 
death  was  sent  in  mercy  and  touched  him  in  love.  His  spirit 
passed  away  like  the  faint  sighing  breeze,  and  no  contraction 
of  the  brow  denoted  when  death  placed  his  signet  there. 

"He  walked  with  God  and  he  was  not,  for  God  took  him." 

F. 

Copy  of  the  Epitaphs  on  my  Father  s  &  Mother's  tomb- 
stone at  Vincennes,  Indiana. 

Erected  by  her 

affectionate  Husband  &  Sons 

to  the  memory  of  a  beloved 

Wife  and  Mother, 

who  died,  as   she  lived,  a  Christian. 

Anne,  Wife  of  Samuel  Smith, 

formerly  merchant  in   Belfast,   Ireland. 

Born  July  27,  1772.     Died  Aug.  23,  1832. 

Her  mortal  remains  are  here  committed  to  the 

sacred  trust  of  the  grave  in  hopes  of  a  coming  &  joyful 

Resurrection 


Calm  on  the     bosom  of  thy  God 

Fair   spirit!    rest   thee    now! 
E'en  while  with  ours  thy  footsteps  trod 

His  seal  was  on  thy  brow. 


Dust,  to  its  narrow  house  beneath! 

Soul  to  its  place  on  high! 
They  that  have   seen   thy  look   in   Death, 

No  more  may  fear  to  die. 


The   Memorial 

of 
Filial  Affection. 


Here   repose 

the  mortal  remains   of 

Mr.  Samuel   Smith. 

Born  Aug.  11,  1763.     Died  Sept.  24,  1847. 

Aged  85. 


431 

He  was  a  native  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  where  he  was  long  a 
prominent  merchant.  He  was  the  father  of  twelve  children,  eight 
of  whom  lived  to  mature  years,  and  one  of  whom,  Robert,  who 
died  Aug.  30,  1840,  aged  30  years,  lies  beside  him.  With  his  Wife 
and  two  daughters,  he  was  induced  to  come  to  this  place,  in  order 
to  enjoy  the  society  of  four  sons  then  settled  here.  And  as  here 
"he  buried  his  Rachel,"  here  he  also  wished  to  die  and  be  buried 
with  her  in  this  cherished  spot.  Far  from  their  scattered  children 
they  here  await,  in  good  hope,  the  resurrection  of  the  just,  and  a 
life  everlasting,  with  all  those  who  here  revered,  and  can  never 
cease  to  love  them. 


There  is  joy  in  Heaven. 


The  Certificate^  of  my  Mother's  Church  membership  at  the 
time  of  her  marriage  &  removal  to  Belfast. 

This  is  to  certify  that  Agnes'  Magee,  otherwise  Smyth,  the 
bearer,  was  born  in  this  Congregation,  and  always  maintained  a 
most  amiable,  reputable  character,  and  is  hereby  most  heartily 
recommended  to  the  third  congregation  of  Belfast,  as  a  Worthy, 
deserving,  Member. 

Saintfield  the  22"''  Tho^  Ledlie  Birch. 

Feb'',   1793. 

Papers  relating  to  a  tomb  stone  for  my  Father  in  the  Ceme- 
tery at  Vincennes,  Indiana,  where  I  had  one  for  Mother  also, 
side  by  side  with  his.  While  looking  at  her's  with  him,  while 
I  was  there,  he  said  he  wished  her  grave  opened  and  his  body 
put  in,  and  his  name  added.  But  I  told  him  to  leave  that  to 
me,  and  I  should  have  another  similar  monument  and  put 
them  side  by  side ;  with  which  he  seemed  much  pleased. 

VINCENNES,  Feb.  21,  1848. 
REV.  THOS  SMYTH, 

DEAR  SIR, 
g^^ygj  I  have  often  thought  of  your  Request  of  me  to 

Smith's  see  to  your  Farthers  Business  and  I  feel  it  my 

tombstone.         ^^^^y  |.q  ^q  g^  ^g  J  thought  mutch  of  him  and  he 

was  a  kind  friend  to  me.  I  often  think  of  him  for  he  Seldom 
Mist  a  day  but  what  he  Came  to  see  me  and  Set  one  or  two 
owers  and  tell  about  what  he  had  done  in  the  ould  Cuntry  I 
have  Paid  all  of  his  Depts  but  ten  dollars  his  Subscription  to 
our  Pritcher  the  Rev.  Mr  J  F.  Smith  this  I  know  he  would 

^The  original  of  this  is  in  Dr.  Smyth's  family  bible. — Ed. 
^This  name  seems  to  be  used  interchangeably  with  "Anne." — Ed. 


432 

have  Paid  willingly  Mr  Fauntleroy  Paid  me  all  the  depts  this 
Stands  unpaid  yet.  the  Grave  Stone  I  should  have  taken  a 
pleasure  in  having  it  Put  up  had  I  had  the  Letters  you  wanted 
on  the  Stone  Mrs  F.  tould  me  before  She  Lef  that  She  had  the 
Lettering  your  wanted  on  I  tould  her  if  She  would  Leave  it 
with  me  I  would  Sent  to  Louisville  and  get  the  Stone  but  She 
went  of  in  Sutch  a  hurry  that  She  did  not  have  it  don  if  you 
whant  it  don  write  to  me  all  about  it  you  Can  tell  whot  it  Cost 
nerly.  Yours  truly, 

J.  W.  MADDOX. 

VINCENNES,  March  29,  1848. 
MR.  THOS.  SMYTH, 
DEAR  SIR, 
Yours  of  the  ninth  is  to  hand  I  have  Receved  the  Stone  but 
have  not  Put  it  up  yet  as  the  wether  has  ben  too  Could  and  I 
had  to  Send  to  Evansville  to  get  good  Lime  to  Lay  the  Brick 
I  think  the  Hole  expences  will  about  $16  for  fraight  Brick 

Repairing  the  Mothers  Grave  and  frame  $16.00 

I  have  Paid  your  farthers  Subscription 10.00 

$26.00 
If  you  think  best  you  can  send  the  amt  for  the  Stone  Cum- 
ing to  Mr  Needham  &  I  will  pay  him. 

Yours  truly 

J.  W.  MADDOX. 

LOUISVILLE,  26  Fehy,  1848. 
Mr  E  Needham  has  ship'd  one  Box.    Containg  Tomb  Stone. 
Care  J.  W.  Maddox  Vincennes.    The  rec't  for  which  we  have 
Seen. 

WM  GARVIN  &  CO 
H.  Fauntleroy,  Esq.) 
Franklin,  Tenn.) 
SIR 
Enclosed  You  will  find  a  Bill  for  Tomb,  sent  by  me  to  J.  W. 
Mad'dox  of  Vincennes  Ind.  for  Mr  Samuel  Smith  dec'd.     It 
is   according  to  the  proposition  given  by  me  to   Mr   Garvin 
which  I  suppose  by  your  letter  he  sent  You.    You  will  please 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  and  inform  me  in  what 
manner  the  proceeds  of  the  Bill  will  be  forwarded,  and  at 
what  time—  The  tombstone  was  carefully  Boxed  and  letter 
sent  to  Mr  Maddox  directing  him  as  to  the  manner  of  setting 
it  up  &c.  very  res'y, 

Your  Obedt  Servant, 
EDGAR  NEEDHAM. 


433 

Mr  Wm  Garvin  for  Samuel  Smith, 
To  Edgar  Needham,  Dr. 

Feby  23.  1848,     For  one  Tombstone  for  Samuel  Smith 

dec'd $27.00 

Cutting  104  Inscription  letters  at  4/^ 4.16 

543  base  do  3/^   16.29 

Louisville  Ky.  Feby  26,  184.8.  ■  $47-45 

„       n     t;  c      ./  FRANKLIN  Mar.  2,  1848. 

Kev.  Dr.  1  nomas  b>  myth,  '      ^ 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 
I  send  you  Mr.  Needham's  letter  as  containing  all  in  regard 
to  your  father's  tomb-stone.  Anna  has  just  been  confined, 
and  has  a  very  fine  boy  named  Thomas  Smyth.  She  is  re- 
markably well.  Her  little  Sam  is  quite  sick,  but  the  Dr. 
thinks  he  is  improving.  I  trust  you  are  all  well,  and  that  the 
little  stranger  takes  this  world  easily.^     *     *     * 

Give  our  love  to  Mrs.  Smyth  and  the  children.    We  would 
be  exceedingly  happy  for  you  to  visit  us  this  Summer. 

Most  truly  yours, 

H.  FAUNTLEROY. 

The    stroke    of    paralysis,    which    necessitated    the 
Paralysis,  ^^^^  banishment  of  1850-51,  occurred  at  night.     Mrs. 

Smyth  was,  according  to  family  tradition,  absent 
from  the  house,  and  the  Doctor  had  for  bed-fellow  his  little- 
daughter,  Sue.  The  child  was  restless,  and  repeatedly  begged  for 
water,  which  he  at  first  tried  to  persuade  her  to  do  without,  as  he 
was  feeling  very  badly.  On  her  persisting  he  rose,  but  fell  to  the 
floor  paralyzed,  as  he  describes,  on  the  left  side.  His  two  boys 
were  summoned  and  brought  assistance.  He  was  not  seriously 
crippled,  but  left  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition;  so  much  so 
that  it  was  recommended  by  his  physicians  that  he  should  not 
work  for  a  long  time.  With  his  wife  as  a  travelling  companion, 
and  stopping  in  New  York  for  a  few  weeks  to  see'  his  "Unity  of 
the  Races"  through  the  press,  Dr.  Smyth  sailed  for  Glasgow,  not 
to  return  home  until  the  Autumn  of  1851  with  his  wife  and  boys. — 
Ed. 

EDINBURGH— /w«^  7,  1850.— 
MY  DEAR,  DEAR  JANEY,  ^^'^'^^^  Morning.- 

Yesterday  morning  amid  the  glens  &  mountain 
Mrs    Smyth      f^stnesses  of  Scotland  I  framed  a  letter  to  vou,  to 

to  her   sister.  .  ^  ,  - 

be  written  immediately  on  my  arrival  here,  quite 
in  a  rapt,  enthusiastic  mood.     But  as  soon  as  we  got  into  our 

'Joseph  Ellison  Adger  Smyth  was  born  on  Oct.  25,  1847. — Ed. 

128] 


434 

rooms,  Ellison  ran  to  the  Post  Office,  returning  with  a  letter 
from  Bro.  Wm  &  Mother  to  himself,  &  yours  to  me  (contain- 
ing Augustine's),  giving  an  account  of  the  fire  on  the  wharf 
&c;  which  so  brought  us  all  home,  that  we  spent  the  evening 
talking  about  you  all  &  quite  forgot  our  mountain  scenery. — 
This  morning  we  are  to  see  the  sights  of  Edinboro — yet  before 
we  go  out  I  must  commence  a  letter,  as  this  is  the  last  day  for 
the  steamer.  I  left  in  Glasgow  a  letter  to  Mother  commenced 
at  sea,  &  one  for  Liz.  Ellison. —  These  will  tell  of  our  voyage 
&c.   and  meeting  Ellison   &   Sue."     We   left   Glasgow   at    ii 

o'clock  in  a  heavy  rain  for  Loch  Lomond,  but  it 
^pijg  cleared  off,  as  they  all  told  us  it  would,  &  we  had 

a  delightful  day; — went  down  the  Clyde  to  Dum- 
barton, then  in  an  omnibus  to  Balloch,  then  in  a  small  steamer 
up  the  lake  to  the  'Tnveranan  Inn;"^ — here  the  scenery  was 
most  wild  &  magnificent,  far  beyond'  that  of  Lake  George, 
/  think — altho'  I  am  so  much  of  a  Yankee  as  to  think  all  in 
my  own  country  is  best  &  finest. —  The  Inn  was  a  "fancy  one" 
— built  like  a  castle,  every  thing  around  neat  &  in  exquisite 
taste,  fare  good,  &  country-like- — a  week  there  would  have 
done  Ellison  &  Mr.  S.  both  good — more  apt  to  fatten  them 
than  journeying; — but  there  is  so  much  to  be  done  that  we 
could  not  stay,  so  very  reluctantly  the  next  morning  we  took 
the  steam  boat  down  again  &  stopped  at  Inversnaid — where  is 
a  beautiful  water  fall.  Here  we  had  to  climb  a  steep  moun- 
tain side  which  brought  Sue  &  me  to  our  wind — as  soon  as  we 
gained  the  ascent  we  took  two  "droskies."  Joe,  Sue — Jane  & 
Jimmy  in  one;  Mr.  S.,  myself,  &  the  two  carpet  bags  in  the 
other ;  had  a  most  romantic  ride  of  6  miles  among  the  moun- 
tains across  to  Lake  Katrine,  the  scene  of  the  Lady  of  the  Lake. 
This  exceeded  my  expectations,  it  was  beautiful  &  wild  in  the 
highest  degree.  And  then  just  to  think  you  were  riding  among 
the  glens  &  mountains  of  Scotland — smelling  the  heather  &c. 
&c.  We  took  a  steamboat  down  the  Lake,  then  a  droskie  thro' 
the  Trosachs — then  to  Callander  8z:  on  to  Stirling.  Here  it 
rained — heavily — but  we  saw  the  Castle  &c — then  took  the  Rail 

Way  (as  it  is  called  here)  to  Edinboro. —  We  ar- 
Edinburgh.        ^.^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  g  o'clock— not  yet  dark— the  sun 

not  yet  down, — after  a  most  delightful  ride  through  a  beauti- 

*Probably  the  fire  referred  to  by  Dr.  Adger  as  destroying 
$50,000  of  cotton,  etc.  He  describes  his  father's  courage  and 
cheerfulness.     Life  and  Times,  p.  39. — Ed. 

®Mrs.  Smyth's  youngest  brother,  Joseph  Ellison  Adger,  called 
as  a  pet  name  "Joe,"  his  wife  Sue,  their  eldest  child,  James,  with 
his  nurse,  Jane,  joined  Dr  and  Mrs.  Smyth  on  their  arrival. — Ed. 


435 

ful  country,  highly  cultivated. —  The  country  is  very  beautiful 
just  now,  just  bursting  into  summer,  spring  hardly  over. — 
Strawberries  are  only,  just  in  blossom  &  will  not  be  ripe  for  two 
or  3  weeks  yet.  Roses  only  in  bud.  The  weather  is  pleasant 
at  mid-day  but  always  cool  in  the  morning  &  evening — we 
never  go  out  without  a  thick  shawl — &  Mr.  S.  his  overcoat. 
Since  we  have  been  here,  we  have  had  a  little  fire  in  our  par- 
lour both  morning  &  evening —  It  is  now  evening — we  have 
done  our  day's  work, — did  not  get  home  until  after  8  o'clock, 
too  late  to  finish  my  letter  for  this  day's  mail ;  we  have  had  our 
tea,  &  now  are  sitting  around  the  table.  Mr.  S.  is  reading  a 
newspaper  (Scotch),  Sue  a  descriptive  pamphlet  of  this  "guid 
town"^ — Ellison  has  a  Scotch  song  book — &  is  reading  &  sing- 
ing. Jane  is  in  the  bed  room  with  Jimmy.  I  am  writing. — 
Can  you  see  us?  We  have  a  small  parlour  but  it  is  a  front 
one,  has  tzvo  windows,  the  house  is  on  a  corner.  We  have  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  monument  just  before  us,  as  I  raise  my  head 
from  the  paper,  my  eye  rests  upon  it.  Then  beyond  is  the 
Castle — &  just  opposite,  the  Free  Church  College; — from  the 
other  window  we  have  the  Rail  Road  Station — but  it  is  below 
us — &  just  beyond  is  a  row  of  houses — ten  stories  high.  This 
morning  Mr.  S.  left  us  to  call  on  some  of  the  clergy  he  wished 
to  see — Joe,  Sue  &  I  started  for  Carlton-hill  with  our  guide- 
book. While  we  were  busy  admiring  the  beautiful  views  &c. 
— looking  at  the  monuments,  Ellison  spied  a  regiment  of 
Highlanders  being  reviewed — so  we  started,  had  a  long  walk 
thro'  the  old  town,  saw  some  of  its  "closes,"  clothes  hanging 
out  of  the  windows  to  dry  &c.  &c.  passed  Holyrood  palace,  & 
got  to  the  parade  ground.  Ellison  estimated  the  number  in 
uniform  as  at  least  i,ooo — 50  musicians.  It  was  a  grand  sight. 
— We  waited  until  they  got  thro' — &  negro-like,  marched  with 
them  into  the  town. —  Strolling  along  the  streets  we  encount- 
ered Mr.  S.,  &  after  looking  among  the  shops,  returned  to 
dinner  at  2. —  During  our  ramble,  we  had  several  showers  of 
rain.  These  come  up  very  quickly — rain  heavily,  &  then  as 
quickly  clear  ofif — nobody  seems  to  mind  it.  Ladies  in  full 
dress,  nurses  with  babies,  all  go  on  as  if  nothing  unusual.  This 
afternoon  we  took  a  cab,  &  rode  out  to  the  ruins  of  Roslin 
Castle — 7  miles ;  returning  we  passed  round  the  mountain  on 
which  is  Arthur's  seat — 4  miles.  It  is  a  new  road  lately  fin- 
ished, called  the  "Queen's  drive."  The  views  were  beautiful — 
but  you  have  seen  them  all. —  Mr.  S.  has  been  telling  us  that 
we  must  go  to  the  top  to  see  the  sun  rise,  as  you  all  did.  He 
would  not  be  able  to  go  himself,  &  I  rather  think  we  will  not 


436 

Dr.  Smyth  attempt  it. —  Mr.  S.  goes  tomorrow  to  breakfast 
meets  Dr.  with  Dr.  Cunningham.  Dr.  C.  is  to  call  after- 
Cunningham,  wards  with  him  to  take  us  to  the  Free  Church 
College,  University,  &c. —  Mr.  S.  says  it  is  bed 
time.  We  have  had  worship  together.  He  has  gone  to  his 
room,  Sue  to  hers.  Ellison  is  bringing  up  his  journal  but 
says — "let  us  go,  it  is  ii  o'clock."  Good  night  my  dear,  dear- 
Sister. 

Saturday  Night — June  8. —  My  dear  Sister,  we  have  had  a 
busy  day,  &  this  evening  Ellison  brought  us  in  Mother's  letter 
to  him,  with  an  addition  from  Sis  Susan,  &  Brs.  Wm. ;  & 
Adger's  to  me  with  a  P.  S.  from  Sis  Susan ;  also  3  newspapers 
containing  an  account  of  the  fire :  of  course  we  are  deeply  in- 
terested; we  have  spent  the  evening  reading  the  papers  & 
talking  about  you  all.  It  has  added  very  much  to  my  enjoyment 
having  Ellison  &  Sue  here,  &  they  seem  equally  happy  in 
meeting  us.  We  have  talked  a  great  deal  about  you  all,  & 
although  we  feel  thankful  for  the  letters  we  have,  we  are  only 
the  more  desirous  for  others.  *  *  Mr.  S.  says  I  "did  noth- 
ing in  New  York  but  write  letters  home." — I  did  write  very 
frequently.  If  they  were  not  addressed  to  you,  believe  me, 
dear  Janey,  I  feel  deeply  your  kindness  to  my  children — &  to 
myself.  I  am  grateful  too  for  your  frequent  &  long  letters. 
Do  continue  them,  even  if  I  should  not  answer;  there  are  so 
many  at  home  to  be  written  to.  We  hope  that  our  next 
accounts  from  home  will  tell  us,  that  your  fears  about  the 
extent  of  the  loss  will  not  be  verified — but  if  they  are,  it  is 
nothing  to  what  it  might  have  been ;  &  nothing  when  all  the 
papers,  &c.  were  saved — &  no  life  lost.  Let  us  be  thankful 
for  the  mercies,  &  take  a  lesson  of  the  vanity  &  transitoriness 
of  earthly  riches — how  soon  do  they  take  to  themselves  wings 
&  fly  away.  I  am  glad  to  hear  Father  bears  the  loss  so  well, 
but  I  do  wish  now,  more  than  I  did  before  this  fire,  that  he 
would  leave  Charleston ;  if  he  remains  there,  he  will  expose 
himself  so  much,  having  the  wharf  put  to  rights  again.  The 
letters  from  my  children*  are  very  precious  to  me,  but  I  don't 
know  how  I  made  such  a  mistake  as  not  to  send  a  sufficiency 
of  warm  clothing  for  them — it  was  a  sad  mistake — &  one  I 
regret  much. — •  It  is  too  late  now  I  suppose,  to  attempt  to  rec- 
tify it  for  the  girls.  Thanks  to  you  for  attending  to  the  boys. 
— If  you  do  not  go  to  Virginia,  Mother  did  say  she  would  go 

*The  children  were  sent  for  the  Summer  to  their  Cousin  Lizzie, 
(Mrs.  William  Ellison)  in  Winnsboro,  Fairfield  County,  with  their 
dear  nurse,  Ellen,  in  charge  of  them.  The  baby,  Janey,  was  very 
young;  born  on  March  4,  1849. — Ed. 


437 

up  &  see  them ;  oh !  how  I  wish  she  would — they  would  be  so 
delighted  to  see  her; — &  if  it  is  late  when  she  goes,  perhaps 
she  would  bring  them  down  with  her,  &  that  would  save  me 
going  up  for  them  when  I  return.  You  see  how  necessary  it 
was  for  some  one  to  be  with  them  who  could  arrange  &  plan 
for  them  more  than  Ellen  could  be  expected  to  do. 

Mr.  S.  tells  me  he  has  a  message  for  Bro.  John,  which  he 
wishes  to  go  now,  so  dear  Janey,  please  excuse  the  occupancy 
of  your  letter  with  it  &  give  it. — 

Dr.   Smyth  Brother  John  will  please  direct  one  copy,  pre- 

sends  articles  paid,  of  my  Missionary''  paper,  of  my  article  on 
to  friends.  Bacchus,*  &  of  my  pamphlet  on  Assurance"  (which 
will  be  found  in  the  end  of  the  Library),  to  Rev.  Dr.  Reid, 
professor  in  the  University — Glasgow ; —  to  Rev.  David  King, 
L.L.  D.  Glasgow  ; — Rev.  Dr.  Cunningham,  Edinburgh ;  Rev. 
Dr.  Halley,  Manchester ;  Rev.  Dr.  Candlish,  Edinburgh.  Also 
a  copy  of  each  No.  of  the  5".  P.  Reviezv,  having  Dr.  Thorn- 
well's  articles  on  "Morell,"  to  Dr.  Cunningham  &  Dr  Candlish. 
Ele  will  also  please  see  whether  they  must  be  prepaid,  &  if  so, 
have  it  done.  They  are  anxious  to  see  them.  Thomas  Smyth. 
You  or  Sis  Susan  can  shew  Bro.  John  where 
Mrs.      myt       ^-j-igse  may  be  found  &  Sam  can  tie  them  up — so 

resumes  letter.  .         -'  _  _  ^     _ 

he  will  only  have  to  direct  them,  &  this  I  think 
you  can  do  in  your  fine,  bold,  style,  so  he  will  only  have  to 
mail  them. —  They  have  all  gone  to  bed  &  left  me,  dear  Janey, 
&  Mr.  S.  is  calling  for  me.  My  letter  was  too  late  for  the  last 
steamer,  but  I  wrote  then  to  Mother  &  Ellison  wrote  to  Sis. 
Susan.  This  I  expect  will  catch  the  Pacific.  I  am  not  fretting 
nor  moping  now — I  am  kept  too  busy,  have  hardly  time  to 
write — yet  I  can  not  help  sending  many  anxious  thoughts 
across  the  water. 

Mr.  S.  is  much  the  same,  two  days  ago,  he  complained  much 
&  looked  very  badly — I  felt  very  anxious — since  we  have  been 
here,  he  has  been  so  much  with  Drs.  Candlish,  Cunningham, 
&c.  &c.  he  has  quite  revived.     In  much  love  to  all, 

Your  SISTER  M.— 

LONDON.— /w/y  i,  1850.— 
MY  VERY  DEAR  JANEY,  —Monday^ 

For  the  first  time  since  I  left  you,  a  steamer  has 
Mrs^  Smyth       arrived  by  which  I  had  no  letters.     You  really 

to    her    sister.  -'  ....  . 

have  been  very  kind  in  writing.     I  feel  indebted 

'His  magazine. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  VI,  pp.  17,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

*See  vol.  VI,  pp.  573,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


438 

to  you  for  this,  as  well  as  for  your  other  many  acts  of  kind- 
ness— I  feel  I  cannot  repay  you,  but  by  my  ardent  love,  &  that 
you  have  in  no  measured  quantity. 

I  wrote  to  Mother  very  hurriedly  &  I  fear  almost  illegibly, 
at  Liverpool,  and  hope  she  has  been  able  to  decipher  the  letter. 
In  it  was  an  enclosure  for  Ellen  &  the  children.  I  forgot  to 
authorize  Bro.  Robt.  to  open  it  &  forward  to  Winnsboro. — 
We  left  Liverpool  that  day  by  rail  road,  &  slept  at  Coventry. 
The  next  day  came  to  London,  went  to  an  Hotel  which  some- 
body had  recommended  to  Ellison  for  cheap.  We  went  to  an 
eating  house  for  dinner — which  cost  us  there  less  than  i  shilling 
each. — ■  The  next  morning  we  came  to  private  lodgings  rec- 
ommended to  us  by  Dr.  Henry,  of  Dublin,  at  Mrs.  Williams' — 
4  Warwick  St.  Charing  Cross.  We  have  two  bed-rooms  &  a 
parlour.  Jane  sleeps  in  the  parlour,  on  a  bed  made  up  every 
night. —  We  keep  house,  but  as  yet  have  only  taken  breakfast 
here — dinner  &  tea  we  take  at  different  eating  houses  where  we 
get  very  good  fare,  at  much  less  expense.  We  have  great 
fun,  "economizing,"  Ellison  enters  into  the  idea  with  great 
spirit.  I  am  often  surprised  at  him,  for  I  thought  he  did  not 
m^ind  expense.  We  economize  by  riding  always  in  the  2d. 
class  cars — without  cushions, — &  by  seldom  dining  at  an  Hotel 
— always  at  an  eating  house,  when  not  invited  out.  With  all 
our  economy  the  money  goes  very  fast. — •  Saturday  we  visited 
St.  Paul's — &  the  Coliseum — Sunday,  went  to  the  Temple 
Church ;  at  3  P.  M.  to  Westminster,  heard  the  service  chanted. 
— At  night  heard  the  celebrated  Baptist,  Noel — preach  a  good, 
spiritual  sermon.  Monday  we  visited  Westminster  Abbey — 
Hall,  &  Vauxhall.  This  morning  we  have  been  with  Mr.  Wm. 
Brown^  all  over  the  new  houses  of  Parliament;  into  the  house 
of  Lords — where  we  saw  Lord  Brougham ; — stood  at  the  door 
of  the  house  of  Commons,  went  all  thro'  the  buildings.  Sue 
&T  had  the  honour  of  riding  with  Mr.  Brown  in  his  carriage 
(while  Mr.  S.  &  Ellison  followed  in  a  cab,)  to  the  Am.  Min- 
ister, Abbott  Lawrence,  to  get  a  passport  for  Ellison.  We  then 
called  at  Mr.  Brown's  house,  (while  Mr.  Brown,  M.  P.  sent 
up  his  card  to  enquire  for  Sir  Robt.  Peel ;  you  will  hear  of  his 
accident).    Both  Mr.  &  Mrs.  B.  had  already  called  &  left  their 

^In  the  same  vessel  which  brought  James  Adger  to  America, 
came  Alexander  Brown,  who  established  a  great  banking  business 
in  Baltimore,  employing  his  sons  as  agents  in  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia. William  was  sent  to  England,  where  he  became  head 
of  the  firm  of  Brown,  Shipley,  &  Co.,  a  member  of  Parliament,  and 
a  Knight.  A  very  close  friendship  existed  between  the  families 
of  Adger  and   Brown. — Ed. 


439 

cards,  before  he  came  this  morning  to  take  us  to  the  Parha- 
ment  House.  He  is  the  same  kind  old  man,  I  have  ever  found 
him.     He  does  not  look  any  older. — 

Wednesday  July  3. '  After  Mr.  B.  left  us  at  our  Lodgings — 
we  went  to  our  dinner — then  to  the  "Diorama"  (beautiful), 
then  to  Madam  Tussaud's  Wax  Works — which  I  believe  you 
have  seen.—  Sue  holds  out  wonderfully,  goes  through  a  great 
deal  of  fatigue.  We  all  walk  a  great  deal,  I  am  often  aston- 
ished. Mr.  Brown  told  us  yesterday  there  were  1^0  stair  cases 
in  the  house  of  Parliament;  of  course  we  did  not  see  them  all. 
It  is  an  immense  pile  of  buildings —  They  have  been  at  them 
10  years, —  Mr.  B.  says  it  will  be  at  least  10  years  longer 
before  they  get  through — &  the  Hall  for  the  Commons  is  a 
failure — too  small,  &  they  can't  hear. — 

Yesterday  I  received  Sis  Susan's  letter  of  June  12  &  13,  & 
Ellison  received  one  from  Bro.  Wm.  I  find  you  are  still  in 
Charleston — but  expect  to  leave  June  27;  I  really  hope  you 
will — for  I  think  it  will  benefit  you  all,  the  change  of  air;  it 
will  do  Sis  Susan  good,  &  I  think  she  needs  it.  Father  & 
Mother  too. —  (You  are  so  good,  you  do  not  need  it.)  Bro. 
Wm.  has  given  Ellison  much  longer  time  than  he  was  willing 
to  take.  He  had  almost  concluded  to  sail  July  31.  This  would 
hurry  him  a  great  deal,  &  he  has  been  hurrying  all  the  time. 
He  is  very,  very  thin,  but  his  health  &  appetite  are  good,  &  he 
seems  to  enjoy  very  much  the  pleasures  of  "sight 
Mrs.   Smyth's   ^^^i^^^f     Whether  he  will  prolong  his  time  here, 

return    home.  '^  . 

I  do  not  know^ — the  Atlantic  sails  the  last  of 
August ;  I  wish  him  to  wait  until  then,  &  I  would  go  with  him. 
Mr.  S.  wishes  me  to  wait  for  the  trip  after  that  wh.  would  be 
the  last  of  Sept. ;  but  all  these  plans  we  only  talk  of.     Nothing 

as  yet  concluded.  Mr.  S.,  I  would  fain  hope,  is 
health  ""^^   ^     better,  but  whether  it  is  permanent  is  a  question. 

If  he  was  obliged  now  to  resume  his  labours,  he 
would  be,  as  he  ivas.  He  is  still  very  nervous,  writes  with 
great  labour,  at  times  with  difficulty.  He  is  much  depressed 
about  himself —  Feels  that  he  will  never  be  able  to  resume  the 
pulpit,  but  must  go  home  to  resign  it —  He  dreads  very  much 
being  left  here  alone,  does  not  know  how  he  will  get  through 
the  time  without  resuming  his  studies.  He  will  feel  it  more, 
from  having  had  so  many  of  us  with  him.  Our  being  together 
has  enhanced  the  pleasure  of  us  all.  Joe  &  Sue  were  very 
homesick  when  we  met,  &  Ellison  has  been  a  great  help  to  Mr. 
S.  in  seeing  to  luggage— -getting  tickets  for  rail  cars,  &c.  &c. 
We  have  some  high  scenes,  &  some  good  laughs  at  each  other's 
expense — or,   as   Joe   says, — when   we   shew  we  are  "green." 


440 

We  expect  to  leave  next  week  for  Paris. —  Ellison  has  just 
come  in,  says  Sir  Robt.  Peel  is  dead ! — so  that  is  a  loss  almost 
equal  to  ours  in  Calhoun  &  Elmore ! — &  there  will  be,  I  suppose, 
as  great  a  glorification. —  Ellison  has  just  rec'd  Bro.  James' 
letter. 

It  has  been  raining  to  day,  &  Ellison  &  Mr.  S.  had  gone  out 
for  a  little,  &  left  me  to  write ;  but  they  have  both  come  in  now 
&  are  clamorous  for  me  to  finish.  I  have  but  little  time  to 
write,  none  to  read ; — &  I  believe  I  am  losing  the  power  of 
writing,  for  I  do  make  sad  work  of  it.  Do  excuse  this  &  all 
others ;  when  I  get  time  I  will  write  better.  Do  write  to  me 
often,  I  shall  feel  anxious  to  hear  how  Father  &  Mother  stand 
the  travelling  to  Virginia.  I  do  hope  they  will  both  be  bene- 
fitted by  the  baths.  If  not,  the  change  of  air  &  travel  will 
restore  their  spirits  &  do  them  good  in  that  way. —  Write  to 
me  often.  You  &  Sis  Susan  have  been  very  attentive,  pray 
continue  so.  It  is  such  a  comfort  to  me.  I  have  written  by 
every  steamer,  at  least  once  a  week.  *  *  I  have  not  yet 
heard  the  size  of  the  gloves  you  wear.  I  w'd  get  some  for  you 
in  Paris — if  I  knew  the  size  &  colours  you  &  Sis  Susan  w'd 
like.  Did  I  tell  you  that  Sam  Henderson^  has  given  me  cloth 
for  a  coat  for  Father  &  one  for  Wm  ?  I  will  bring  it  with  me. 
In  much  love, — but  great  haste,  Mr.  S.  &  Joe  both  waiting, — 
to  all.  .  yours  ever, 

M.  M.  A.  S. 

FARlS^Sabbath—July  14  1850— 
MY  VERY  DEAR  JANEY, 

What  would  I  not  give  to  have  you  with  us 
Mrs.  Smyth       todav — how  much  you  would  help  us !     I  have 

to    ncr    sister.  "^  , 

often  said  to  Ellison  when  we  have  been  walking 
out,  if  Janey  could  only  be  with  us — or  if  Janey  could  see  us 
now,  how  she  would  laugh ! 

I  wrote  to  Sis  Susan  just  before  leaving  London.  As  I  was 
concluding  it,  I  received  yours,  as  a  P.  S.  to  Liz  Ellison's,  & 
also  as  a  conclusion  to  Mother's;  they  came  by  the  same 
steamer.    You  asked  me  to  give  you  my  first  impressions  of  a 

foreign  country.  I  was  much  struck  on  our  ar- 
Giasgow.  ^.^^j  .^  Glasgow  with  the  novelty  of  everything — 

(I  had  been  long  at  sea  you  know,  &  just  from  home — )  the 
appearance  of  the  men,  their  big  hats,  large  coat — collars,  & 
their  red,  rough  faces :  the  women  too,  with  the  same  cast  of 
coarse  features;  flounced  to  their  hips,  &  blousy  collars;  & 
^An  Irishman  who  had  at  one  time  lived  in  Charleston,  but  was 
now  returned  to  Randalstown. — Ed. 


441 

then  they  strode  along  with  such  steps !  The  town  itself  was 
exquisitely  clean,  all  built  of  a  white  stone,  giving  it  a  solid 
substantial  comfortable  look;  there  was  no  appearance  of  pov- 
erty, no  little  cabins,  or  small  red-brick  houses.  We  arrived 
on  Sunday  morning  early;  &  as  we  rode  a  long  way  through 
the  town,  when  there  were  few  persons  astir,  I  had  time  to  see 
all  this — after  we  had  got  breakfast  &  got  out  again  on  our 
way  to  Church,  the  streets  were  all  thronged  with  people  with 
their  bibles  in  their  hands,  all  on  the  way  to  Church.  I  then 
had  room  for  my  other  comments.  But  what  most  of  all  sur- 
prised &  annoyed  me  was  the  barefooted,  white  women;  men 
had  on  shoes  &  stockings,  but  women,  in  other  respects  com- 
fortably &  decently  clad,  were  all  barelegged  &  barefooted — 
if  the  skin  had  been  black,  perhaps  I  would  not  have  minded  it, 
but  the  white  skin,  the  bare  legs,  grated  much  on  my  sense  of 
propriety ;— the  unbonneted  head,  too,  was  another  strange 
sight, — clean,  tidy  caps,  with  wide  fluted  frills,  around  their 
faces — but  no  bonnets- — <&  bare  feet  &  legs.  I  spoke  to  several 
persons,  they  all  assured  me  it  was  no  evidence  of  poverty, 
but  custom.  The  zvomen  liked  to  be  barefooted.  In  Ireland 
it  was  different,  there  was  poverty  &  distress,  but  with  it  wit 
&  warmheartedness. —  I  like  the  Scotch,  I  like  their  thrift  & 
many  of  they  ways  &  customs.  But  my  heart  goes  out  to 
Ireland,  I  love  the  people.  I  feel  for  their  poverty  &  their 
oppression — 'they  are  a  priest-ridden,  government-ridden  peo- 
ple, but  nothing  can  conquer  their  native  wit  &  their  warm- 
hearted, ready  answer  to  a  kind  work.  I  have  not  seen  much 
of  England,  for  we  were  but  j4  day  in  Liverpool  &  I  was  not 
out  at  all — we  steamed  it  to  Coventry,  &  next  day  to  London, 
where  we  were  12  days.  Perhaps  you  will  say  in  seeing  Lon- 
don, I  saw  the  best  of  England.  It  may  be  so. — But  I  had 
become  accustomed  to  strange  sights,  they  were  beginning  to 
pall  upon  my  senses — &  our  intercourse  there  was  mostly  with 
cab-drivers,  omnibus  people,  &c.,  &  I  saw  nothing  so  much  of 
novelty. — 

But  here  again  I  feel  that  I  am  in  a  new  world, 
or  rather  a  different  world,  for  much  is  old, — but 
all  is  strange. —  We  came  by  the  route  via  Folkstone  to 
Boulogne — 2  hours  at  Sea;— on  our  approach  to  the  French 
shores — a  host  of  white-capped  women  rushed  down  the  water 
stairs,  clamoring  for  some  fish,  a  boat  full  of  which  was  just 
coming  in.  As  we  came  up  to  the  dock  another  band  came  on 
board,  &  the  way  they  seized  the  trunks  &  clapped  them  on 
their  backs,  &  hastened  up  to  the  Custom  House,  "was  a  cau- 
tion."'—  We  had  a  high  scene  having  our  trunks  examined ; 


442 

Sue  &  I  were  in  an  inside  room,  into  which  the  trunks  were 
shoved  thro'  an  opening,  while  Mr.  S.  &  Ehison  were  on  the 
other  side.  Their  efforts  to  be  understood  were  laughable. 
Of  course  we  had  nothing-  contraband,  so  we  got  off :  then  to 
see  the  trunks  put  upon  a  hand  cart  &  wheeled  by  half  a  dozen 
women,  some  pushing — some  pulling — some  holding  on,  all 
talking — while  we  were  in  another  conveyance,  on  our  way  to 
the  "chemin  de  fer,"  which  we  reached  in  time  to  take  our 
seats  in  2d.  class  car  for  Paris,  arriving  here  at  10  o'clock, — 
It  was  a  long  ride — &  a  monotonous  one ;  I  was  much  dis- 
appointed in  the  beauty  of  the  country,  it  is  not  to  be  compared 
to  England.-  Mr.  S.  says  it  is  not  as  fine  a  country  as  he  came 
through  before,  on  the  other  route,  via  Dover  &  Calais. —  We 
are  at  Meurice's,  have  3  bed-rooms,  &  a  parlour  in  which  we 
take  our  breakfast  every  morning. —  I  have  been  disappointed 
too  in  the  coffee ;  we  have  had  it  here  three  mornings  &  several 
times  in  cafes,  &  have  not  yet  met  with  any  superior.  Ellison 
agrees  with  me.  Sue  &  Mr.  S.  drink  black  tea.  The  Ice  creams 
too,  Mr.  S.  &  Joe  say,  are  not  equal  to  Thompson's.^  I  do 
not  profess  to  be  a  connoisseur  in  that  article,  as  I  seldom  eat 
it — but  the  coffee  I  do  know. 

Friday,  our  first  day,  we  sauntered  about,  looking  in  at  the 
shop  windows,  &c.  &c !  !  Saturday  we  took  a  valet  &  an  open 
carriage,  went  to  Notre  Dame  (when  again  I  was  disappointed, 
it  is  not  to  be  compared  for  beauty  or  size  to  Westminster 
Abbey;)  and  the  Gobelins, — 'these  far  exceeded  my  expecta- 
tions, I  could  not  conceive  of  any  thing  so  exquisitely  done; 
indeed  I  had  to  go  up  &  examine  to  be  convinced  some  pieces 
of  tapestry  were  not  fine  painting ; — then  the  Garden  des  Plan- 
tes —  &  Pere  la  Chaise, — I  have  not  yet  made  up  mind  whether 
I  was  disappointed  or  not.  It  certainly  was  very  different  from 
what  I  expected,  not  like  Laurel  Hill  or  Mt.  Auburn.  The 
little  chapels  with  the  crowns  of  everlasting  &c.  were  strange 
to  me — but  the  whole  was  so  crowded,  that  the  good  effect 
was  lost.  We  went  to  the  Corn  Market,  &  into  the  Church  of 
Notre  Dame  de  Lorette,  &  that  of  St.  Eustace,  where  we  wit- 
nessed part  of  a  marriage  ceremony — it  was  too  tedious  to  stay 
for  it  all : — by  this  time  we  were  done  out  &  went  to  a  Cafe 
in  the  Palais  Royal  to  dinner. —  This  is  the  Sabbath.  Mr.  S. 
&  I  went  this  morning  to  an  Episcopal  Church  &  heard  a  good 
sermon ; — but  we  had  a  long  walk  &  the  day  is  warm,  so  he 

'This  is  apparently  an  error  for  Thompkins,  who  was  the  best 
confectioner  in  Philadelphia  at  that  time  and  always  supplied  Mr. 
Fleming's  house.  Thompkins'  shop  was  on  Chestnut  St.;  he  was 
succeeded  by  Dexter. — Ed. 


443 

returned  at  3  to  a  second  service,  while  I  remained  to  rest  & 

write  this.     Mr.  S.  is  to  return  for  me  at  5  to  go  with  him  to 

hear  Mr.  Monod.     *     *     * 

I  expect  Mr.  S.  in  every  moment ;  when  he  comes  I  must 

close  in  haste.    We  will  be  here  all  of  next  week  &  then  return 

to  London  for  a  few  days.    Ellison,  I  think,  will  sail  on  Atlantic 

Aug.   21,   &  I   expect  I   will   go  with  him   unless   something 

should  occur  to  prevent.     Mr.  S.  is  complaining  much  to  day 

of  the  stiffness  of  his  arm,  &  side. —  Here  he  is  &  now  Good 

bye. —  In  love  to  all,  ,^  ^    n-    ^-       ,  , 

•^  Yours  most  aitectionately, 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 

Dr  Smyth's  ^^  ^^^  ^'^Y  intention  and  arrangement  in  1850, 
Winter  in  wheu  I  left  homc  for  an  absence  of  eighteen 
London.  nionths,  to  joiu   company  with   Dr.   Scott  of  N. 

Orleans,  (now  of  St.  Francisco,)  and  make  the  tour  of  Egypt, 
the  Desert,  Palestine,  Greece,  Germany,  Italy,  &c.  While  in 
Dublin  I  domesticated  with  a  physician  for  some  weeks,  by 
whom  I  was  led  to  consult  Sir.  Henry  Marsh  and  Dr.  Greaves, 
which  I  did  separately.  Both  concurred  in  discountenancing 
the  projected  tour  as  too  laborious  and  exciting  for  my  con- 
dition of  nervous  prostration.  I  was  similarly  advised  in  Lon- 
don, and  reluctantly  abandoned  my  plans,  allowing  Dr.  Scott 
to  pass  on  and  leave  me  in  London.  Here  I  spent  the  winter 
from  November  until  May,  when  I  proceeded  to  Liverpool  f  to 
meet  my  wife  and  two  elder  sons,  Adger  and  Augustine ;  with 
whom  I  visited  London  during  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition, 
and  made  a  tour  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  spending 
some  time  at  Kingston,  near  Dublin,  where  I  used  hot  and  cold 
sea  bathing,  &c. 

While  in  London,  I  had  opportunity  of  attending  all  the 
yearly  course  of  Lectures,  before  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  and  the  numerous  public  and  excited  meetings  oc- 
casioned by  the  Romish  aggressions  in  establishing  an  Arch- 
bishopric for  England.  I  spent  one  evening  weekly  at  tea  and 
Prayer  Meeting  with  Rev.  James  Hamilton  D.  D.,  of  Regent 
Square  Church,  whom  I  found  to  be  a  most  cordial,  lovely,  and 
sympathizing  friend.  I  also  dined  frequently  with  Professor 
Campbeir  of  the  Presbyterian  College,  and  attended  his  and 
Dr.  Hamilton's  lectures  at  Exeter. 

t  His  wife  and  sons  arrived  on  the  Pacific,  making  the  trip  in 
nine  days,  the  shortest  then  on  record.  Dr.  Smyth  went  out  to 
meet  the  ship  on  one  of  the  fleet  of  decorated  tugs,  which,  blowing 
their  whistles  loudl3%  greeted  the  Pacific  in  the  Mersey. 

"See  letter,  p.  454.— Ed. 


444 

I  Spent  my  Sabbath  evenings  either  with  the  Rev.  W.  J. 
Unwin,  (descendant  of  the  Cowper  Unwins,)  then  head  of  the 
Congregational  Educational  Institution,  (now  at  Homerton,) 
or  with  the  Rev.  John  Stoughton  of  Kensington,  author  of 
several  works.  Both  were  fellow  students  with  me  while  in 
London  and  intimate  friends." 

I  also  attended  Dr.  Archer's  weekly  Young  Men's  Bible 
Class,  or  Free  Religious  Conversational  Mutual  Instruction 
Class,  taking  part  in  the  latter.  I  frequently  heard  him  also 
on  Sabbath.  He  preached  in  the  Church  off  the  Ha3^market  in 
which  Baxter  had  preached,  and  in  which  was  still  visible  the 
back  exit  through  which  on  occasion  he  might  escape. 

I  had  opportunities  also  of  cultivating  the  acquaintance,  and 
meeting  at  dinner  and  tea,  the  famous  Thomas  Binney ;  as  well 
as  J.  Howard  Hinton,  w^hom  Dr.  Bacon,  of  New  Haven,  and  I, 
heard  preach  on  Sabbath  evening,  breakfasting  together  with 
him  on  Monday. 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  also,  more  than  once,  with  Dr. 
Archer,  Mr.  Weir,  &c. 

I  visited  Paternoster  Row  every  day,  and  frequently  took 
dinner  with  old  Richard  Baynes,  for  many  years  and  until 
death,  my  Bookseller.^  The  pursuit  of  books  at  old  Book 
stores  was  a  course  of  constant  occupation  and  enjoyment. 

I  composed  also  sermons  &c.  and  had  a  number  copied  in 
fair  readable  hand. 

My  work  on  the  Unity  of  the  Human  Races,  and  on  Con- 
firmation, passed  through  the  press''  also  during  this  period, 
and  were  corrected. 

It  was  on  the  whole  a  very  eventful,  interesting,  and  yet  often 
doleful  and  solitary  season;  of  very  deep  heart-searching,  and 
earnest,  prayerful,  and  personal  communion  with  God. 

I  endeavoured  every  Sabbath  afternoon  to  be  at  West- 
minster or  Lincoln's  Inn,  where  I  often  heard  Mr.  Maurice 
(who  has  made  a  School)  ;  also  at  the  Temple  Church  and 
others,  as  occasion  invited. 

On  Thursday  mornings  I  endeavoured  always  to  hear  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Melville  at  the  "Golden  Lecture,"  on  East  Lothbury, 
along  side  of  the  Bank  of  England. 

I  frequently  also  visited  Bunhill  Cemetery  and  meditated 

®See  account  of  life  at  Highbury  College. — Ed. 

°Baynes  sold  him  books  when  he  was  a  student  at  Highbury. 
Paternoster  Row  is  the.  quaint,  narrow  alley  back  of  St.  Paul's 
churchyard,  given  over  entirely  to  booksellers,  chiefly  of  religious 
books. — Ed. 

'The   Edinburgh   edition. — Ed. 


445 

among  the  tombs  of  Bunyan,  Owen,  and  sundry  others  of  the 
ancient  Non-Conformist  worthies. 

Alluding  to  books,  I  may  say  that  the  love  of, 
study  of,  and  purchase  of  books  has  been  a  ruling 
passion  of  mine  from  I  know  not  how  early  an  age.  Many 
works  have  been  objects  of  inquiry  and  pursuit  for  many 
years  before  they  were  secured.  Among  these  I  may  men- 
tion the  Bibliotheca  Orientalis  of  Assemannus,*  which  I  sought 
in  vain  in  London  and  Paris,  though  I  saw  his  other  works. 
I  was  in  Liverpool  en  route  home,  when  Mr.  Baynes  wrote  me 
that  a  copy  had  turned  up,  to  cost  20  guineas,  or  $100.  The 
Grand  Debate,  and  other  original  documents  of  The  West- 
minster Assembly,  were  long  sought  and  procured  at  extrav- 
agant prices.  The  nth  edition  of  Buchanan's  Researches, 
which  contained  his  acknowledgment  of  a  fraudulent  sup- 
pression of  the  truth  on  the  subject  of  the  orders  in  the  Syrian 
Churches  in  all  previous  (and  I  may  add  in  all  subsequent,) 
editions,  was  eagerly  sought  for  by  Mr.  Baynes  for  many 
years.  The  edition  must  have  been  bought  up,  like  Dr.  Way- 
land's  Limits  of  Human  Resposibility,  which  is  thoroughly 
anti-abolition,  anti-fanaticism,  anti-Dr.  Wayland.  The  Syrian 
churches  were  found  with  only  presbyterian  orders,  and  with 
Ruling  Elders  or  representatives  of  the  people,  and  Buchanan 
reported  them  with  the  regular  canonical  three  clerical  orders 
of  Episcopacy.  See  on  the  subject,  my  Presbytery  and  not 
Prelacy.* 

Among  my  works,  Walton's  Polygott  belonged  to  Dr.  Adam 
Clarke,  and  has  much  of  his  manuscript  and  valuable  writing. 
Three  vols,  have  the  autograph  of  Legh  Richmond  as  their 
former  proprietor,  and  several  that  of  Thomas  Bradbury  and 
Dr.  Bogue,  in  full,  or  in  initials.  One  has  the  autograph  of 
Dr.  Mason,  which  was  not  in  the  British  Museum  Library. 
A  Hebrew  Psalter  has  the  autograph  of  Jonathan  Edwards, 
primus  et  princeps  facile,  of  his  son,  and  of  his  son ;  and  of 
Rev.  Try  an  Edwards  from  whom  it  was  received. 

Durandus  on  Symbolism^  is  the  2d  (or  3d.)  ed.  of  the  sec- 
ond work  ever  printed  and  itself  very  old. 

The  Library  contains  about  40  works  by  members  of  the 

*The  full  title  is  Bibliotheca  Orientalis  Clementino  Vaticano,  by 
Assemannus.  Published  in  Rome  in  1719.  The  Smyth  Library  is 
rich  in  rare  and  valuable  volumes. — Ed. 

'See  vol.  Ill,  p.  420,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

^The  English  title  in  full  is,  "The  Symbolism  of  Churches  and 
Church  Ornaments." — Ed. 


446 

Westminster  Assembly,  besides  lo  quarto  vols,  of  their  dis- 
courses. 

There  are  two  vols,  with  autograph  of  Dr.  Chalmers. 

There  are  also  several  vols,  from  Robert  Hall's  Library 
though  without  his  autograph. 

While  in  Edinburgh  I  received  much  kind- 
"^^  ■  ness  from  Dr.  Chalmers,  with  whom  I  break- 
fasted two  or  three  times ;  Dr.  Candlish  and  Dr.  Cunningham, 
with  whom  I  also  breakfasted  more  than  once;  from  Mr. 
Tweedie,  Dr.  Guthrie,  Dr.  Hanna,  and  Dr.  McCosh;  and  Dr. 
Duff,  whom  I  met  there,  in  Dublin,  and  in  London,  where  I 
breakfasted  with  him  at  Mr.  Nesbit's  the  Bookseller,  as  did 
also  my  wife  and  two  sons.  They  also  breakfasted  with  me 
at  Dr.  John  Brown's  [D.  D.]  (many  of  whose  works  are  re- 
published among  us.)     We  also  heard  him  preach. 

In  Glasgow  I  breakfasted  with  Dr.  King  more 

asgow.  than  once,  with  Dr.   Symington,   Dr.   Reid,^  Dr. 

(now  Professor,)  Lorimer,^  Dr.  (now  Professor,)  David 
Brown,  &c.  While  in  Edinburgh  f  alone,  I  rode  out  with  Drs. 
Cunningham  and  Candlish  to  the  summer  retreat  of  the  for- 
mer near  Roslin  Castle,  where  we  spent  the  night. 

It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  curious  incident  that  on  my 
last  European  visit,  I  lost  in  Glasgow  a  universal  letter  of 
credit  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  for  £450  or  $2500,  which  was 
never  heard  of. 

FRANKLIN,  January  21,   185 1.' 
DEAR  SISTER, 

Mrs  Fauntie-  Yours  of  the  5th  Jan.  arrived  with  its  contents 
roy  to  Mrs.  in  Safety  yesterday. — ■  I  read  it  with  mingled  feel- 
Smyth.  mgs, — joy  to  hear  of  the  improvement  of  our  dear 

Thomas's  health,  &  sorrow  that  he  does  not  follow  his  original 
plan  of  traveling  on  the  Continent,  which  you  &  his  friends 
that  know  him  best,  think  would  be  most  beneficial.     I  trust 

"Dr.  Reid  was  to  have  obtained  a  degree  of  L.  L.  D.  for  Dr. 
Smyth,  but  died  before  it  was  arranged. — Ed. 

^See  account  of  Free  Kirk  Sermon,  with  Dr.  Lorimer's  preface. 
—Ed. 

t  During  this  stay  in  Edinburgh,  the  engraved  portrait,  of 
which  a  reproduction  is  used  as  the  frontispiece  of  this  volume, 
was  made.  The  small  porcelain  bust,  of  which  several  copies  exist, 
was  modelled  at  this  time,  the  sculptor's  name  being  Gait,  ac- 
cording to  the  recollection  of  Dr.  Smyth's  son,  Adger;  who  re- 
calls that  the  bust  was  shown  to  Mrs.  Smyth  for  her  approval, 
when  she,  with  the  boys,  joined   Dr.   Smyth. — Ed. 

*A  part  of  this  letter  is  printed  on  p.  12. — Ed. 


447 

that  you  have  heard  from  him  since  you  wrote  to  me  &  that  he 
has  concluded  to  follow  the  plan  you  advise.  The  idea  of 
your  going  over  with  your  six  little  ones  at  this  time  of  year, 
&  you  &  they  suffering  the  indescribable  tortures  of  sea-sick- 
ness, besides  all  the  other  inconveniences  of  travelling  &  being 
from  home  with  children,  is  absolutely  frightful;  I  dont  think 
any  thing  but  the  certainty  that  your  presence  could  avert  the 
most  imminent  danger  from  him,  should  induce  you  to  think 
of  it  for  a  moment.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  pleasant  for 
him  to  have  Adger  along  with  him?  He  must  suffer  dread- 
fully if  he  is  homesick,  &  if  it  were  possible  for  him  to  have 
even  one  of  his  family  with  him,  it  would  relieve  him;  but  if 
that  is  impossible,  his  American  friends  joining  him  will  cer- 
tainly do  him  good.  I  think  about  him  a  great  deal,  his  case 
must  be  difficult  to  manage ;  the  remedy — rest — ^rest  for  his 
brain ;  must  be  a  great  punishment  to  him.     *     *     * 

It  is  a  heavy  trial  that  Mr.  Plunket  is  a  Romanist,  &  he 
seems  determined  to  make  his  children  so,  but  he  certainly  is 
a  most  excellent  man,  husband,  &  father,  &  we  can  do  nothing 
but  pray  &  hope  for  the  best. 

Vincennes,  of  which  you  have  heard,  I  dare  say,  so  much, 
has  at  last  really  commenced  improving ;  we  are  advised  by  all 
our  friends  there  to  hold  on  to  our  house  &  lot  there,  &  we  do 
so,  hoping  to  sell  out  at  a  good  price;  several  Rail  Roads  are 
going  to  be  made  to  it.  Notwithstanding  all  Mr.  F's  efforts, 
&  his  economy,  his  morality,  his  devotion  to  his  family,  his 
uprightness ;  his  plans  &  desires  to  get  into  some  regular 
business  all  fail.  He  is  now  however.  Deputy  County  Clerk 
here,  &  we  hope  in  another  year  or  two  to  sell  out,  &  that  he 
may  then  commence  business  for  himself; — nothing  but  stern 
necessity  induces  us  to  let  Thomas  pay  that  $ioo  for  my 
Father.  Not  one  of  the  many  acts  of  kindness  shewn  me  by 
you  &  him  are,  or  can  ever  be,  forgotten.  We  think  the  R. 
Road  will  pass  thro  here  from  Chattanogga  to  Nashville,  & 
that  then  we  will  have  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  seeing  you  & 
Thomas.  You  would  be  pleased  with  Ann  Plunket's  appear- 
ance &  manners  I  am  sure ;  I  think  she  will  visit  Paterson  in 
the  Spring.  We  have  had  the  most  beautiful  weather  I  ever 
saw  in  Winter,  for  a  month  or  two,  the  sickness  that  prevailed 
so  dreadfully  last  year  seems  to  be  gradually  dissapearing. 

The  "Unity  of  the  Races"  is  a  very  popular  work  in  Nash- 
ville, &  the  supply  brought  there  was  exhausted  directly.  I 
am  rejoiced  that  in  your  trial  you  are  supported  by  the  com- 
pany of  your  Mother  &  Sisters.  You  did  not  tell  me  enough 
about  your  children.     I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  write  to  me 


448 

encouragingly  about  Thomas.  What  impression  did  Belfast 
make  on  you,  &  is  Ireland  as  miserable  &  starving  as  News- 
papers tell  us  it  is? 

Anna  &  her  family  join  Mr.  F.  &  myself  in  much  love  to 
you,  your  children,  &  dear  Thomas  wjien  you  write. 

My  three  boys  are  well ;  I  teach  them  all  they  know  &  make 
every  thing  they  wear,  even  their  caps.     In  much  love,  your 

SISTER  ISABELLA. 

WASHINGTON— Tw^.yc?a3;  morning— [May,  1851.] 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SISTER, 

Mrs.  Smyth  Augustiuc  &  I  remain  in  the  Hotel  while  Mr. 

to  Miss  Lyons,  Frank^  &  Adger  have  gone  to  the  Secre- 

Susan  Adger.  ^^^y^  q^q^^  ^^  g.^^  Frank's  passport.  Then  they 
return  for  us.  We  have  just  got  through  breakfast.  It  is  a 
bright,  beautiful  morning,  Augustine  has  got  over  all  his  com- 
plaints, &  we  are  all  quite  well  again.  I  wrote  Mother  from 
Wilmington,  &  Father  from  Richmond,  which  we  left  yester- 
day after  breakfast  in  a  heavy  rain.  Mr.  Gildersleeve''  came  to 
the  cars  to  see  us  off  &  introduced  Rev.  Mr.  Moore,  who  was 
going  on  with  us ; — he  also  gave  us  a  very  kind  letter  of 
introduction  to  one  of  the  elders  of  the  Church  in  Richmond, 
Mr.  Kent,  a  very  respectable  &  influential  man,  whose  ac- 
quaintance we  will  find  very  agreeable,  Mr.  Gildersleeve  thinks. 
Mr.  Kent  is  going  out  in  the  Pacific,  but  has  already  gone  on 
to  N.  Y.  In  the  cars  also  Mr.  Gildersleeve  found  another  one 
of  their  merchants,  Mr.  Ferguson,  who  intends  going  on  the 
Pacific,  he  is  to  give  Frank  letters  to  Paris,  &c. ;  so  the  old 
man  was  really  kind. —  It  continued  to  rain,  became  cold,  & 
finally  commenced  snowing;  a  snow  storm  on  May  5 !  The 
ground  was  all  covered  &  the  trees, — the  young  green  of  the 
trees,  contrasted  with  the  white  snow,  the  branches  bending 
under  its  weight.  It  was  a  most  beautiful  sight,  I  am  glad  we 
witnessed  it.  Frank  never  saw  so  much  snow,  it  gave  him 
some  idea  of  a  winter  landscape  at  the  North.  Augustine  was 
in  ecstacies,  &  could  not  be  restrained  from  expressing  aloud 
his  delight.  He  attracted  great  attention  in  the  cars  &  also 
in  the  Steam  Boat,  which  we  took  at  Acquia  Creek  to  Wash- 
ington, &  was  much  noticed  by  both  gentlemen  &  ladies.  I 
hope  he  will  not  be  spoiled^ — nor  his  Mother  either.  Frank 
asked  me  last  evening,  if  I  was  not  proud  of  him !  He  evi- 
dently is,  &  likes  to  shew  him  off.     Frank  enjoys  travelling  & 

^Frank  Ellison. — Ed. 

°Dr.  Benjamin  Gildersleeve,  formerly  the  editor  of  the  Charleston 
Observer,  and  their  close   friend. — Ed. 


449 

sees  every  thing.  It  was  fortunate  however  that  we  had  Mr. 
Lyons'  company;  he  is  very  kind  &  attentive;  Frank  would 
not  have  got  on  well  without  him — ibut  he  is  learning.  He 
will  cut  his  eye-teeth  by  &  by. 

After  securing  rooms  at  the  National  Hotel  yesterday 
afternoon,  we  went  up  to  the  Capitol.  As  we  entered  the 
grounds  Frank  was  enraptured.  "He  had  never  imagined 
any  thing  so  beautiful."  "Could  there  be  any  thing  more  so?" 
He  then  asked  me,  "was  there  a  more  beautiful  place  in  the 
world !"  It  is  very  pleasant  to  witness  his  enjoyment —  When 
he  entered  the  Capitol,  "to  think  that  he  stood  where  John  C. 
Calhoun  had  stood" — "where  Henry  Clay  had  thundered  out 
his  eloquence,"  &c.  &c.  It  will  do  Adger  good  to  be  with  him. 
He  looked  for  the  seats  of  all  the  great  men  &c.  We  examined 
all  the  fine  pictures,  Greenough's  Statue,  &c.  Returned  late 
to  tea,  &  then  went  to  bed.  Mr.  Lyons  &  Frank's  room  ad- 
joins the  one  the  boys  occupy  with  me.  Frank  told  me  this 
morning  he  had  written  Janey  a  long  letter  last  night,  giving 
her  his  first  impression  of  Washington. 

2  o'clock.  Mr.  Lyons  &  Adger  returned  for  us  to  go  with 
them  to  the  Patent  Office,  leaving  Frank  at  the  Secretary's, 
determined  to  wait  &  see  Mr.  Webster  himself.  We  walked 
all  around  &  examined  all  the  curiosities  &  were  preparing  to 
leave,  when  in  came  Frank.  Tired  out  with  waiting  for  Mr. 
W.  himself,  he  had  told  his  business  to  some  other  person,  who, 
referring  to  a  file  of  letters,  showed  him  Father's  letter,  marked 
on  the  outside,  "answered  May  i  &  sent  to  N.  Y."  So  finding 
his  business  already  accomplished,  Frank  left  his  letter  from 
Mr.  King  &  joined  us.  We  had  great  difficulty  in  getting 
him  out  of  the  Patent  office ;  after  waiting  until  he  had  gone 
all  around,  he  still  protested  he  had  not  half-seen.     We  took 

an  omnibus  then  down  to  the  President's  House, 
Fmmore*  ^  ^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^  rcccption  day,  we  all  went  in,  Frank 

foremost.  Mr.  Fillmore  enquired,  on  hearing  I 
was  from  S.  C,  "From  what  part?;"  &  expressed  his  pleasure 
on  seeing  any  one  from  that  State,  as  it  assured  him,  "we 
were  still  one  people."  I  told  him,  "I  hoped  we  would  long 
continue  so."  He  thanked  me,  &  then  asked  to  let  him  intro- 
duce me  to  his  daughter — he  led  me  to  her,  as  "Mrs.  S.  of 
South  Carolina." —  So  you  see,  we  were  treated  with  special 
attention.  He  is  very  courtly  in  his  address  &  manner,  his 
daughter  is  plain  &  simple.  We  then  made  a  second  visit  to 
to  the  Capitol,  to  give  Frank  &  the  boys  an  opportunity  of  as- 
cending to  its  top.  We  have  just  returned  to  the  Hotel,  after 
dinner  we  proceed  to  Baltimore. — 

[29] 


450 

Baltimore — Evening — Barnum's.  We  arrived  safely,  have 
had  our  tea,  or  rather  a  cup  of  good  coffee,  the  first  since  I 
left  home. —  I  have  retired  to  my  room  with  my  boys.  Au- 
gustine is  bathing  his  feet.  Adger  is  writing  up  his  journal. 
Frank  &  Mr.  Lyons  have  a  room  near,  on  the  same  entry.  We 
expect  to  go  on  tomorrow — leave  this  at  9,  &  arrive  at  9 — in 
New  York.  Mr.  Lyons  &  Frank  would  have  been  very  will- 
ing to  go  on  to  night,  &  reach  N.  Y.  early  in  the  morning — 
but  I  objected;  I  was  very  tired  myself  from  so  much  walking; 
so  were  the  boys — especially  Augustine,  &  it  would  have  been 
very  hard  on  them  to  ride  all  night.  It  was  uncalled  for  as 
we  can  reach  N.  Y.  on  Wednesday  evening;  if  we  had  gone 
on,  &  arrived  in  the  morning  Frank  would  have  been  quite 
fagged  out  &  unable  to  walk  about  there.  They  gave  up  very 
readily.^ — • 

It  seems  a  long  time  since  we  left  home, — Frank  said  today 
it  seemed  a  month  to  him,  &  that  he  had  travelled  every  where 
since.  I  am  very  anxious  to  hear  from  you,  I  will  hope  to  find 
letters  in  N.  Y. 

My  dear  Susan,  you  do  not  know  how  I  felt  on  leaving  the 
wharf  in  Charleston.  I  felt  as  if  torn  away  from  all  I  loved, 
&  cast  forth  almost  alone,  a  wanderer,  I  know  it  is  wrong 
to  indulge  such  feelings  &  I  will  strive  against  them ;  I  have 
succeeded  in  being  more  cheerful  yesterday  &  to  day ;  but  oh ! 
on  Friday,  Saturday,  &  Sunday  especially,  I  felt  almost  over- 
come. Augustine  wants  me  to  tell  Sue  &  S.  i\nn  that  Mr. 
Kemmerer'  came  on  with  us — &  to  kiss  them  all  for  him.  I 
saw  the  dear  little  hands  waving  on  the  Battery — but  felt 
disappointed  in  not  seeing  them  at  the  Wharf.  I  sent  Wm. 
to  bring  Ellison  on  board  to  me — but  he  was  not  there.  I  hope 
Father  took  no  cold  from  being  on  the  Wharf. — how  did  he 
get  home?  How  is  he?  Oh  I  trust  he  will  regain  his  strength, 
&  be  yet  long  spared  to  us. —  My  sincere  love  to  him  &  Mother, 
to  Janey  &  Bro.  James — &  to  each  one  of  the  circle. —  Love 
to  Ellen  also,  &  a  kiss  to  each  of  my  dear  ones. — 
My  dear  Susan  most  affectionately, 

YOUR  SISTER  M. 


■'A  musician  who  trained  choruses  of  children  for  concert  sing- 
ing, both  in  Charleston  and  Columbia. — Ed. 


451 

KINGSTOWN,  July,  185 1. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN/ 

I  feel,  anxious  to  write  you,  though  you  have 
his  A^^hxJ°  "^°^  written  me,  or  requested  me  to  write  you.  I 
have,  however,  received  your  messages  &  your 
kisses,  which  have  been  very  gladly  taken  as  assurances  that 
you  do  not  forget  Papa  &  will  not  run  away  from  him  when 
you  see  him.  Do  you  think  you  will?  You  must  frequently 
look  at  my  daguerreotype,  so  as  to  keep  up  your  remembrance 
of  me.  I  would  feel  very  badly  if  I  should  see  you  first,  &  you 
did  not  know  me,  but  required  to  be  told  who  I  was.  How 
will  it  be  with  my  big  boy  &  dear  little  Janey  ?  Will  they  have 
forgotten  how  to  climb  up  on  my  knee,  &  to  hug  me,  and  stand 
on  my  shoulders  ?  You  must  endeavour  to  keep  them  in  mind 
of  old  times,  &  how  they  "used"  to  ride  out  with  Papa  in  the 
buggy  up  the  road,  &  round  by  the  big  wheel  &  the  battery; 
&  how  I  used  to  tickle  you  all  in  bed,  &  roll  Janey  head  over 
heels. 

I  have  no  fear  of  being  forgotten  by  my  dear  Susan,  but 
expect  her  at  once  to  know  me,  &  to  run  to  meet  &  kiss  me. 

I  think  much  &  often  of  you  all,  &  hope  now  before  very 
long  to  be  with  you  &  among  you. 

From  what  I  hear,  you  &  Sue  must  be  great  students.  I 
suppose  you  will  be  able  to  read  well,  and  to  sing  &  draw 
beautifully  when  I  come.  How  many  of  their  letters  do 
Ellison  and  Janey  know?  I  hope  they  still  use  the  nice  little 
books  I  sent  them. 

I  am  glad  you  &  Sue  are  fond  of  the  salt  water,  &  I  hope 
Ellison  &  Janey  will  get  over  their  dislike  of  it,  as  it  is  very 
good  for  you  all.  You  would  laugh  to  see  Augustine  &  Adger 
jumping  in  from  a  high  board,  with  a  rope  tied  round  them, 
into  very  deep  water.  Even  the  ladies  here  can  many  of  them 
swim,  &  they  are  generally  very  fond  of  bathing. 

I  hope  you  will  continue  to  be  good  &  kind  &  amiable,  & 
that  you  pray  with  all  your  heart  for  yourself.  &  for  Mama, 
Papa,  &  Brothers.  I  write  this  letter  to  yourself  to  shew  you 
how  much  I  still  think  of  &  love  you. — hoping  ere  long  to  see 
you  again, 

I  remain  in  much  love  to  Sue,  Ellison,  Janey,  &  yourself. 
Your  affectionate  father, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

*The  four  youngest  children  were  on  Sullivan's  Island  with  their 
grandmother,  during  their  parents'  absence.  The  "big  wheel"  re- 
ferred to,  was  one  of  several  large  water  wheels  on  the  western 
shore  of  the  city.     This  particular  one  was  in   Bennett's   Lumber 


452 

EDINBORO,  Aug.  30,  185 1. 
North  British  Hotel. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Mrs.  Smyth  ^^  ^^^^  Same  parlour,  at  the  same  table,  where 

to  Mr.  J.  E.  one  night  last  summer  you  &  I  sat,  long  after  our 
Adger.  other   halves   had   retired,   writing   letters   home, 

do  I  now  commence  to  reply  to  your  letter  of  July  21,  which 
I  reed,  in  Belfast  about  three  weeks  ago.— 

It  has  been  quite  a  source  of  amusement  to  me,  to  recall 
the  scenes  of.  last  summer,  &  to  point  out  to  the  Boys  which 
rooms  we  occupied,  &  where  we  had  purchased,  where  walked 
&c.  &c.  with  Uncle  Joe  &  Aunt  Sue.  All  our  adventures  in 
Glasgow  on  the  morning  of  our  arrival,  &  of  our  meeting  you, 
were  narrated  over  &  over  again.  The  Buck's  head  still 
flourishes,  &  is  quite  a  good  house,  the  head  waiter  still  there  ; 
but  I  cannot  say  so  much  of  this.  However,  it  is  comfortable, 
&  I  like  the  situation ;  we  have  the  same  parlour  at  the  corner, 
one  window  looking  down  on  the  Rail  way  Station,  the  other, 
upon  the  old  Castle,  &  the  beautiful  monument  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott.  The  grounds  around  this  have  been  laid  out  very 
handsomely,  it  has  been  enclosed  with  an  iron  railing;  so  with 
the  open  space  in  front  of  the  Free  Church  College;  the  rub- 
bish, or  "the  debris"  as  Dr.  Cunningham,  you  recollect,  called 
it,  has  been  removed,  a  handsome  street  paved,  &  the  whole 
much  improved  &  beautified.  We  have  the  same  bed  room 
too,  next  door,  which  we  occupied  when  here  with  you,  &  our 
boys  have  the  room  which  Jane  &  Jimmy  had. 

At  our  visit  at  Donoughmore  &  at  Drunbo 
Mills,  you  &  Sue  were  kindly  enquired  for;  but 
Jimmy  most  of  all,  especially  by  Mr.  Hanson,  who  seemed 
to  retain  a  pleasing  recollection  of  him.  I  received  your  letter, 
as  I  said,  at  Belfast,  from  whence  we  went  out  to  Randalstown, 
at  whose  pleasant  Inn  I  intended  to  stay  all  night ;  but  we  had 
apprised  Sam  Henderson  of  our  visit  &  we  found  him  at  the 
Station  waiting.  He  had  his  horse  &  car,  &  would  take  no 
denial ;  we  must  go  out  to  his  house.  So  we  went :  John  was 
very  glad  to  see  us,  I  read  your  letter  to  him ;  he  takes  great 
interest  in  every  thing  American,  yet  I  fear  he  will  never  see 
that  country  again.  He  says  he  will  not  go  there  again  "until 
he  gets  his  strength."  He  looks  badly,  &  his  friends  think 
him  in  a  bad  way.     He  stays  much  about  the  house,  seldom 

Mill  yard  (the  site  of  the  present  Halsey  Mills),  and  derived  its 
motive  power  Irom  the  flowing  of  the  tide  in  a  small  creek.  The 
wheel  was  built  of  solid  mahogany  to  resist  the  action  of  the 
teredo. — Ed. 


453 

leaves  home.  Sam  drove  us  over  the  next  day  to  Randalstown, 
through  Lord  O'Neale's  Park,  visiting  his  Castle,  Stables, 
Dairy  &c.  Then  out  to  Moneynick.  I  remembered  the  road, 
&  could  tell  Sam,  when  to  turn  off.  The  house  looks  more 
comfortable  than  it  did,  has  a  new  thatch."  We  went  into  the 
bed-room,  an  apartment  I  did  not  see  before.  Augustine 
thought  "he  c'd  sleep  there  very  well."  We  returned  &  took 
a  nice  lunch  of  Strawberries,  &  fresh  butter  &  bread  at  Capt. 
Larmony's,  &  then  out  with  Sam.  The  next  day  he  drove  us 
to  Ballymena,  where  at  the  same  "Jollett's,"  we  hired  a  phae- 
ton &  pair,  with  that  same  deaf  driver  of  last  year,  to  take  us 
to  Ballymoney,  there  to  get  fresh  horses  if  we  could ;  if  not 
he  would  take  us  to  Coleraine,  where  Mr.  Bones"  was  to  meet 
us.  Mr.  S.  had  been  complaining  for  several  days,  now  he 
rapidly  got  worse.  The  wind  was  high,  &  he  got  chilled  thro', 
could  not  be  kept  warm,  seemed  almost  in  a  state  of  collapse. 
I  never  was  so  glad  to  get  into  a  friend's  house  as  into  Mr. 
Bones',  which  we  reached  at  6  P.  M.  We  were  received  with 
much  kindness,  &  Mr.  S.  immediately  got  to  bed,  where  he 
remained  several  days.  He  has  contracted  a  violent  cold  which 
affected  his  whole  system ;  but  his  principal  trouble  was  a  large 
swelling  of  the  gland  of  the  throat,  which  has  turned  out  to 
be  a  large  boil,  &  which,  after  giving  much  pain,  &  requiring 
long  continued  poulticing,  at  last  burst;  since  which  he  has 
been  relieved,  &  is  now,  I  think,  quite  on  the  mend.  Mrs.  Bones 
&  her  two  Sisters  nursed  him  in  great  style.  They  are  really 
warm  hearted,  kind  people.  We  had  a  pleasant  time  there,  & 
we  made  an  excursion  with  them  to  the  Giants  Causeway,  tak- 
ing our  dinner,  &  eating  it  on  the  rocks,  returning  in  the  evening 
to  Port  Stewart.  Mr.  S.  was  not  able  to  go  with  us. —  He 
remained  with  one  Sister,  while  the  other,  Dr,  Stavely,  Rev. 
Mr.  Simpson,  &  Mr.  &  Mrs.  Bones  went  with  the  boys  and 
myself  on  two  outside  cars.  We  had  a  fine  day  &  enjoyed  the 
trip  much.  We  left  Port  Rush  on  last  Monday  in  the  Steamer 
for  Glasgow,  went  ashore  at  7  A.  M.  to  the  "Buck's  Head" — 
spent  Tuesday  there,  &  Wednesday  at  12,  took  the  train  to 
Stirling : — spent  a  couple  of  hours  there,  visiting  the  old  Castle 
&c,  then  took  a  steamer  dbwn  the  Frith  of  Forth  &  arrived 

^An  old  house  belonging  to  Mr.  Adger's  family.  His  father  had 
been  the  owner  of  a  linen  mill  at  Dunean,  near  Randalstown.  The 
Hendersons  were  among  Mr.  Adger's  many  adherents. — Ed. 

^Mr.  John  Bones  of  Augusta,  Georgia,  an  Irishman  and  distant 
connection  of  Mr.  Adger,  had  married  a  Miss  Brown,  and  with  her, 
visited  her  two  sisters  every  Summer.  They  were  intimate  friends 
of  the  Smyths. — Ed. 


454 

here  at  8  P.  M.  Mr,  S.  had  intended  making  an  excursion 
to  the  Highlands,  like  that  of  last  year, — but  he  was  so  very- 
feeble,  I  persuaded  him  to  relinquish  it  &:  stay  quietly  here. 
This  has  always  been  a  favourite  place  of  mine,  &  I  like  it  now 
better  than  ever.  It  is  a  beautiful  city.  As  I  write  now,  the 
voice  of  a  fish  woman,  those  peculiar  tones  you  used  to  try  to 
imitate,  is  sounding  so  sweetly  in  my  ears.  She  is  calling, 
''Caller  oysters,"  For  this  is  ist  Sept.  &  they  are  at  liberty  to 
sell  them  for  the  first  time.  The  streets  are  resounding  with 
their  cries.     Good  night — it  is  late. — •     *     *     * 

It  is  hard  to  realize  that  you  are  suffering  with  heat — when 
we  have  it  so  cool :  all  the  time  we  were  at  Port  Stewart  we 
had  a  fire  in  the  parlour,  &  here  Mr,  S,  never  goes  out  without 
his  overcoat;  &  though  he  is  no  criterion,  yet  it  shews  you  it 
is  not  warm.  We  never  sleep  without  blankets — &  the  boys 
&  myself  wear  all  our  usual  winter  clothing. — 

We  expect  to  leave  this  tomorrow  &  go  by  way 
ngan  .  ^^  Mclrosc,  whcrc  we  will  stop  &  view  the  old 

Abbey  &c ;  then  proceed  to  Dunse,  the  residence  of  Mr.  Mof- 
fett's  Mother  &  Sister ;  from  the  latter  we  have  had  two  notes, 
pressing  us  to  make  them  a  visit.  We  will  have  to  remain 
there  all  night,  as  we  cannot  get  back  to  Berwick.  The  next 
day  we  go  on  to  York,  stay  all  night  there ;  the  next  night  in 
Cambridge ;  &  then  on  Saturday  night,  we  expect  ( I  do  not 
say  hope)  to  be  at  No,  4  Warwick  Street,  Charing  Cross. — 
Don't  you  wish  you  were  to  be  there  too?    I  do, — 

'    Your  affectionate  Sister  MARGARET. 

From  Professor  Campbell,  of  the  Presbyterian  College, 
London. 

LONDON,  24  Septr,  1851, 
MY  DEAR  FRIEND, 

Your  letter  has  just  arrived,  &  forecloses  the  hopes  I  had 
cherished  of  once  seeing  you  again,  ere  you  recrossed  the 
Atlantic.  Yesterday  Mr.  Taylor  (of  Nisbet  Co,)  informed  me 
that  you  were  in  town.  But  altho'  he  at  the  same  time  informed 
me  that  you  expressed  your  fears  you  might  not  be  able  to 
call  here,  hope,  the  inseparable  ally  of  affection,  whispered  that 
you  would  probably  call.  Nor  was  this  hope  confined  to  my- 
self— it  was  indulged  in  by  every  member  of  my  family,  down 
to  Alexander  Hugh,  who  had  a  strong  desire  to  see  Dr  Smith 
&  his  Son.  Mrs.  C.  was  also  anxious  to  have  it  in  her  power 
to  show  some  attention  to  Mrs.  S.  But  since  we  are  not  to 
meet  face  to  face,  for  a  Season  at  least,  let  us  make  up  the 
lack  thro'  the  post.     I  need  not  say  how  pleased  I  shall  feel 


455 

to  hear  from  you  as  often  as  convenient,  &  equally  pleased  to 
let  you  know  in  return  what  may  happen  in  this  part  of  the 
old  world  wh  I  may  imagine  will  interest  you.     *     *     * 

Dr.  Alexander/  I  was  exceedingly  sorry  to  miss.  He  left 
London  before  I  returned.  Owing  to  my  departure,  I  had  the 
opportunity  of  seeing  Dr.  Maclean's  brother  only  twice. — 
Nor  was  he,  owing  to  his  rapid  movements,  able  to  take  dinner 
with  me,  although  I  had  asked  him.  Dr.  Breckenridge*  also, 
I  saw  only  twice,  &  he  too  was  obliged  to  decline  an  invitation 
to  dinner.  I  have  lost  the  pleasure  of  seeing  many  of  my  trans 
Atlantic  friends.  I  hope  in  future  years  however  I  shall  see 
you  all  here,  and  others  of  your  countrymen  too.  Any  that 
brings  a  letter  from  you  will  be  my  friend. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

HUGH  CAMPBELL. 

NEWPORT,  Aug.  9,  1853. 
My  Dear  Sarah  Ann, 

I  intended  to  write  to  you  without  waiting  for 
Hs  dTu^hter'  ^  letter  from  you.  I  was,  however,  anxious  to 
hear  from  you,  and  wondering  why  you  had  not 
sent  a  line  from  my  pet  lamb  to  let  me  know  how  you  were, 
&  how  you  still  felt  towards  your  absent,  &  now  invalid, 
father."  I  was  therefore  very  much  pleased  to  receive  your 
letter,  which  came  before  I  had  found  time  to  write. 

I  have  had  a  very  bad  attack  of  rheumatism,  all  round  my 
loins,  hips,  &;c.  It  has  given  me  much  pain,  &  prevented  me 
for  some  days  from  using  my  bath,  or  as  much  rubbing  as 
usual.  My  foot  &  leg  have,  therefore,  suffered  in  consequence 
of  my  general  derangement,  so  that  I  have  not  progressed, 
but  rather  fallen  back.  The  weather  for  this  place  has  been 
unusually  wet  &  damp,  though  not  nearly  as  much  so  as  we 
hear  to  have  been  general. 

Your  cousin  Mary  Smith  from  Paterson  is  now  with  us,  so 
that  we  are  not  alone.  Adger  does  all  my  rubbing  now,  since 
John  Smith  left  us,  &  goes  with  me  to  the  bath.     *     *     * 

The  weather  now  is  warmer  than  it  has  been  here,  though 
it  would  be  thought  cool  with  you.  We  can  ride  in  the  fore- 
noon, &  walk  on  the  beach  to  gather  sea  plants  of  which  there 
are  many  here.  There  are  however  no  shells,  except  boats, 
or  at  least  very  few. 

^Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  of  Princeton. — Ed. 

'Dr.   R.  J.   Breckinridge.— Ed. 

"Written  just  after  his  serious  paralytic  stroke. — Ed. 


456 

Friday. 
*     *     I  am  very  glad  to  hear  of  your  new  Schoolmaster,  & 
hope  you  are  all  making  much  progress  under  his  valuable 
instruction. 

Saturday. 
This  is  another  hot  day  for  this  place,  82°.  Mary  &  I  rode 
down  to  the  beaches.  It  was  very  cool  &  pleasant  there.  On 
going,  we  saw  some  200  ladies  in  bathing;  &  returning,  as  it 
was  after  12  o'cl.,  the  red  flag  was  up  &  there  were  about  as 
many  men  in  the  water.  My  rheumatism  is  better.  But  I 
feel  the  warm  weather  very  much. 

Mamma  would  write,  but  she  has  a  sore  thumb. 
I  send  you  a  very  nice  specimen  of  my  making.     Look  at  it 
through  a  magnifying  glass,  &  see  how  it  is  all  jointed  beauti- 
fully. In  love  to  all 

Aff'ly  Yrs, 
THOMAS  SMYTH. 

NEWPORT,  Oct.  I,  1853. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

From  all  I  hear,  instead  of  calling  you  my  pet 
his  dTu^hter*  ^^"^t),  you  might  be  more  appropriately  called  my 
fat  lamb.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  picking 
up  flesh.  Constant  stirring  about  &  readiness  to  lend  a  help- 
ing hand  on  every  occasion,  helps  to  promote  good  appetite  & 
health.  I  think  I  will  have  to  make  you  my  nurse,  as  you 
have  acquired  so  much  tact  &  patience.  Sue,  I  am  afraid,  would 
soon  tire  8:  forget  me  in  her  books,  while  Janey  would  be  too 
often  at  her  play  to  wait  on  a  sick  man.     *     *     * 

Have  you  had  any  tickling  matches  while  going  to  bed, 
since  I  left?  I  think  with  the  help  of  my  stick  I  can  still  make 
you  all  run ;  only  you  must  not  try  to  throw  me  down,  as  it 
would  not  take  a  great  deal  to  put  me  off  my  balance. 

Can  you  read  better  than  you  did?  I  am  very  glad  to  hear 
you  are  improving,  &  are  more  fond  of  your  book. 

I  thank  you  for  your  nice  book  mark.  It  is  in  my  Bible. 
There  is  no  crown  to  any  one,  in  any  thing,  until  they  have 
secured  it  by  bearing  the  cross.  Learning  to  read  &  write,  & 
to  know  geography  &  history,  is  the  cross  you  are  now  to 
bear;  &  if  you  bear  it  well,  then  you  will  get  a  crown  in  all 
the  enjoyment  you  will  afterwards  find  in  reading  &  conver- 
sation, &  in  being  able  to  teach  others. 

I  hope  God  will  strengthen  me  to  bear  His  cross,  &  give  me 
the  crown  of  life ;  &  not  to  me  only  but  to  you  also,  my  dear 
child,  &  to  all  of  us.       •    Very  affly  Yrs, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


457 

Newport,  Oct.  27,  1854. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

Augustine   informs   me   that   I   am   charged   in 
Dr.    myt    to   y^^j.  ^ccounts  with  a  letter  due,  &  as  your  letter 

his     daughter.     -'  •    .  '  -' 

was  very  well  written  and  pleasant  to  me,  I  very 
cheerfully  respond  to  it.  Adger  has  told  me  a  good  deal  about 
you  all,  so  that  I  can  more  perfectly  imagine  how  you  all  look, 
&  how  you  are  all  getting  on ;  &  what  expert  horsemen  you  are 
all  becoming,  particularly  yourself. 

I  am  not  so  lonely  this  evening,  as  he  is  sitting  beside  me 
writing,  to  Augustine,  I  believe.  We  will  soon,  I  expect,  leave 
this  beautiful  island  on  our  way  home,  where  I  hope  I  may  be 
permitted  to  join  you  all. 

I  have  made  a  good  many  pretty  specimens  of  sea  plants 
here,  but  there  are  no  shells  worth  gathering.  The  weather 
however  is  very  fine,  &  the  sunrise  &  sunsets  are  very  beauti- 
ful &  varied. 

I  walked  down  to  the  end  of  a  wharf  the  other  afternoon 
in  time  to  see  the  sun  go  down.  I  sat  on  the  edge  of  the 
wharf  to  rest,  &  while  I  was  admiring  the  scenery,  two  or 
three  little  girls  came  out  to  play.  One  of  them  who  was 
rather  younger  than  you,  had  a  little  crutch,  &  on  inquiring 
of  her  father,  who  had  entered  into  conversation  with  me,  I 
found  that  she  had  an  attack  of  paralysis  about  a  year  ago,  & 
that,  for  a  long  time,  she  had  suffered  very  great  agony.  So 
you  see  little  girls  as  well  as  grown  up  people  may  have  such 
a  disease,  &  thus  see  how  very  thankful  you  ought  to  be  that 
you  have  been  preserved  from  it. 

Give  my  love  to  Ellison,  Janey,  &  all  the  cousins ;  &  to 
Mamma,  Aunt  Susan,  Aunt  Margaret, — Grandfather  & 
Grandmother,  &  all  the  other  uncles  &  aunts ;  &  believe  me. 

Very  aff'ly 

Your  Father, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 
To  my  Pet  Lamb. 

NEWPORT, 
Wednesday  Morning,  j  o'clock. 
MY  DEAR  LITTLE  DAUGHTER, 

Mrs  Sm  th  *     *     The  red  flag  was  up,  which  shows  that 

to  her  daugh-   it  is  the  mcu's  time  to  bathe ;  they  do  so  naked, 
ter  Sarah  and  the  sea  was  dotted  with  heads,  so  we  could 

not  pass  along  the  beach  in  front  of  the  row  of 
little  bathing  houses,  but  had  to  pass  behind. 

*     *     Papa  got  out  to  rest  himself  by  walking  a  little.     I 


458 

sat  still,  held  the  reins,  &  read.  Soon  one  of  the  fogs  which  are 
so  frequent  here,  came  blowing  from  the  Sea,  &  we  were 
enveloped  in  it;  Papa  got  in,  we  closed  up  the  little  buggy, 
drew  his  muffle  around  him,  &  rode  home.     *     *  .  * 

We  have  done  dinner  now  &  Papa  is  busy  arranging  some 
sea  weeds ;  it  is  a  great  amusement  for  him.  Aunt  Janey^  & 
Bro.  Adger  are  reading ;  after  a  while  Bro  Adger  is  going  out 
with  Papa  to  ride,  &  Aunt  Janey  &  I  will  walk  a  little.  *  *  * 

Your  dear  MAMMA. 

CHARLESTON,  Oct.  15,  1855. 
*     *     Dear    Grandmother    seems    to    improve 
to'^Sarah^Ann    ^^^^7'  ^hc  was  away  out  in  the  bottom  of  the  lot 
today,  having  water  carried  for  her  ducks.     She 
is  gaining  in  strength. 

*  *  Uncle  James  returned  home  on  Thursday  morning, 
early.  He  saw  your  dear  Papa  on  Tuesday  morning  in  New 
York,  on  his  way  to  Newport.  He  says  he  was  much  im- 
proved, &  looking  better.     ^^     *     *  MAMMA 

WHITE  MTS.' 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

I  was  glad  to  have  a  letter  from  you,  and  to  find  you  were 
enjoying  yourself  so  much.  You  mention  some  games  that 
are  new  to  me,  &  which  I  suppose  are  very  amusing.  I  am 
also  glad  to  find  that  you  are  improving  so  fast  in  horseman- 
ship, which  is  a  very  pleasant  &  beautiful  kind  of  exercise,  for 
ladies,  as  well  as  gentlemen.    Ladies,  however,  ought  never  to 

""So  many  of  the  associations  of  my  early  life,  my  girl  hood, 
&  even  those  of  riper  years,  are  connected  with  him.  How  many 
hours  I  have  spent  reading  &  writing  with  him!  What  a  delightful 
travelling  companion  he  was!  I  shall  ever  love  to  dwell  upon  the 
days  spent  with  him  at  Niagara, — Passaic, — Trenton, — Nahant, — 
Boston, — Saratoga,  &c,  not  to  mention  Newport.  But  it  is  all  over 
&  he  is  gone;  it  is  hard  to  realize  that  I  can  never  see  him 
again.     *     *     *" 

COBURG,  CANADA. 
Aug.  21,  1873. 

Extract  from  a  letter  from  Miss  Janey  Adger. — Ed. 

*This  letter  was  written  before  1856,  for  "Grandmother  Adger" 
died  during  that  year.  See  Memorial,  vol.  X,  pp.  36,  37,  Smyth's 
Works.  Sarah  Ann  was  on  Sullivan's  Island,  and  had  just  terri- 
fied her  grandparents  by  a  mad  race  on  the  beach.  She  became 
a  daring  horsewoman. — Ed. 


459 

ride  on  a  horse  which  is  not  very  gentle,  nor  without  a  good 
saddle  &  very  strong  girths. 

The  thermometer  here  tonight  is  about  50°,  &  yet  the  air  is 
so  dry  I  do  not  feel  it- too  cool. 

I  wish  you  could  see  these  mountains  &  valleys !  It  would 
be  something  entirely  new  &  wonderful.  The  trees  are  differ- 
ent from  what  you  have  seen.  So  are  the  wild  flowers.  There 
are  very  few  houses  on  the  mountains,  &  the  Hotels  will  all 
soon  close  until  next  summer.  The  snow  covers  the  moun- 
tains &  the  roads  from  Nov.  till  the  end  of  May,  during  which 
time  they  travel  only  by  sleighs. 

There  are  still  bears,  foxes,  &  wolves  on  the  mountain.  The 
other  day  while  a  party  were  ascending  the  mountain  near  the 
house,  a  bear  walked  along,  not  far  from  them,  very  leisurely. 
It  did  not  attack  them  nor  run  away. 

Little  girls  here  have  not  so  much  opportunity  of  play,  or 
learning,  as  you  have.  We  passed  a  little  farm  house  the,  other 
day,  &  saw  three  little  girls,  who  seemed  to  have  no  other 
amusement  than  watching  their  father  kill  &  dress  a  pig.  I 
hear  of  no  school. 

You  must  try  and  learn  fast.  I  hope  you  will  soon  be  able 
to  write  me  a  letter  yourself,  &  that  you  will  write  a  good  hand, 
like  your  mother. 

While  learning  to  write  &  to  ride,  you  ought  also  to  learn 
to  swim.  This  will  give  you  fine  exercise — great  enjoyment — 
less  fear  of  the  water,  &  be  some  time  possibly  of  service. 

I  will  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  again. 

Take  good  care  of  Mamma,  &  of  Ellison  &  Janey,  to  whom 
I  will  write  soon. 

Give  my  love  to  them,  as  well  as  to  Adger  &  Augustine,  & 
Sue  when  you  write  to  her ;  &  to  Aunt  Susan,  Grandmother  & 
Grandfather,  Uncle  James  &  all. 

Very  aff'ly 

Your  Father, 
THOMAS  SMYTH. 
To  my  Pet  Lamb. 

Wednesday  Evening. —  [1856] 
*     *     To  day  we  all  dined  at  Grandmother's — 
Mrs.  Smyth      j^^    jj^^^  ^  -^^^  ^    Crawford.     Dr.  H.  is  busy 

to  Sarah  Ann.  .  ,,.  ^-r-,  >ii  "V 

countmg,  &  takmg  the  list  of  Papa  s  books  I 
helped  him  to  day — &  Aunt  Janey  is  coming  up  to  help  him 
tomorrow.  I  wish  Uncle  John  could  have  helped  him  to  plan 
&  arrange  about  it,  he  is  quite  at  a  loss,  &  the  burthen  &  the 
worry  of  it  will  come  upon  me  at  the  last. —     *     *     * 

MAMMA. 


460 

CHARLESTON,  May,  1856. 

*  *  Only  do  the  best  you  can  in  your  studies, 
Dr.  Smyth  to  and  do  it  pleasantly,  and  that  is  all  any  one  ex- 
Sarah  Ann.       pects,  whether  you  rank  first,  second,  or  last. 

*  *  You  will  now  have  delightful  times.' 
You  could  not  be  more  pleasantly  situated.  So  many  cousins, 
so  well  adapted  to  each  other's  dispositions,  have  very  seldom, 
if  ever,  been  united  in  the  prosecution  of  their  studies. 

I  hope  your  uncle  John  will  soon  become  able  to  take  that 
management  &  controul  of  you  all,  which  it  was  in  his  heart 
to  do. 

We  are  not  all  to  rights  yet  in  the  new  house,  but  are  be- 
coming gradually  more  at  home  &  settled.  There  will  still 
however  be  plenty  for  you  to  do  when  you  come  down. 

Grandpapa  has  also  a  cold.    The  rest  are  all  as  usual  except 
Ellison,  who  has  got  the  mumps ;  but  not  as  yet  very  badly. 
In  love  to  all  I  remain 

Your  affectionate  Father, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


46  Beaufain  St. 
Nov.  13. 
REV  &  DEAR  SIR, 

*     *     I     have    neglected    acknowledging    the 

to'^Dr  'sm'th'    bouutiful   supply  of  pcns,^  which  you  were  kind 

enough   to    send   me.     *     *     They   will   last   my 

life,  and  write  many  sermons  that  I  expect  to  need  for  the 

remainder  of  my  days.     *     *     * 

Yours  in  Christian  regard, 

C.  C.  PINCKNEY.^' 


*This  and  the  preceding  letter  were  written  to  Pendleton.  The 
Smyth  and  Adger  families  had  just  moved  to  Meeting  Street,  and 
Dr.  Howe  was  packing  the  books  at  the  Spring  Street  house,  to 
send  them  to  the  Seminary  in  Columbia. — Ed. 

^Dr.  Smyth  always  used  quill  pens,  and  his  desk  was  furnished 
with  a  large  supply.  After  his  death,  Mrs.  Smyth  continued  to 
keep  quill  pens  on  the  study  table,  so  that  they  are  connected 
closely  with  him  in  the  memories  of  his  children  and  grand- 
children.— Ed. 

^Dr.  Pinckney,  rector  of  Grace  Church,  was  intimately  asso- 
ciated with  Dr.  Smj'th  in  the  local  branch  of  the  American  Bible 
Society. — Ed. 


461 

RED  SWEET  SPRINGS,  VA. 
Aug.  15,  1855. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr.  J.  W.  -'■  answer  without  delay  your  letter  of  inquiry, 

Alexander  to     which  I  have  just  received. 

Dr.  Smyth.  j_  -j^he  temperature  of  the  warmer  bath  here  is 

about  78°. 

2.  My  candid  judgment  is,  that  you  would  derive  little  ad- 
vantage from  these  waters.  I  have  seen  no  instance  however, 
of  any  resort  to  them  in  cases  of  disease  like  yours.  The 
journey  hither  from  the  Hot  Springs  is  a  trying  one ;  as,  with- 
out extra  expense,  one  has  to  come  by  the  White  Sulphur, 
where  the  treatment  of  visitors  is  all  but  inhuman. 

3.  I  have  had  to  give  up  a  comfortable  for  an  uncomfor- 
table room.  More  than  200  have  been  turned  away  from  here 
within  four  days,  if  I  may  credit  the  proprietor.  In  other 
words,  we  are  full. 

4.  You  may  reach  Richmond  or  Petersburg,  from  here,  by 
going  50  miles  to  Bonsack's,  and  thence  by  railway  through 
Lynchburg.  But  you  certainly  are  much  nearer  these  two 
points. 

In  truth,  as  to  the  cares  of  the  road,  I  heartily  wish  I  were 
where  you  are.    I  hope  you  will  give  the  hot  bath  fair  trial,  & 
still  more  that  you  may  be  greatly  strengthened. 
We  are  well 

Your  fr*  &  fellow  serv* 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth.  J.  W.  ALEXANDER.' 

HEALING  SPRINGS' 

Sept.  14,  1857. 
My  dear  Sarah  Ann, 

*     *     The  people  here  are  very  kind  &  oblig- 
or. Smyth  to    ■         ^^^  ^         different   from   those   at  the   Hot. 

his     daughter.         ay  j 

They  seem  to  desire  to  make  every  one  comfor- 
table as  far  as  they  can.  And  a  disposition  to  do  this  goes  far 
to  make  people  feel  satisfied  &  at  home. 

^Dr.  Alexander  was  a  Virginian  by  descent  through  both  his 
father  and  his  mother.  He  married  a  charming  and  cultured 
Virginian,  who  used,  in  her  old  age,  to  visit  the  Hot  Springs  every 
Summer,  with  her  brother.  Dr.  Cabell,  the  resident  physician;  she 
used,  also,  to  be  very  kind  to  the  little  boys  and  girls  in  the 
neighbouring  cottages.  One  little  girl  will  never  forget  her,  nor 
her  books. — Ed. 

*A  small  map  of  the  Warm  Springs  Valley,  drawn  by  Dr. 
Smyth,  is  enclosed  in  this  letter. — Ed. 


462 

I  like  this  place  much  better  than  I  expected,  &  will  there- 
fore remain  until  Friday  afternoon ;  when  I  will  go,  in  a 
private  conveyance,  to  the  Railroad,  by  the  Warm  &  Hot 
Springs,  staying  all  night  at  the  Warm. 

I  had  no  idea  how  valuable  this  water  is.  It  is  very  peculiar. 
It  seems  like  that  of  a  German  Spring.  When  you  bathe  in  it 
your  whole  skin  shines  as  if  coated  with  a  light  varnish,  & 
feels  as  smooth  and  soft  as  the  finest  kid  glove.  It  is  about 
the  heat  of  your  salt  water  bath  &  has  a  soothing,  not  a  stim- 
ulating, effect. 

There  are  several  ordinary  shaped  tub  baths  &  only  one 
plunge  bath,  which  is  filled  by  a  spring  (or  several,)  at  its 
bottom.  This  is  what  I  use.  And  as  both  ladies  &  gentlemen 
have  to  use  it,  there  are  certain  hours  for  each.  There  is 
therefore  great  scrambling  to  make  sure  of  a  bath,  especially 
before  dinner,  as  the  ladies  have  from  lo  to  12.  I  asked  Mrs. 
Porter,  and  a  Mrs.  McElwee,  a  clergyman's  wife,  this  morn- 
ing, to  lend  me  an  old  bonnet,  a  gown,  and  hoops,  so  that  I 
might  get  in  after  10.  I  went  down  however  before  10,  & 
got  my  bath  before  the  ladies  came.  I  intend  to  take  another 
to  nig-ht  at  half  past  nine,  by  advice  of  a  very  fine  physician 
here,  who  knows  a  great  deal  about  the  proper  use  of  the 
waters.  He  told  me  some  very  remarkable  cases  of  cure  ef- 
fected by  it. 

I  drink  it  also  freely,  warming  it  by  the  fire.  Mr.  Porter  is 
going  to  send  me  a  barrel  of  it  to  Charleston. 

There  is  one  of  the  most  wild  and  beautiful  walks,  from  the 
house  for  about  two  miles,  I  ever  saw.  It  is  very  steep  going 
down,  &  of  course  very  tiresome  coming  up,  as  it  is  all  climbing 
up  the  mountain.  About  a  mile  down  there  is  a  bridge  over 
a  wide  chasm.  The  stream  crosses  the  road  three  or  four 
times.  On  the  other  side  of  the  mountain  another  stream, 
which  first  turns  a  mill,  rolls  down  in  a  very  beautiful  succes- 
sion of  falls. 

I  could  not  resist  walking  on  several  afternoons  some  way 
below  the  bridge,  though  it  tired  me  very  much  to  walk  all  the 
way  back.  The  whole  walk  is  shaded  soon  after  three  o'clock, 
when  the  sun  sets  there,  &  when  it  becomes  very  cool,  even 
though  you  leave  it  very  hot  above. 

Yesterday  &  to  day  Mr.  Porter  let  me  have  a  buggy,  and 
Rip  &  I  rode  several  miles ;  one  part  of  the  road  ascending  a 
very  high  mountain,  from  which  it  is  cut,  &  having  no  wall 
or  trees  or  stones  between  the  edge,  &  the  corn  fields  almost 
perpendicularly  beneath. 

I  preached  on  Sabbath  morning  to  an  exceedingly  attentive 


463 

congregation.  A  severe  headache  increased  through  the  day 
&  became  dreadful  at  night,  so  that  I  was  not  sensible  of  hav- 
ing slept  at  all. 

I  had  no  letters  for  a  week,  except  one  from  Augustine, 
though  I  wrote  for  them. 

I  hope  to  hear  soon :  in  much  love  to  Sue,  Ellison,  &  Janey ; 
&  to  brothers,  if  at  home ;  &  to  all  the  children ;  to  aunts. 
Grandfather,  &  Mamma  especially, 

I  remain 
Very  aff'ly  yrs, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 
To  my  pet  lamb. 

Thursday  Night, 
12  o'clock. — 
{On  Sullivan's  Island,  1858. — Ed.] 
Sitting  up  ivith  Augustine. 

MY  DEAR,  DEAR  SISTERS,— 

What   new   calamity   is   this  ?■ — oh,    in    what   a 
Mrs   Smyth      terrible  form  does  this  affliction  come !  Oh !  if  it  be 

to  her  sisters. 

possible.  Heavenly  Father,  yet  avert  it,  &  restore 
him  unto  us ;  let  him  yet  live  to  bless,  &  comfort  us !  Oh 
grant  that  I  be  permitted  once  more  to  see  him  in  the  flesh,  to 
hear  once  more  his  kind  voice !  Oh  that  he  were  only  at  home 
with  us  ! — . 

My  dear,  dear  Sisters,  I  envy  you  the  privilege  of  being 
with  him  in  his  last  hours, —  Yet  they  may  not  be  his  last,  can 
he  not  yet  be  raised  up?  He  has  been,  even  from  the  gates 
of  death.  Oh  that  it  might  be  so,  that  he  c'd  reach  home! 
Robt.  says  not  to  think  of  it,  not  to  indulge  the  hope.     *     *     * 

Augustine  was  ill  with  yellow  fever,  contracted  from  attending 
school  in  Charleston,  where  a  frightful  epidemic  was  raging.  It 
was  thought  that  no  one  could  have  the  disease  on  the  Island.  A 
slave  ship,  called  the  Echo,  had  been  captured  by  the  U.  S. 
authorities   and  brought  into  the   harbour.     Some   of  the  negroes 

"Mrs.  Smyth's  father,  now  a  very  old  man,  was  desperately  ill 
at  the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  in  New  York,  where  he  had  gone  with 
his  daughters,  and  grandson,  Adger  Smyth.  The  latter  explains 
the  references  in  the  letter  from  Dr.  Smyth,  which  follows,  by  an 
account  of  the  old  gentleman  making  a  pilgrimage  to  visit  the 
daughters  of  his  first  friend  in  America,  Mr.  John  Bailey;  Mr. 
Bailey  had  given  employment  to  the  penniless  Irish  boy,  who  in 
gratitude,  named  his  eldest  son  for  his  benefactor.  The  "place  of 
summering  retirement"  was  Kinderhook.  See  "The  Successful 
Merchant,"  vol.  V,  pp.  433,  etc.,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


464 

were  quartered  in  Fort  Moultrie,  some  in  Castle  Pinckney.  Au- 
gustine visited  the  ship  and  the  other  members  of  the  family  went 
to  the  fort.  They  were  supposed  at  that  time  to  have  taken  fever 
in  this  way. — Ed. 

MY  DEAR  SUSAN,         ROCKBRIDGE,  Sept.  30,  1858. ' 

I  have  wished  to  write  you  &  express  my  heart- 
Siss^  Adger!'   ^^^^  Sympathy  with  you  and  Jane  Ann. 

We  cannot  pretend  to  understand  what  has  oc- 
curred. It  is  not  for  us  to  know  the  times  & 
de™A  ^'^^^'"'^  seasons  which  God  hath  kept  secret,  since  the 
world  began.  Death  never  comes  at  the  time,  or 
in  the  manner,  man  would  prescribe.  This  is  among  the 
secret  things  which  belong  unto  the  Lord,  &  with  which  to 
meddle  or  quarrel  is  to  provoke  &  displease  God.  It  is  just  as 
it  should  be,  and  could  we  see  the  end  as  well. as  the  beginning, 
we  should  say  it  is  best. 

And  yet  there  is  much  to  marvel  at  in  the  similarity  of  his 
case  &  William's ;" — both  drawn  away  from  home  for  health 
&  recreation — both  contracting  fatal  diseases — Sz;  both  dying 
in  N.  Y.,  &  at  hotels  so  near  to  one  another. 

In  father's  case,  we  see  however  much  that  seems  pleasant. 
He  had  revisited  the  scene  of  his  first  exile,  when  after  storm 
&  famine,  he  felt  the  weariness  &  solitude  of  an  exile's  sad- 
dened heart.  Now  he  returned  to  it,  wealthy,  honoured,  & 
happy;  &  in  great  measure  free  from  the  labour  &  sorrow 
assigned  to  his  period  of  life.  He  had  retraced  old  scenes,  & 
parlayed  with  old  friends,  &  chatted  over  old  times  &  youthful 
reminiscences.  He  had  been  among  his  relatives,  in  his  loved 
place  of  summering  retirement.  And  he  was  in  comfort.  His 
loved  ones  were  in  goodly  number  around  him.  He  suffered 
little.  He  was  like  a  moored  vessel  in  a  calm,  retired  bay, 
unruffled  by  the  storms  &:  cares  of  busy  life.  He  was  no 
doubt  early  aware  of  his  danger,  &  in  his  own  manner  gave 
the  most  emphatic  testimony  to  his  good  hope,  &  sure  anchor- 
age within  the  veil. 

The  future  was  increasingly  foreboding  to  him,  &  if  he  had 
survived,  only  a  shattered  bark  with  leaking  rents,  becalmed. 
or  with  but  struggling  motion  against  the  pressure  of  baffling 
winds,  adverse  currents,  &  cloudy,  unpropitious  skies,  could 
have  remained,  in  place  of  the  gallant  Steamer  braving  the 
battle  &  the  breeze. 

To  him  such  a  life  would  have  been  inexpressibly  monoto- 
nous, wearisome,  &  fretful. 

*Mr.  William  Adger  died  of  small-pox  in  New  York. — Ed. 


465 

From  these  &  all  possible  evils,  he  is  redeemed,  &  safely 
harboured  in  those  seas  of  heavenly  rest,  where  not  a  wave  of 
trouble  rolls  across  his  peaceful  breast. 

His  last  end  was  peace ;  &  let  your  hearts  be  peaceful,  calm, 
submissive,  from  every  murmur  free. 

Ours  is  the  loss,  his  the  gain. 

Ours,  therefore,  it  is  to  seek  hope  &  help  from  the  God  of 
hope,  and  may  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understand- 
ing keep  your  hearts  &  minds  in  loving  acquiescence  in  the 
divine  will  &  wisdom,  &  in  a  cheerful  readiness  to  take  up 
this  cross  &  follow  your  Saviour  in  all  holy  living,  that  you 
may  be  blessed  by  his  presence  in  a  holy  &  happy  dying. 

I  hasten  much  to  get  into  mail,  which  is  now  only  tri-weekly, 
&  remain  in  great  aif'n — to  you  &  Jane  Ann,  &  all  the  family 
&  friends, 


THOMAS  SMYTH. 


excuse  errors. 


ROCKBRIDGE  BATHS. 

Jany  28,  59. 
REV  THOS  SMYTH, 

DEAR  SIR, 
Dr.    Smyth's         Your  favour  enclosing  check  for  amt  of  my  bill 
work  at  the     reached  me  by  due  course  of  mail. 
Springs.  J  ^j^  sorry  that  you  had  to  pay  such  a  heavy 

freight  bill.  If  the  other  party  had  of  been  willing  all  could 
of  been  packed  in  the  one  box,  &  I  charged  nothing  for  box- 
ing the  whiskey  &  water. 

When  Maj.  Sackey  presented  his  bill,  I  found  he  had 
charged  6/ — per  Gallon,  &  spoke  to  him  about  it,  he  remarked 
that  he  had  sent  you  a  good  artickle,  &  had  to  have  an  extra 
barrel  made  expressly  for  you,  I  would  of  sent  a  barrel  over 
but  couldent  make  it  suit  to  do  so,  I  should  of  mentioned  this 
much  to  you  in  my  other  letter  but  neglected  to  do  so. 

The  Baths  were  not  sold  at  the  time  appointed,  and  the 
Company  decided  to  rent  the  property  &  I  have  become  the 
proprietor.  And  would  be  pleased  to  have  your  com'y  again 
this  season.  I  hop  you  will  do  for  me  what  you  can  in  your 
part  of  the  country.  *  *  I  have  succeeded  in  putting  up 
a  fine  supply  of  ice.  the  best  I  ever  handled. 

Fannie  &  Emma  received  their  Christmas  presents  and  was 
much  delighted  and  return  many  thanks  for  them,  it  is  with 
great  interest  Emma  enquires  for  you  whenever  she  hears 
your  name  called.  I  also  received  a  paper  which  I  am  very 
greatful  for,  I  found  some  most  excellent  peicies  in  it.     I  look 

[30] 


466 

on  those  tokens  coming  from  you  with  more  than  ordinary 
interest,  as  it  seems  you  think  of  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
myself  &  family;  this  is  very  gratifying  to  us.  I  am  sorry  to 
inform  you,  when  you  left  the  Baths  our  delightful  prayer- 
meetings  was  no  more,  but  are  remembered  &  spoken  of  to 
this  day  with  much  pleasure,  &  regrets  to  think  there  is  not 
one  that  can  take  hold  and  carry  them  on,  thare  would  not  be 
the  interest,  for  there  could  not  be  the  kind  of  teaching  you 
gave  us.  Our  Church  still  seems  cold  and  not  much  interest 
taken,  thare  has  one  joined  the  Church  since  you  left  8i  I  have 
no  doubt  you  will  be  surprised  to  hear  who  it  is,  it  is  our  own 
Son  which  was  not  apparently  thinking  of  anything  of  the 
kind  when  you  left  us,  &  it  is  a  source  of  much  joy  to  me  & 
think  you  will  be  pleased  to  hear  of  it,  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you 
and  ask  you  to  remember  us  in  vour  prayers,  Your  friend 
Truly    WM  JORDAN 

Sept.  II,  1859. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  HUSBAND, 

Mrs.  Smyth  ^^    "^^    ^^    frightened    at    my    large    sheet    of 

gives  import-  paper,  but  as  your  last  contained  some  queries, 
ant  data.  which  it  Will  require  room  to  answer,  I  thought 

I  would  commence  with  this  letter  sheet. — 

About  the  Gibbons  wreck; —  it  occurred  pre- 
^  ^  ■  vious  to  the  birth  of  Adger,  or  rather  the  fall  of 
the  summer  that  Robert  was  married — that  was  1836; — we 
went  on  in  the  last  trip  of  the  steamer,  previous  to  her  being 
laid  up  to  repair  and  paint,  and  left  N.  Y.  in  her  the  first  trip 
she  made  after  this  was  done ;  and  this  was  her  last.  You  may 
recollect  I  was  so  sick  that  Mother  could  not  go  on  to  Robt's 
wedding  in  July — in  August,  we  left  our  two  little  girls  with 
her,  and  joined  the  bridal  party  in  N.  Y. —  Sister  Susan  left 
them,  and  returned  with  us  to  Niagara,  while  they  went  to 
Philadelphia.  Then  she  came  with  us  in  the  Gibbons,  her  first 
trip  after  the  repairs,  while  Robt.  waited  with  his  bride,  &c. 
until  she  would  make  her  second.  This  must  have  been  in 
Oct.  1836.  The  cholera  was  here  that  season ;  and  Ed.  L. 
Buist  supplied  your  pulpit,  and  was  married. 

You  went  to  England  first  in  1844.     Sue  was 
Journeys,  ^^^  ^  ^^^j^  ^j^  wheu  you  left  me.     She  was  born 

1844,  1846.  ■' 

May    17,    1844.      You   landed   at   Cork,   went   to 

Killarney,  and  so  up  to  Dublin,  when  you  first  saw  your  aunt. 
You  went  a  second  time,  after  the  revival  in  1846,  and  left  Mr. 
Porter  to  supply  your  place.  Sarah  was  then  an  infant  of 
some  two  months  old.     She  was  born  Febr'y.  3  1846.     You 


467 

went  then  at  the  request  of  your  Aunt,  and  on  landing  in 
Liverpool  went  to  London  where  you  learned  of  her  death. 
{No,  in  Edinb.  in  Dr.  Chalmers'  house,  at  breakfast. — T.  S.) 

You  went  a  third  time  in  i8jo — after  your  first 
i8so"s^r  paralysis.     I   went  with  you.     We   stayed  three 

weeks  in  N.  Y.  where  you  superintended  "Unity" 
going  through  the  press.  Then  we  sailed  in  steamer  City  of 
Glasgow,  for  Glasgow.  You  had  got  many  letters  and  made 
arrangements  with  Dr.  Scott,  then  of  N.  O.,  to  travel  with 
him  in  the  East.  I  was  to  spend  the  summer  with  you  in 
Great  Britain  and  return  to  the  children  in  the  fall,  which  I 
did.  In  the  spring  of  185 1  I  returned  with  the  two  boys  to 
you,  and  we  came  home  in  the  steamer  Atlantic,  in  the  fall  of 
1 85 1.  Dr.  J.  W.  Alexander  was  a  fellow  passenger.  You 
were  away  at  that  time  18  months. —  Mr.  Jacobs  supplied  your 
pulpit. 

We  were  in  New  Brunswick  the  summer  of 
Journey,  jg^g_     j  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^-^^  Adgcr,   an  infant  of  a 

year  old,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Fleming,  with  Jane 
and  her  child  and  nurse.  We  went  to  their  country  place  and 
stayed  until  you  came  to  me,  then'  we  went  to  N.  B.— to 
Kinderhook,  Caatskill,  &c,  Jane  Green  being  Adger's  nurse. 
On  our  return  we  stayed  in  N.  Y.  at  John  Gihon's. —  That  fall 
or  winter,  Father  returned  from  England  so  sick,  and  was 
confined  all  winter  to  his  room — Mother  and  the  girls,  Smyrna 
Elizabeth^  came  with  him.  Lizzie  Ellison  was  married  next 
spring. — 

The  separation  of  Presbytery  occurred  on  the 
Prel'   S°"     evening  of  Dec.  4  1838,  in  our  Church.    That  was 

the  evening  when  you  and  Mr.  Gildersleeve  took 
the  books  and  went  below,  constituting  yourselves  the  Charles- 
ton Union  Presbytery.  I  have  just  been  reading  over  the 
account  of  it,  in  your  Tracts  on  Presby. — and  have  been  amused 
at  thinking  how  blank  the  others  must  have  looked  and  felt, 
when  Mr.  G.  picked  up  the  books  &c.  and  you  all  went  and  left 
them  to  themselves.     It  must  have  been  a  rich  scene. 

I  find  I  have  made  a  mistake  about  the  supply  of  your  pulpit 
in  1836.  E.  T.  Buist  supplied  for  you  the  summer  of  1832, — 
the  summer  of  our  marriage.  He  was  not  married  until  the 
succeeding  winter.  It  was  Ann,  who  married  Mr.  Caldwell, 
while  we  were  on  Pea  Island  in  1836,  that  I  was  thinking  of. — 
These  dates  have  called  up  many  almost  forgotten  events,  and 
revived  many  fading  recollections.  I  believe  I  have  answered 
all  your  queries. 

'Mrs.  John  B.  Adger.— Ed. 


468 

I  have  been  assisting  Adger  to  make  the  Hst  of 
jg  '°s''^P  ^'  your  books.  He  has  not  yet  completed  it — it  is 
rather  compHcated  and  he  has  not  much  time. 
They  are  receiving,  as  well  as  selling  goods,  and  packing  and 
unpacking,  and  he  comes  home  late,  tired  and  worn  out,  and 
unfit  for  any  thing  but  sleep.  The  business  season  has  opened 
up  early,  the  prospects  of  the  City  are  bright.  They  expect  to 
do  a  great  business.     Many  country  merchants  in  town. 

I  have  told  Adger  to  make  the  inquiries  you 
Family  burial   ^j^j^  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^j^j  ground.—  Havc  you   for- 

ground.  .  ^  ■' 

gotten  that  there  is  a  row  of  vaults  appropriated 
to  our  use  in  the  family  ground — already  prepared  for  us? — 
One  for  Wm's  family — and  for  John's — besides  those-  for  the 
girls  and  James.  Father  apportioned  them,  and  it  was  to  give 
us  room,  that  he  told  Robt.  to  have  the  land  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  walk  enclosed,  and  arranged  in  vaults  for  his 
family  and  Ellison's.  Your  vault  and  mine  are  there  ready, 
and  I  confess  I  have  so  long  accustomed  myself  to  look  upon 
that  spot  as  my  last  resting  place,  that  I  have  a  fondness  for 
it.  Like  our  little  Ellison^  I  w'd  rather  be  buried  there  than 
any  where  else.  I  questiiDn  if  you  could  get  as  many  squares 
as  you  name,  and  you  will  find  it  expensive  arranging  it  in 
vaults — 'Our  children  too,  may  none  of  them  ever  be  buried 
in  it.  However,  Adger  is  to  make  inquiries,  and  will  report 
to  you. — 

Sarah  Ellison  of  Winnsboro  is  to  be  married  Sep.  27. 
Susan  and  Jane  Ann  are  going  to  the  Wedding.  John  is  to 
be  in  Columbia  soon,  but  leaves  his  family  in  the  country  until 
Oct. —  Miss  Hardy's*  father  is  so  ill  she  cannot  leave  him, 
and  will  not  be  with  us  before  10  Oct. —  Then  it  will  hardly 
be  worth  while  for  her  to  go  to  Pendleton.  I  think  I  had 
better  write  for  her  to  stay  with  her  Father,  until  it  is  near  the 
time  for  the  children  to  get  home.  Don't  you  think  so?  I 
have  been  waiting  for  her  to  accompany  me  to  Pendleton. 

Clara  has  been  quite  sick,  fortunately  she  reached  me  and 
was  not  taken  sick  in  N.  Y.  or  by  the  way.  I  have  thus  had 
an  opportunity  of  repaying  in  part,  their  kindness  to  Adger 
last  summer,  when  they  nursedl  him  one  month.  She  is  yet  in 
bed,  but  is  better,  but  very  weak. —  The  children  are  all  well 
in  the  country  and  all,  they  tell  me,  have  fattened  up  consid- 
erably. 

^Dr.  Smyth  had  wished  to  name  this  son  Chrysostom,  after  the 
"Father  of  the  Church,"  but  the  child  being-  born  on  the  birthday 
of  Mrs.  Smyth's  brother,  received  his  name  at  her  instance. — Ed. 

"Mrs.   Smyth's  governess. 


469 

They  write  very  cheerfully.  Uncle  Robt.  does  all  he  can  to 
make  them  happy. — 

I  have  many  messages  from  different  persons  of  love  and 
remembrance  to  you.  -  I  cannot  particularize  them. 

Tell  Edward"  his  mother  came  to  see  me,  and  rec'd  his 
letter,  and  will  reply  to  him.  She  was  well,  sends  love  &c. 
Betsy's  husband  is  still  a  sufferer  with  Rheumatism.  She  is 
not  well  either.  The  rest  get  on — I  am  interrupted.  Ever 
yours  with  love, 

M.  M.  A.  SMYTH. 


CHARLESTON,  Sept  24,  1859. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

Adger  Smyth  ^  havc  delayed  writing  you  until  I  could  find 
makes  list  of  time  to  make  out  the  list  you  wished.  I  enclose 
writings.  ^g  complete  a  list  as  I  can  make.     It  took  Augus- 

tine and  myself  much  time,  as  we  had  to  look  through  not 
only  your  book-case,  but  our  own  also.^     *     *     * 

In  regard  to  the  burial  ground,  I  have  made  enquiries,  and 
the  only  place  vacant  is  next  to  Charlotte  St.,  just  back  of  the 
Church.  There  are  four  squares  vacant  there.  *  *  I  do 
not  like  the  situation  at  all,  next  to  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the 
street.     The  cost,  I  suppose  you  know,  is  $100.00  a  square. 

H^  ^  ^ 

This"  has  of  course  delayed  Mother's  trip  to  the  country,  but 
I  hope  she  will  be  able  to  leave  next  week  with  Augustine. 
He  is  quite  elated.  He  gained  a  double  first  certificate  last 
week,  the  first  time  he  has  ever  succeeded.  *  *  The  im- 
provements are  beginning  to  assume  shape  and  substance.  The 
roof  is  on  and  the  inside  work  is  going  up.  We  hope  to  paint 
in  two  or  three  weeks. 

All  join  in  love;  and  believe  me  ever 

Yr  affect  son, 
Hozudye  to  ADGER. 

Edward. 

'"Dr.   Smyth's  body-servant;   Betsy,  the   coloured  maid. — Ed. 

^This  list  of  Dr.  Smyth's  works,  both  bound  volumes  and  pam- 
phlets, with  dates  of  publication,  is  described  by  the  Doctor  as 
an  "approximate  catalogue — neither  complete  nor  perfect."  It  is 
one  of  those  used  in  compiling  the  bibliography. — Ed. 

°Work  of  plasterers,  etc,  on  the  house.  Additional  rooms  were 
built,  and  two  rooms  over  the  kitchen  were  thrown  into  one,  to  be 
used  as  a  schoolroom  for  the  girls.  This  room  was  Dr.  Smyth's 
working  study,  after  the  war. — Ed. 


470 

CHARLESTON,  Oct  i,  1859. 
MY  DEAR  FATHER, 

Dr.   Smyth  Mothcr  and  Augustine  left  us   last  night  for 

from  his  son     Pendlcton.     She  went  away  very  reluctantly,   as 
Adger.  g|^g  £gj^  j^gj.  presence  was  very  necessary  here,  as 

she  was  able  to  hurry  up  the  workmen  very  much. 

As  usual,  they  have  not  fulfilled  their  promises  and  are  much 
behind  hand.  The  plasterers  have  not  come.  *  *  Mr.  Lo- 
pez promises  to  have  them  there  on  Monday  next,  *  "■'  the 
painters  cannot  do  anything  until  the  plasterers  have  finished. 
The  yard  too  is  in  great  confusion,  as  the  servants'  rooms  are 
not  finished  yet,  nor  the  stables  and  carriage  house.  The 
servants  and  horses  are  still  at  Uncle  James'.     *     *     * 

I  was  truly  glad  to  find  from  your  last  letter  to  Mother,  that 
you  were  so  comfortable  in  your  accomodations,  and  that  you 
are  so  cheerful.  I  hope  Edward  has  given  you  satisfaction. 
I  think  he  is  not  ver}^  smart,  but  I  think  he  is  free  from  vice 
and  from  many  faults  that  the  negroes  commonly  possess. 

I  received  a  letter  from  Sarah  Anne  a  few  days  ago,  in 
which  she  expresses  a  hope  that  she  has  given  her  heart  to 
Jesus.  Ellison  and  Janie  have  both  expressed  the  same  hope 
to  me,  before  they  left  town.  *  *  Dear  Father,  I  know 
that  nothing  could  rejoice  your  heart  as  this  will.  All  your 
children  hoping  in  the  same  Saviour.^     *     *     * 

Pray  for  us.  Dear  Father,  who  have  so  lately  commenced 
our  Christian  warfare,  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  persevere  to 
the  end. 

In  much  love. 

Believe  me  ever 

Yr  Affect  son, 

ADGER. 

P.  S.     The  children  had  got  very  homesick  and  were  wish-' 
ing  for  Mother,  and  she'  felt  it  her  duty  to  go  to  them. 

October  i,  i860. 
REV  &  DEAR  SIR, 

On  going  into  my  pulpit  yesterday,  I  found  a 
Dr.   Brown       remnant  of  the  notes  of  your  sermon,  preached  to 

to  Dr.   Smyth.  .  ^^,  .   '    .  .  , 

our  congregation.  Thmkmg  it  may  be  of  some 
value  to  you,  I  inclose  it.  *  *  It  has  been  a  great  pleasure 
to  me,  to  have  a  chance  of  renewing  our  acquaintance,  &  that 
too,  under  the  roof  of  my  own,  humble,  mountain  home.  You 
&  I  have  both  seen  more  than  a  quarter  century's  labour  since 

^All  my  children  hopefully  converted. — T.  S. 


471 

we  left  Princeton,  &  begin  to  feel  that  the  days  of  our  youth 
are  gone.  No  doubt,  our  mutual  experience  has  been,  that  we 
serve  a  good  and  blessed  Master,  for  whose  glory  we  can 
never  do  enough.  I  think  your  sermon  will  often  sound  in 
my  ears  along  the  remaining  part  of  the  journey  of  life.    "You 

are  not  your  own,  for  you  have  been  redeemed  with  a  price." 

*     *     * 

My  best  wishes  for  your  pleasant  stay,  &  improvement  in 
health,  at  the  Rockbridge  Baths. 

Most  fraternally  yours  &c 

Samuel  Brown.* 
Rev.  Thos  Smyth  D.  D. 


As  an  instance  of  great  presence  of  mind  and 
m^rd"*^^  °  ^^^^  reliance,  and  yet  of  humble  dependence,  earn- 
est prayer,  and  hope  for  help  divine,  I  have,  I 
think,  mentioned  the  circumstances  connected  with  the  preach- 
ing of  my  Westminster  Assembly  Discourse."  A  similar  one 
took  place  in  Nov.  1859  on  Thanksgiving  day,  when  I  had 
engaged  to  preach  the  Sermon  before  our  united  congrega- 
tions in  Dr.  Kirkpatrick's''  church.  I  prepared  myself  to 
deliver  a  written  discourse  and  very  carefully  endeavoured  not 
to  go  without  it.  I  found  Dr.  K.  and  Rev.  Mr.  Gilchrist  in 
the  Lecture  Room,  waiting  my  arrival.  On  being  asked  for 
my  hymns,  I  looked  for  my  Sermon  in  my  pocket  without 
success,  to  my  very  great  amazement  and  regret.  I  requested 
Mr.  Gilchrist  to  take  my  buggy  and  search  my  study  for  the 
manuscript,  which  he  did  without  success.  Meantime  the  ser- 
vice was  delayed  as  long  as  could  properly  be  done,  and  the 
introductory  services  were  conducted  by  Dr.  K.  while  I  en- 
deavoured to  arrange  my  thoughts,  in  case  the  sermon  did 
not  come  to  hand.  I  had  only  cursorily  read^  the  discourse, 
and  had  therefore  to  strike  out  a  new  train  of  remarks  amid 
this  undetermined  state  of  mind,  and  in  the  very  brief  time 
possible.  I  preached  however,  and  as  appeared  afterwards,  to 
very  general  and  expressed  satisfaction.  But  when  about  half 
way  through,  having  occasion  to  look  in  my  breast  pocket,  I 

*Dr.  Samuel  Brown,  a  Virginian,  at  that  time  pastor  of  Windy- 
Cove  and  Lebanon  Churches. — Ed. 

"See  "Lessons  from  my  Life." — Ed. 

"The  Glebe  Street  Presbyterian   Church. — Ed. 

'We  must  recollect  the  Doctor's  method  of  preparing  a  number 
of  sermons   in   advance. — Ed. 


472 

saw  that  for  great  security  I  had  put  it  into  this  unusual  place. 
This,  of  course,  created  a  new  diversion  of  mind  and  feeling-, 
and  added  considerably  to  the  difficulty  in  concentrating 
thought  and  effort.  Dr.  K.,  whom  I  had  asked  to  pray  earn- 
estly for  me,  said  afterwards  that  I  had  made  a  very  happy 
hit  of  it. 

I  may  allude  to  two  recent  occurrences,  in 
from''dTng°er.  g^atcful  commcmoration  o.f  the  goodness  and 
protection  of  God,  and  especially  for  my  preser- 
vation hitherto  from  such  dangers.  On  the  first  occasion,  I 
was  run  into  late  at  night  by  a  carriage,  which  locked  with 
my  wheel,  and  swept  past  me  with  such  violence  as  to  turn  my 
buggy  completely  across  the  road',  and  break  both  shafts  en- 
tirely off.  There  was  a  cart  at  the  other  side,  so  that  I  could 
not  get  out,  though  the  crash  was  tremendous  and  it  seemed 
as  if  the  carriage  and  horses  were  driving  right  in  upon  me. 
We  got  the  horse  pacified  however,  and  my  servant,  with 
another  coloured  man,  who  offered  his  services,  drew  me 
home,  insisting  on  my  getting  inside  the  vehicle. 

A  few  evenings  after  at  about  the  same  hour  (lo  o'clock 
P.  M.,)*  I  was  taking  my  drive  during  a  thunder  storm.  The 
heavens  were  very,  very  dark,  when  not  brightened  with  a 
flash  of  lightning,  and  the  moon  being  expected  to  shine,  no 
lamps  were  lit.  I  was  in  Spring  St.,  riding  towards  the  new 
bridge,  when  I  found  I  could  not  see  the  road  at  all,  and 
endeavoured  to  turn.  But  in  doing  so,  I  found  I  was  on  the 
side  walk ;  and  in  turning  off,  came  in  contact  with  a  tree  box, 
which  I  supposed  I  had  torn  down  without  injury  to  my 
vehicle.  I  had  driven  some  distance  homeward,  when  at  a 
broken  part  of  the  road,  my  horse  became  unruly  and  inclined 
to  run.  On  looking  carefully,  I  saw  what  I  supposed  was  the 
single-tree,  sticking  up,  and  thought  therefore  that  a  trace  had 
got  loose  or  broken.  On  quieting  the  horse,  and  getting  out 
in  the  midst  of  a  drenching  rain, — for  I  was  alone — I  found 
the  shaft  had  been  broken,  and  that  a  piece  was  still  hanging, 
and  had  irritated  the  horse.  Disengaging  it  with  some  diffi- 
culty, I  got  in  and  drove  home  (about  a  mile,)  with  one 
shaft.  One  night  during  my  first  visit  to  Rockbridge  Cold 
Baths,  I  went  as  usual  to  take  my  bath  one  wet,  cold  night. 

^One  of  Dr.  Smyth's  many  adventures  resulted  from  his  driv- 
ing over  a  lantern,  set  in  the  street  as  a  danger  signal  by  the 
police.  The  Doctor  was  arrested  and  summoned  to  appear  before 
the  Recorder  in  the  morning;  when  he  entered  the  court-room,  the 
judge  rose,  and  with  a  bow  dismissed  the  case,  saying  that  his 
court  was  honoured  b}'  Dr.  Smyth's  presence. — Ed. 


473 

It  was  previous  to  the  erection  of  the  present  Bath  House, 
when  there  was  only  an  open  shanty,  with  the  bath  itself  mostly 
exposed.  During  my  bath  the  rain  was  falling  on  me,  as  I 
swam  about  by  the  dingy  light  of  a  single  candle.  It  was  with 
the  extremest  difficulty  I  could  (with  the  help  of  my  servant,) 
get  on  my  clothes  for  tremours,  and  violent  palpitations  of 
the  heart.  Returning  to  my  room,  I  experienced  nearly  as 
much  trouble  in  undressing.  But  taking  a  hot  drink  of  toddy, 
I  went  to  sleep  and  found  no  serious  inconvenience,  though  I 
did  not  bathe  again  without  a  stove  in  the  apartment. 

In  July  1862,  I  experienced  another  very  evident  and  strik- 
ing deliverance  from  almost  inevitable,  impending  death.     As 

1  was  wont,  when  warm,  and  time  permitted,  I  extended  my 
evening's  ride  along  the  lengthened  narrow  causeway  leading 
to  the  Savannah  R.  R.  bridge  and  ferry.  This  passes  through 
tide  water,  out  to  the  deep  part  of  the  river,  and  within  some 

2  or  3  hundred  yards  of  the  bridge  the  causeway  is  protected 
by  a  break  water,  with  beams  across,  about  every  12  or  15  feet. 
This  is  partly  filled  with  mud,  and  at  high  tide  with  water.  It 
was  twilight,  at  full  moon,  and  full  tide.  On  making  pro- 
gress along  the  causeway  so  far  as  not  to  be  able  to  turn,  I 
found  what  I  had  never  seen  before,  the  causeway  overflowed. 
I  went  on  however,  until  I  reached  the  break  water,  where  the 
tide  covered  all  the  side  beams  of  the  causeway,  coming  over 
the  bottom  of  the  wheels.  Seeing  no  guide  on  my  right,  and 
the  top  of  the  break  water  being  visible  on  the  left,  I  concluded 
that  must  be  the  left  beam  of  the  causeway,  and  moved  cau- 
tiously towards  it ;  and  I  had  actually  got  beyond  the  causeway, 
when  the  well  known  voice  of  the  watchman  shouted — "Stop! 
— Stop! —  For  God's  sake  stop,  or  you  will  be  in  the  hole!" 
I  was,  as  heretofore,  perfectly  self  possessed,  and  asking  which 
way  to  turn,  got  back  to  the  causeway  and  to  the  bridge,  and 
then  turned  upon  my  route  and  waded  back.  My  wheels  had 
gone  off,  no  doubt,  just  over  a  beam,  and  were  barely  stopped 
before  crossing  it,  in  which  case  I  must  have  been  overturned, 
buggy,  horse,  and  all,  into  the  hole.  On  coming  home  I  told 
my  wife  she  was  as  near  being  a  widow  as  ever  she  would  be 
or  could  be,  not  to  be  so  actually. 

Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  Soul ! 

Sept.  1862. 

Within  a  week  of  the  very  wonderful  deliverance  in  July, 
already  recorded,  I  was  returning  at  night  alone,  when,  being 
on  the  Battery  and  the  night  very  dark,  the  strap  holding  to- 
gether the  hames,  broke.  I  knew  not  what  had  taken  place,  but 


474 

found  myself  squatted  on  the  floor  of  the  buggy,  holding  on 
to  the  reins.  As  the  concussion  was  great  and  my  back  hurt 
by  striking  against  the  seat,  I  at  first  thought  the  buggy  had 
separated.  On  examination,  I  found  however,  the  seat  behind 
me,  to  which  I  lifted  myself  and  proceeded — still  ignorantly — 
to  drive  on,  though,  as  I  found,  something  was  dragging  along 
the  ground.  I  supposed  a  shaft  was  broken  and  moved  slowly, 
hoping  to  reach  home.  But  in  passing  over  the  street  crossings 
I  found  the  drag  increasing,  until  the  horse  became  unman- 
ageable and  quickened  more  and  more  his  speed,  the  shafts  now 
doubtless,  though  unknown  to  me,  striking  him.  I  held  on  how- 
ever, calling  to  any  one  who  might  be  near,  to  catch  him,  until 
he  had  turned  the  buggy  completely  round  and  had,  as  I  sup- 
posed, broken  every  thing.  I  succeeded  in  pulling  him  close 
enough  to  catch  the  reins  close  to  his  mouth,  by  which  means  I 
stopped  him.  By  this  time  several  servants  and  gentlemen 
came  up,  when  to  my  astonishment  nothing  was  found  broken, 
and  I  got  out  and  walked  home,  praising  and  glorifying  God. 

Since  then  the  horse  has  twice  fallen  flat  with  me  alone,  and 
at  night,  as  was  the  case  this  evening.^ 

These  are  among  many  hair-breadth  escapes  for  which  I  am 
indebted  to  the  protecting  care  of  a  special  providence,  and  it 
may  be  to  ministering  angels.  Three  times  in  Charleston  a 
very  fine  horse  of  Mr.  Adger's,  named  Poppet,  which  was 
blind  of  one  eye  and  therefore  uncertain  in  his  footing,  fell  at 
full  length  under  me  while  going  at  a  rapid  canter — once  in 
Spring  St.,  once  in  Coming  St.,  and  once  up  the  road.'  Twice 
I  got  ofif  and  out  of  the  stirrups  while  he  was  coming  down, 
so  as  not  to  fall,  but  the  last  time  I  was  made  to  bite  the  dust, 
and  gave  him  up. 

While  at  Princeton  a  similar  occurrence  took  place,  alluded 
to  I  think  more  particularly  elsewhere ;  it  was  indeed  a  wonder- 
ful preservation,  owing  to  undisturbed  presence  of  mind.'' 

On  another  occasion  while  at  Princeton,  I  was  unharnessing 
the  same  horse  in  the  yard  of  the  Seminary,  and  ignorantly 

^Dr.  Smyth  had  many  horses.  One  of  them  had  a  white  blaze 
on  its  face,  which  did  not  suit  the  Doctor's  ideas  of  decoration; 
so  he  purchased  some  dye,  and  brought  the  white  patch  to  the 
proper  tint  of  dark  bay  that  distinguished  the  animal.  But  hair 
dye  is  not  permanent,  and  this  faded,  through  lessening  shades  of 
purple,  to  pink,  while  the  Doctor's  colour-blindness  kept  him  quite 
indifferent  to  the  effect.  Through  it  all  the  horse  was  driven,  until 
his  blaze  was  finally  white  again. — Ed. 

"The  old   Indian  trail,  leading  North  from   Charleston. — Ed. 

^See  page   192. — Ed. 


475 

taking  off  his  blinds  before  he  was  loosened  from  the  vehicle, 
he  became  frightened  and  dashed  off,  while  I,  as  foolishly,  held 
on  to  the  reins  and  was  dragged  along,  until  he  ran  against 
the  fence. 

When  young  I  undertook  to  ride  a  clergyman's  horse,  which 
ran  off.  By  and  by  the  saddle  became  loose  and  turned  com- 
pletely under,  when,  as  in  the  subsequent  cases,  I  was  enabled 
to  disentangle  my  feet  and  reach  the  ground  without  falling. 

On  one  of  my  visits  to  Ireland,  I  was  riding  over  a  Macadam- 
ized road  on  an  outside  car,  which  has  seats  on  each  side  and 
a  foot  board  hanging  down,  so  that  four  passengers  ride  on 
each  side,  back  to  back,  and  facing  the  road.  The  middle  is 
piled  up  with  the  luggage.  We  were  going  at  a  brisk  trot,  when 
I  stood  up  to  arrange  and  push  back  some  trunks  that  inter- 
fered with  my  comfort.  To  do  this,  I  took  a  handle  of  a  carpet 
bag  to  hold  on  by,  while  I  pushed.  It  gave  way  and  the  trunk 
also,  so  that  I  had  to  fall  backwards,  over  the  wheel,  on  the 
hard  stone  road,  with  the  car  moving  forward,  say  at  the  rate 
of  8  miles  an  hour  and  Irish  miles  too.  I  recall  perfectly  the 
scene — the  road  &c:  I  did  not  lose  presence  of  mind,  but  de- 
liberately sprang  so  as  to  clear  the  wheel  and  alighted  on  my 
feet.  The  motion  however,  brought  me  down  in  a  backward 
fall,  when  all  thought  I  must  be  dangerously  injured.  I  got 
up  instantly,  though,  and  resumed  my  seat,  and  soon  recovered 
from  the  jarring  and  excitement. 

On  a  similar  ride  from  Newry,  we  took  up  some  passengers 
who  had  just  been  rescued  from  a  wreck.  On  my  car  was  a 
real  Paddy  and  his  wife,  for  whose  preservation  he  had,  I  was 
told,  made  great  exertions.  Going  up  a  steep  hill,  as  we  were 
heavily  laden,  the  passengers  were  requested  to  get  off  and 
walk.  This  the  woman  was  unwilling  to  do,  pleading  inability. 
But  his  lordship  broke  out  upon  her  with  curses,  and  pulling 
her  off,  administered  some  wholesome  correction,  which  she 
seemed  to  take  in  good  part  as  a  very  forcible  expression  of 
his  love  and  masterly  manliness. 

In  Mr.  Adger's  lot  grew  for  many  years  a  most  fruitful 
pear  tree,  which  reached  to  the  top  of  his  house  of  three  full 
storeys,  with  a  basement.  On  one  occasion  I  was  on  a  branch 
on  a  line  with  the  third  storey  window,  then  occupied  as  my 
study,  and  was  pulling  down  and  stripping  off  the  fruit  from 
a  still  loftier  parallel  branch,  when  both  broke  off  and  I  came 
perpendicularly  to  the  ground,  without  further  injury  than  the 
concussion.  Presence  of  mind  enabling  me  to  descend  straight. 
Putting  together  these  facts  with,  i.  my  shipwreck  on  the 
William  Gibbons;  2.  the  Storm  of  the  Great  Western;  3.  the 


476 

breaking  of  an  axle  in  the  Atlantic  Steamer;  4.  the  escape  at 
Newport  f  and  sundry  other  scenes ;  my  quiet  Hfe  has  been 
eventful. 

I  just  remember  on  another  occasion  in  Ireland,  being  over- 
turned in  a  Mail  Coach  while  turning  the  corner  of  a  street  in 
Newry. 

On  one  occasion  while  riding  on  horseback  with  my  wife, 
towards  Lowndes'  fann,  I  turned  the  horse  to  drink,  into  a 
deep  water  along  side  of  the  road,  apparently  clear  and  firm 
at  bottom,  when  the  horse  sunk  under  me  up  to  the  saddle. 

On  another  occasion  riding  on  the  back  beach  of  Sullivan's 
Island  while  the  tide  was  out,  I  amused  myself  by  following 
the  multitudes  of  little  fiddlers,  until  I  got  beyond  the  firm 
ground  and  sank  all  at  once  up  to  the  saddle  top  in  the  mud. 
It  was  afternoon,  and  the  tide  coming  in.  I  was  able  to 
spring  to  firm  ground  and  hold  on  to'  the  bridle,  until  by  en- 
couraging the  horse,  he  was  enabled  to  get  his  knee  on  firm 
ground  and  from  it  to  make  a  desperate  plunge  and  spring 
out.' 

On  another  occasion  on  the  front  beach,  driving  with  my 
daughter  Sarah  Annie,  we  drove  into  the  water  to  enjoy  more 
vividly  the  breakers  and  the  breeze.  When  the  tide  had 
reached  to  the  buggy's  body  and  we  wished  to  make  a  retreat, 
we  found  it  impossible  to  move.  I  saw  no  other  way  than  to 
get  out  into  the  water,  and  lift  the  wheels  and  urge  the  horse 
by  the  head,  until  we  got  beyond  the  holes  we  had  made." 

Since  being  crippled  and  unable  to  run,  sometimes  scarcely 

*See  page  191. — Ed. 

^It  is  remembered  that  it  was  many  days  before  that  horse 
was  clean. — Ed. 

"The  account  given  by  Dr.  Smyth's  daughter  is  somewhat  dif- 
ferent. According  to  her  recollection,  her  father  and  she  both 
fell  asleep,  and  woke  to  find  themselves  caught  in  the  quicksand. 
She,  being  bare-footed,  was  made  to  get  out,  and,  using  one  of  the 
Doctor's  crutch-handle  sticks,  tiptoe  until  she  could  hook  it  into 
the  horse's  bit  and  haul  his  head  round  to  the  shore. 

Miss  Hannah  Longstreet  writes,  in  1874: 

"Among  the  prominent  remembrances  I  have  of  Dr.  Smyth, 
was  a  drive  in  a  storm  along  the  beach  of  Sullivan's  Island.  His 
intense  absorption  in  the  wild  scene  taking  all  fear  from  him,  till 
his  very  state  of  mind  made  me  certain,  he  (&  I  with  him)  must 
be  suddenly  done  with  Earth  &  carried  through  the  depths  of  the 
sea,  into  the  other  world.  Only  I  was  not  quite  ready,  &  dread- 
fully frightened.  When  he  saw  this,  he  seemed  surprised  &  for- 
getting every  thing  else,  came  down  from  his  state  of  transcend- 
ency &  talked  me  into   calmness." — Ed. 


477 

to  walk,  never  firmly,  or  for  a  long  time ;  with  knee,  ancle,  and 
thigh  joint  giving  way  with  a  snap  or  hanging  loosely  and 
disjointedlly  together,  and  the  foot  turning  under;  I  have  run 
innumerable  hazards  of  a  very  imminent  kind  through  which 
nerve,  confidence,  and  self  control  could  alone  have  guided 
me.  I  have  at  different  times  spent  a  week  or  ten  days  in  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  &c.  and  have  made  constant  use  of  the 
Omnibuses.  I  have  therefore  often  and  often  got  in  and  out 
on  Broadway,  Chestnut  St.,  &c.,  at  all  hours,  and  amid  the 
greatest  throng.  I  have  frequently  got  out  (and  with  con- 
siderable difficulty  always,)  opposite  Maiden  Lane,  the  Astor 
House,  Stewart's,  &c,  in  the  middle  of  the  street  necessarily, 
between  vehicles,  and  yet  without  accident.  I  have  also  driven 
myself  alone  at  Newport  daily,  at  the  rate  sometimes  of  nine 
miles  in  an  hour  without  accident ;  or  I  would  get  out  and 
walk  on  the  beach,  or  road,  when  the  congested,  painful  con- 
dition of  my  limbs,  or  pleasure,  prompted  it. 

A  horse  compliment.  On  re-visiting  one  of  my  mountain 
retreats  in  i860,  a  gentleman  who  had  observed  my  move- 
ments, in  complimenting  me  on  my  improved  appearance  said, 
"your  action  is  certainly  much  better."  I  felt,  of  course, 
tickled  and  with  the  irrepressible  vanity  of  our  self-loving 
nature,  thought  it  good  to  be  complimented,  even  though  with 
a  horse  compliment. 

I  have  occasionally,  but  very  seldom  fallen.  Once  at  New- 
port, thick  darkness  and  rain  overtook  me  in  the  evening 
returning  home,  on  the  street  leading  over  rough  pavement 
and  steep  hill  to  the  Aquidneck  hotel ;  so  that  I  found  it  im- 
possible to  get  along  without  careful  creeping,  until  I  heard 
some  one  coming,  and  secured  his  assistance  home. 

On  Broadway  one  evening,  while  returning  to  my  lodgings 
from  a  walk  down  town,  I  was  about  to  cross,  I  think,  Houston 
St.  where  the  side  drain  is  very  deep,  when  I  observed  a 
vehicle  coming  up ;  in  my  haste  to  pass  over  I  put  out  my  weak 
leg  and,  my  foot  not  coming  to  the  ground  when  expected,  I 
was  drawn  by  it,  as  is  constantly  the  case,  out  of  the  line  of 
gravitating  balance ;  and  finding  no  support,  had  to  humble 
myself  to  lick  the  dust  and  fell  forward  on  all  fours.  A  gentle- 
man passed  by  of  the  Priest  and  Levite  order,  who  knew  me, 
and  afterwards  reported  my  humiliation,  but  seeing  me  very 
quickly  in  biped,  perpendicular  position,  making  progress  in  a 
straight  line,  he  was  too  modestly  sensitive  for  my  feelings  to 
offer  any  meddlesome  interference — for  which  I  thank  him. 

In  1859  I  administered  the  Communion  in  the  Circular 
Church,  on  one  of  the  very  hottest  days' of  the  Summer,  alone, 


478 

under  the  difficulty  of  unfamiliarity  with  their  pecuHar  mode ; 
after  a  sleepless  night,  occasioned  by  a  very  painful  hand  of 
which,  as  I  afterwards  found,  a  bone  between  the  wrist  and 
fingers  was  broken  [  ?]  ;  and  preached  in  my  own  pulpit  in  the 
afternoon. 

My  bathing  at  Virginia  in  the  colder  baths,  as  at  the  Rock- 
bridge Baths  and  Healing,  or  having  a  horse  bucket  of  the  cold- 
est water  (56°)  thrown  over  me  on  coming  out  of  the  Warm 
Springs  and  Hot,  which  I  have  done  for  three  Summers ;  and 
my  rubbing  down  there  and  at  home  for  two  years  now,  with 
ice,  sitting  and  bathing  my  head  in  ice  water,  immediately 
after  sponging  with  boiling  hot  water,  has  been  regarded  by 
physicians  as  eminently  hazardous :  Dr.  Ravenel  has  repeatedly 
prophecied  that  some  day  I  would  be  fatally  affected  by  the 
process. 

Col.  Bryan,  though  a  professor  himself,  resented  my  pas- 
toral interference  with  his  daughter,  whom  he  required  to  go 
with  him  to  the  theatre,  and  called  to  horsewhip  me ;  but  left 
in  a  very  subdued  spirit. 

A    case    in    which    Dr.    Smyth   was    not    restrained 
"  °  by  fear  of  criticism,  is  told  of  by  a  relative  of  one  of  a 

party  of  frivolous  women,  who,  for  lack  of  more 
exciting  employment,  attended  the  church  on  Sullivan's  Island 
on  an  evening  when  Dr.  Smyth  was  preaching.  They  found  his 
earnestness  very  amusing  and  did  not  hesitate  to  show  it,  until, 
with  a  stern  voice  he  addressed  them  with  such  scathing  irony 
and  reproof,  that  feeling  themselves  become  hopelessly  ridiculous, 
they  fled  from  the  church. 

Another  incident,  showing  Dr.  Smyth's  zeal  in  taking  advantage 
of  every  opportunity  offered  him,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  to 
preach  the  Gospel,  is  related  by  one  of  the  congregation  present 
at  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Warren  McGee,  a  member  of  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church,  who  was  buried  in  the  Circular  Churchyard, 
in  February,  1869.  Dr.  Smyth,  who  was  to  preach  the  funeral 
sermon,  prefaced  his  remarks  by  stating  that  the  opportunity 
was  seldom  offered  him  to  address  such  a  large  number  of  young 
men  as  had  gathered  on  this  occasion;  then  putting  aside  whatever 
preparation  he  had  made  he  preached  most  earnestly  against  the 
temptations  that  beset  young  men,  including  the  theatre  and  the 
ball  room.  The  discourse  made  a  profound  impression  on  his 
audience. — Editor. 

I  am  reminded  of  an  incident  in  my  life  which 
diffiluuLs  might  have   led  to   very   serious   and   sad   conse- 

quences, detrimental  to  my  character  and  stand- 
ing. While  in  Philadelphia  some  years  since,  staying  at  the 
house  of  Mr.  Alexander  Henry  '(then  President  of  the  Ameri- 


479 

can  Sunday  School  Union,)  during  the  period  of  his  faiHng 
health,  I  was  sitting  with  him  in  the  back  parlour  when  the 
dinner  bell  rang.  At  the  same  time  the  street  bell  was  heard, 
and  an  attractive  looking  female  was  introduced  as  my  visitor 
into  the  front  room,  or  parlour.  Having  long  had  an  anxious 
dread  of  female  plots,  increased  by  the  recent  case  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Phillips  of  New  York,  I  asked  Mr.  Henry  to  retain  his  seat 
from  which  he  could  command  a  view  of  the  two  parlours. 
This  lady-like  person  represented  herself  as  the  wife  of  a 
resident  of  Charleston,  and  sought  aid,  ostensibly,  to  return  to 
him.  I  was  convinced  she  was  a  plotter,  but  could  not  get  her 
to  leave,  until  the  bell  rang,  and  Dr.  Mitchell,  son-in-law  of 
Mr.  Henry,  was  announced,  when  in  great  trepidation  she 
asked  if  it  was  he,  and  lowering  her  veil,  made  a  very  hurried 
and  awkward  retreat.  On  entering,  Dr.  Mitchell,  with  whom 
I  was  intimate,  asked,  "who  was  that  visitor  I  had?"  I  told 
him  her  story  and  name.  He  then  said  "My  dear  Sir,  you  may 
thank  me  for  your  very  provident  escape  from  a  dangerous 
snare.  Why  sir,  that  is  a  most  deceitful  woman !  She  has 
lived  at  several  of  our  hotels  as  the  wife  of  different  absent 
parties,  an;!  was  not  long  since  delivered  by  me  of  a  child 
while  passing  as  the  wife  of  an  officer  then  abroad." 

On  my  return  to  Charleston  the  same  person  called  at  my 
house.  As  soon  as  I  recognized  her  in  the  front  parlour,  to 
which  she  had  been  introduced,  I  asked  my  wife  to  sit  so  that 
she  could  see  all  that  took  place.  I  soon  however,  opened  a 
broadside  of  grape  shot  upon  her,  and  she  was  glad  to  hoist 
all  canvas  and  escape. 

On  another  occasion  I  had  a  similar  visit,  doubtless  for  a 
similar  purpose,  from  a  young  and  attractive  female,  under  a 
pretence  of  religion,  to  induce  me  to  visit  her  at  her  house ; 
but  by  some  hint  or  information  I  avoided  this  snare  also. 

From  such  female  stratagems  and  seduction,  ministers  can 
be  preserved  only  by  a  watchful  providence,  for  whose  vigi- 
lant and  merciful  interposition  and  guardian  care  they  have 
reason  continually  to  pray. 

Suggested  by  the  preceding,  I  would  mention  a  very  pain- 
ful and  distressing  case  of  female  apostacy  and  deception.  A 
gentleman,  who  was  an  active,  zealous,  and  devoted  member 
of  my  church,  had  married  a  very  beautiful  and  attractive 
lady,  considerably  younger  than  himself,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Circular  Church  and  of  a  pious  family  and  kindred. 
He  was  possessed  of  some  property  and  a  good  profession — 
long  occupied  a  public  position  of  prominent  utility,  and  has 
since  become  a  Minister.     He  was  most  ardently  in  love  with 


480 

his  wife,  for  whom  he  went  to  every  expense  in  furnishing 
his  house  in  every  comfort  and  luxury.  Nor  was  I  aware  for 
a  long  time  that  this  feeling  was  not  perfectly  reciprocated.  I 
was  surprised  in  view  of  his  devotion,  to  be  requested  for  her 
sake,  to  baptize  their  first  child  at  home.  This  surprise  was 
much  augmented  when  the  same  request  was  urged  for  a 
second  child :  on  this  occasion,  when  the  infant  was  to  be 
presented,  the  wife  rudely  took  it  from  the  husband  and  held 
it  to  me.  I  declined  however,  to  proceed,  until  she  allowed 
the  husband  to  present  it.  The  mystery  was  solved  sometime 
after  by  her  elopement  with  the  real  father  of  probably  both 
her  children,  who  had  been  allowed,  as  a  medical  student,  to 
board  in  the  house  and  to  correspond  with  the  wife.  Indeed 
there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  guilty  course  of  the  wife  was 
known  to  the  husband,  who  seemed  to  be  infatuated  by  his 
fond  devotion  and  sunk  his  fortune,  and  destroyed  his  peace, 
rather  than  expose  or  expel  her. 

What  has  been  her  fate  in  life  since,  I  cannot  tell,  as  her 
name  is  never  mentioned. 

Another  case  of  presumed  adulterous  infidelity  occurred  in 
the  life  of  a  young  woman  who  also  made  profession  of  re- 
ligion, between  whom  and  a  young  married  physician  I  had 
reason  to  believe  there  was  criminal  intercourse.  I  acted  to- 
wards her  as  our  Saviour  did,  and  as  I  thought  in  her  case  he 
would,  tenderly.  Her  subsequent  course  led  me  to  hope  the 
best  for  her  salvation.  She  married  in  New  York,  became  a 
member  of  a  church  there,  and  had  opportunity  on  several 
occasions  of  manifesting  great  personal  gratitude,  and  to  give 
evidence  of  a  consistent  Christian  life. 

How  delightful  it  is  to  throw  over  a  tempted  and  fallen, 
humbled  woman,  the  veil  of  that  charity  which  hideth  a  multi- 
tude of  sins  and  saves  a  precious,  penitent  soul  from  death! 
In  nothing  does  the  gospel  shew  its  god-like  distinction  from 
all  human  systems,  whether  social  or  philosophical,  than  in  the 
equal  consideration  with  which  it  regards  man  and  woman  in 
their  sins  and  sorrows,  and  in  the  equal  readiness  with  which 
it  holds  out  the  hand  of  sympathizing  mercy  to  the  degraded 
of  both  sexes. 

A  most  astounding  illustration  of  the  desperate  wickedness 
and  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart  occurred  during  my 
recent  ministrations.  The  wife  of  a  young  merchant  became 
consumptive,  as  I  supposed,  and  for  many  months  was  con- 
fined to  her  chamber  and  bed,  suffering,  apparently,  very  great 
pain  from  neuralgia  in  her  limbs.  She  excited  my  deepest 
sympathy  and  commiseration,  and  I  did  all  I  could  to  comfort, 


481 

counsel,  and  instruct  her.  She  was  a  member  of  the  church 
and  spoke  confidently  and  piously,  and  often  as  if, — not  only 
prepared,  but  preferring  to  die.  After  making  my  last  visit, 
her  mother-in-law  felt  constrained  to  unbosom  herself  to  me 
in  secrecy,  and  in  whispers,  and  with  most  solemn  charges  not 
to  betray  her.  By  her  account,  love  of  strong  drink  had 
occasioned  all.  She  lived  upon  it  and  would  rave  and  curse 
at  a  fearful  rate  until  gratified,  and  had  just  passed  through 
such  a  scene  before  my  visit.  I  felt  very  awfully,  as  her  hus- 
band and  brothers,  with  others,  had  conspired  in  deceiving  me, 
and  allowing  her  to  go  down  to  the  grave  with  a  lie  in  her 
right  hand.  I  determined  in  some  way  to  put  matters  right, 
but  while  deliberating  how  to  act  so  as  not  to  do  mischief  and 
no  good,  she  was  unexpectedly  ushered  into  eternity,  and  her 
body  entombed  in  the  fearful  prison-house  of  a  drunkard's 
grave.     *     *     * 

I  have  had  several  cases  of  Satanic  Spiritual  temptations. 
In  some  instances  there  was  a  constant  temptation  to  blas- 
pheme God,  others  were  possessed  with  an  evil  spirit  of  mel- 
ancholic despair.  Dr.  McCheyne's  work  on  Mental  Derange- 
ment is  very  valuable  on  this  point.     *     *     * 

Another  recent  illustration  of  the  same  desperate  malignity 
and  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart  was  that  of  a  young  man 
about  23  years  old,  with  whom  in  presence  of  his  mother  I 
had  a  long,  personal,  and  very  plain,  pungent  conversation  on 
his  soul's  salvation,  by  which  and  my  prayer  he  seemed  deeply 
affected  and  candid.  Within  two  weeks  he  was  a  corpse,  the 
victim  of  delirium  tremens.  I  was  told  afterwards  that  he  was 
a  most  irreligious  young  man,  tired  of  life,  often  expressing  a 
desire  to  die,  and  that  he  spoke  jeeringly  of  my  conversation, 
and  damned  preparation  when  asked  if  he  was  ready.  This 
however  was  all  affected  bravado,'  as  he  had  expressed  to  his 
mother  the  hope  that  I  would  call  again.  God  however  took 
him  at  his  word.  He  was  suddenly  destroyed  and  that  without 
remedy — driven  away  in  his  wickedness ;  and  yet  in  an  obituary 
he  was  protrayed  as  the  best  of  sons,  and  unquestionably  en- 
rolled on  the  calender  of  saints  made  perfect. 

This  recalls  the  case  of  young  widower  whom  I  met  after 
service,  one  Sabbath  afternoon,  in  the  Cemetery  of  our  church, 
deeply  moved  while  looking  at  the  grave  and  stone  of  his 
young  and  beloved  wife,  not  long  deceased.  Over  the  top  of 
the  stone  he  had  inscribed,  "As  the  Lord  liveth  and  as  thy  Soul 
liveth,  there  is  but  a  step  between  thee  and  death."     I  made 

'Dr.  Smyth  refers  elsewhere  to  sinners  as  "bravado  cowards." 
—Ed. 

[31] 


482 

these  words  the  text  for  a  personal  discourse,  warning,  and 
entreaty,  as  he  was  not  a  church-going  man.  He  professed 
and  promised,  and  we  parted.  During  the  same  or  next  week, 
an  explosion  in  the  factory  where  he  was  employed,  fulfilled 
to  him  in  quick  and  terrible  literality  the  prophetic  warning. 

I  have  already,  I  believe,  detailed  the  remarkable 
the  RTrnMs  history  of  Haldane's  work  on  the  Romans,  his  pro- 
jected Commentary  on  Galatians,  and  perhaps  the 
substance  of  his  work  on  the  Evidences,  derived  from  the  testi- 
mony of  the  younger  Dr.  Carson,  of  Coleraine,  Ireland,  and  the 
perusal  of  a  number  of  letters  of  his  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Car- 
son of  Tubbermore,  the  justly  celebrated  Baptist  writer  whom 
I  have  several  times  heard  and  seen,  when  young.  It  appears 
that  he  was  really  the  author,  and  Mr.  Haldane  little  more 
than  the  Editor  of  these  able  works,  and  that  he  wrote  even 
his  Newspaper  controversy  and  received  a  salary,  which  really 
sustained  him  as  pastor  of  a  little  flock  in  a  small,  retired,  but 
interesting  village  through  which  I  have  passed. 

I  may  mention  to  the  praise  of  God  the  case  of 
Pastoral  en-       ^^g_  ^ ^^  recently  reported  by  Mrs. 

couragement.  .     _  _      '  y  r-  j 

William  Adger,  in  a  message  from  herself.  I  vis- 
ited her  after  Dr.  Post's'  death  and  after  severe  and  repeated 
afflictions  and  bereavements.  She  was  in  failing  health  and 
in  a  state  of  morbid,  melancholy  hopelessness  about  her  own 
soul ;  and  incapable  of  active  interest  in  the  nevertheless  nec- 
essary occupations  of  her  household.  The  message  was  to 
the  efifect  that  my  conversation  and  prayers  had  given  her  new 
heart  and  hope,  had  led  to  the  restoration  of  the  joys  of  God's 
salvation,  to  a  willing  devotion  to  appointed  service,  and 
acquiescence  in  the  Divine  will,  and  that  she  would  never  for- 
get it.  How  thankful  am  I  to  be  made  the  instrument  of 
speaking  a  word  to  the  weary  and  aged  pilgrim,  to  comfort 
others  with  the  consolations  wherewith  I  have  been  myself 
comforted  of  God,  and  to  encourage  them  to  lift  up  their  heads 
and  hold  fast  their  confidence,  steadfast  unto  the  end ! 

A  very  similar  and  equally  pleasant  message  was  conveyed 
to  me  from  Miss  Post,  in  relation  to  a  visit  to  her  and  to  the 
Miss  Smiths,  one  of  whom  is  blind — also  of  one  made  to  Dr. 
Post  himself,  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  when  I  made  prayer 
with  him,  and  loaned  him,  "The  Mute  Christian  Under  the 
Smarting  Rod,"  of  which  I  was  told  he  often  spoke  gratefully ; 
— and  a  visit  made  to  Miss  Ramsay  shortly  before  her  decease. 
These  were  all  beyond  my  congregation. 

^Pastor  of  the   Congregational  Church. — Ed. 


483 

Another  message,  peculiarly  pleasant,  was  recently  brought 
by  my  wife  from  the  present  (third,)  wife  of  Dr.  Bellinger. 
From  having  been  a  member  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  he  was 
led  via  the  Oxford  Tracts  and  writings,  through  the  wily  arti- 
fices of  Bishop  England  into  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
whither  also  he  had  decoyed  two  quasi  Protestant  wives.  Miss 
Pinckney,  grand-daughter  of  Dr.  Ramsay  and  a  member  of 
the  Circular  Church,  was  induced  to  marry  him,  to  the  great 
fear  of  many  of  her  friends.  On  her  wedding  day  I  presented 
her  with  my  Well  in  the  Valley  and  Why  do  I  live,^  and  an 
accompanying  note,  having  in  it  the  two  passages,  "Be  thou 
faithful  unto  death,"  and,  "Let  no  man  take  thy  crown,"  &c. 
How  they  were  received  I  knew  not,  until  I  was  informed  by 
this  message  that  she  had  never  forgotten  my  words,  and  was 
thankful  for  them. 

Among  remarkable  cases  of  successful  ministration,  I  look 
back  with  unfeigned  thankfulness  and  joy  to  those  of : — 

1.  Mr.  James  Adger, 

See  my  Funeral  Discourse;" 

2.  Col  Yeadon, 

See  published  Discourse  and  Tract  f 

3.  Mr.  William  Milliken ;  who  from  having  been  a  bitterly 
prejudiced  disliker  became  a  very  warm  friend,  and  who  from 
having  been  a  very  loosely  living  man  of  the  world,  became, 
and  died  I  hope,  a  humble,  earnest,  and  happy  Christian ; 

4.  Mr.  Fanning,  now  Elder  of  Dr.  Girardeau's  Church,  and 
others. 

Amusing  Incidents  worth  preservation  in  this  Museum  of 
Varieties. 

It  is  of  great  importance  to  any  man,  but  preeminently  to  a 
man  of  sedentary  habits,  to  be  able  to  raise  a  laugh  when  he  is 
becoming  moody  and  phlegmatic ;  and  if  he  has  not  a  witty 
wife,  or  companion  at  hand,  to  have  resources  within  himself. 
For  this  purpose,  let  him  treasure  up  any  scenes  of  particularly 
ludicrous  and  laughter-exciting  merriment,  that  may  have 
formed  a  comic  interlude  between  the  more  solemn  scenes  of 
the  tragedy  of  life.  A  good  laugh  is  a  great  exhilarator,  a 
mesmeric  cordial,  a  heart  enlivener.  It  puts  body,  soul,  and 
spirit  into  good  humour  and  a  ready  disposition  to  work.  I 
like  the  story  of  the  Professor — was  it  Dr.  Taylor? — who  said 

'See  vol.  VIII,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 
"See  vol.  V,  p.  433,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
^See  vol.  V,  p.  469,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


484 

"Young  gentlemen,  I  think  a  good  hearty  laugh  will  do  us  all 
good,  so  let  us  have  it."  Thereupon  commencing  the  exhibi- 
tion like  skilful  musical  imitators,  who  laugh  in  earnest  at 
their  own  burlesque,  he  soon  laughed  at  the  ridiculousness  of 
laughing;  and,  kindling  the  contagion,  had  soon  around  him 
a  company  of  giggling,  merry  Andrews,  bursting  their  sides 
with  the  vain  endeavour  to  subdue  the  irrepressible  tumult  of 
boisterous  laughter.  I  have  therefore  two  old  pictures  behind 
my  study  door  by  which  I  can  at  any  time  work  up  my  moody 
feelings  to  the  laughing  point,  (One  is  "Laugh  and  grow  fat," 
and  the  other  a  kitchen  attempt  at  kissing  between  the  maid  of 
all  work  and  the  butler,)  and  in  my  reading  ( — and  wit  and 
wisdom,  or  the  wisdom  of  wit,  is  one  branch  of  my  reading — ) 
I  often  indulge  in  a  fit  of  loud  and  lazy  laughter. 

The  Rev.  Mathew  Wilkes  of  London,  of  sainted  and  yet 
quaint  memory,  being  on  an  examining  Committee  of  trial 
students  at  the  Missionary  Academy  at  Hoxton,  one  young 
man  who  had  taken  the  pulpit  to  try  his  gifts  at  prayer  and 
preaching,  commenced  his  prayer  by  saying,  "Oh  Thou  great 
Philanthropist!"  and  Mr.  Wilkes  immediately  vociferated  "Oh 
thou  great  fool !  come  down  out  of  that."  When  the  poor 
crest  fallen  genius  had  come  down  the  pulpit  stairs ;  "And 
now,"  said  Mr.  W.,  "if  you  had  gone  up  to  the  pulpit  in  the 
same  spirit  in  which  you  came  down,  you  would  not  have  made 
such  a  fool  of  yourself." 

Mr.  Wilkes  made  a  speech  at  an  anniversary  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  On  his  way  he  met  a  bookseller  friend 
and  inquired  how  his  concern,  which  he  had  opened  in  Ireland, 
had  succeeded.  "Oh !  beyond  all  expectations.  I  have  realized 
a  very  handsome  sum  (naming  the  same,)  upon  it."  "I  am 
very  glad  to  hear  it,  for  I  am  going  to  make  a  speech  at  the 
Missionary  Anniversary,  and  you  cannot  refuse  to  give  unto 
the  Lord  a  tenth  of  these  first  fruits."  He  did  not.  On  rising 
to  speak  Mr.  W.  said  he  had  no  harangue  to  give  them  but — 
"Sir"  addressing  the  chairman,  "there  is  my  speech" — laying 
down  a  sum  of  money  on  the  table.  "And  now.  Sir,  as  you 
would  like  to  know  the  meaning  of  it." —  He  then  told  them 
the  history  of  iioo  of  it,  and  added;  "There  is  also  £50  for 
myself,  £50  for  my  children,  and  £50  for  Mrs.  Wilkes,  now  in 
heaven."  His  speech  was  seconded  by  many  similar  donations 
and  resulted  in  a  very  large  collection. 

While  in  London,  at  morning  prayer  in  Highbury  College, 
which  was  conducted  in  turn  by  the  students,  one  live  Lanca- 
shire man,  who  had  to  a  full  extent  the  privincial  English 
habit  of  misplacing  the  letter  h,  as  in  the  words  h-altar  and 


485 

-onour,  led  in  prayer.  After  telling  God  we  had  come  to  his 
h-alter,  and  supplicating  the  h-aid  of  the  Oly  Spirit  to  work 
in  our  -earts,  -ope,  and  -oliness,  that  we  might  seek  the  -onour 
that  Cometh  from  above,  and  be  fitted  and  prepared  for  -eaven ; 
and  so  on  in  a  marvellous  combination  of  provincial  jargon, 
to  the  no  small  excitement  of  our  risible  faculties,  he  uttered 
the  petition,  "O  God  damn"  and  stopped.  Again  after  an 
emphatic  pause  came  forth  the  same  prayer,  "O  God  damn" 
All  eyes  were  now  turned  round  and  gazing  upon  him  in 
amazement,  when  after  another  prolonged  pause,  he  again 
uttered  the  same  prayer,  and  having  apparently  thought  round 
the  world  of  possible  words  to  finish,  spluttered  out — "The 
Pope !"  A  universal  and  irrepressible  titter  closed  the  edifying 
service. 

One  ludicrous  scene  in  m}^  life  occurred  when  a  boy  at  the 
Academical  Institution  in  Belfast,  around  which  there  are  ex- 
tensive grounds  and  in  the  rear  two  deep  hollows  of  some 
^ths  of  an  acre,  which  in  very  wet  weather  used  to  be  filled 
with  water  to  the  depth,  say  of  three  feet.  On  one  occasion 
while  amusing  ourselves  here  before  school  hour,  a  boy  who 
had  fallen  in  and  got  wet,  was  playing  the  hero.  He  prevailed 
on  another  lad  to  get  on  his  shoulders  under  a  promise  of 
carrying  him  across.  But  when  in  the  middle  and  deepest  part 
the  devil  of  mischief  got  into  him,  and  over  he  plunged  his 
confiding  playmate  into  the  water.  The  universal  laughter  and 
shouting,  and  uproarious  fun  of  the  lookers  on  while  the  two 
dripping,  half-drowned,  and  now  angry  boys  chased  each 
other  and  soused  each  other,  has  never  been  forgotten,  and 
comes  up  to  memory  with  the  freshness  of  a  living  scene. 

The  Rev.  Henry  Jackson  Dobbin  D.  D.,  who  was  cut  ofif 
while  rising  with  rapid  prominence  in  the  Irish  General  As- 
sembly, was  a  fellow  student  with  me  in  the  Royal  College  at 
Belfast,  (as  were  Dr.  Killen,  author  of  the  Ancient  Church, 
and  Dr.  Gibson,  author  of  the  Year  of  Grace,)  and  an  early 
and  warm  friend  (his  father  having  succeeded  my  uncle  in 
Lurgan  when  he  settled  in  Ballymena)  ;  on  going  the  rounds 
of  his  parish,  as  he  was  introducing  himself  to  the  good  graces 
of  a  farmer's  wife,  she  inquired,  ''And  may  be.  Sir,  you  are  in 
the  family  way?"  meaning  of  course — a  married  man,  as  ^he 
orthodoxly  thought  every  bishop  must  be.  Inheriting  from 
his  father  a  great  deal  of  witty  jocularity,  Dr.  Dobbin  replied, 
'Tndteed  my  good  woman,  I  am  not,  and  I  hope  in  God  I  never 
will  be."  The  poor  woman  was  of  course  overwhelmed  with 
confusion  at  her  awkward  blunder  and  apparently  immodest 
question. 


486 

In  the  writing  department  of  the  High  School  in  Belfast 
Mr.  Thomas  Spencer,  an  eminent  Chirographist,  was  my  Mas- 
ter. He  was  a  man  of  pugnacious  spirit  and  powerful  com- 
batant qualities,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  cane  on  the  coatless 
back  a  young  man  of  twenty  years  of  age.  On  one  occasion 
while  engaged  in  a  personal  rencontre  with  a  spirited  young 
man,  he  was  roused  to  a  giant's  strength  of  towering  passion, 
&  assured  his  antagonist  that  he  would  "kick  him  through  the 
key-hole."  Some  seventy  of  us  in  suppressed  titter  &  tiptoe 
of  excited  alarm  looked  instantly  to  see  him  hurled  through  the 
door — but  it  was  ''no  go." 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson,  who  became  our  pastor  in  Belfast 
about  1830,  was  so  absent  minded  &  absorbed  in  his  studies 
and  so  careless  withal,  that  I  heard  him  in  a  public  Sabbath 
evening  course  on  the  history  of  Joseph,  repeat  the  same  dis- 
course on  two  succeeding  Sabbath  evenings. 

Dr.  Leland  repeated  the  same  discourse  to  my  people  in 
Charleston  in  i860  and  in  Dec.  1861. 

One  story  told  of  Dr.  Smyth  by  an  old  member  of  his  con- 
gregation, is  that  on  the  first  appearance  at  church  of  a  three- 
months  widower,  with  many  children,  who  had  already  succeeded 
in  filling  the  place  of  the  departed  spouse,  Dr.  Smyth  entirely 
forgot  the  new  wife,  and  prayed  long  and  earnestly  for  the  dis- 
consolate widower  and  his  bereaved  family. — Editor. 

Not  far  from  Highbury  is  Dr.  Watts'  Meeting  House, 
where  I  have  worshipped.  The  Minister  on  one  occasion  was 
engaged  in  prayer,  when  opening  his  eyes  he  beheld  a  shaggy 
goat,  leaning  with  fore-feet  resting  upon  the  railing  at  the 
front  of  the  opposite  gallery.  To  the  amazement  and  distress 
of  the  people  whose  backs  were  towards  the  goat  and  who 
feared  he  might  have  become  demented,  he  broke  out  into  a 
loud  laugh ;  which  being  explained  by  his  agonizing  looks  and 
gestures  pointing  to  the  goat,  the  feeling  became  sympathetic- 
ally general. 

A  third  scene  which  comes  up  to  my  mind  with  great 
mirth-exciting  power,  occurred  at  Princeton,  on  the  occasion 
of  the  Anniversary  of  the  College  Bible  Society  and  in  the 
College  Chapel.  My  friend  Dr.  John  D.  Matthews,  now  of 
Lexington  Ky.,  was  speaking,  or  riding  his  Pegasus  at  full 
tilt,  or  Icarus-like  driving  his  chariot  towards  the  sun,  when 
in  the  tempest  of  his  eloquence,  approaching  a  climax  of  in- 
tense excitement,  he  exclaimed,  "Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  like.  Sir — 
(a  long  pause) — it  is  like.  Sir — (another  long  pause) — I  say 
Sir,  it  is  like — (another  pause) — Sir,  it  is  like  pickled  thun- 
der!" 


487 

On  another  occasion,  Dr.  Matthews  was  speaking  in  the 
Seminary  Chapel  in  a  debate  on  the  expediency  of  theological 
students  getting  married  during  their  course  of  study,  when 
he  said — "Brethren  may  talk  as  they  like,  but  I  tell  you  what, 
when  love  comes  upon  a  man  it  knocks  him  down  like  a  flash 
of  lightning  before  he  know  where  he  is."  This  had  been  his 
experience  but  a  week  before,  when  acting  as  groomsman  for 
a  friend  in  partnership  with  Miss  Henshaw — daughter  of 
Commodore  H.  He  was  prostrated  at  her  feet,  offered  "with 
his  body  to  worship  her"  and  was  accepted.  They  were  after- 
wards married  and  lived  long  and  happily  together. 

Dr.  Matthews  is  a  noble,  ingenuous,  loving,  and  loveable 
man,  full  of  genius  and  enriched  with  brilliant  capacities  for 
popular  oratory.* 

While  at  the  Hot  Springs  during  my  first  season  there  and 
still  comparatively  feeble,  on  returning  from  my  afternoon 
walk  one  day,  some  ladies  (one  of  whom,  Mrs.  Col.  Trotty, 
I  knew,)  were  in  the  upper  piazza  watching  very  sympathetic- 
ally, my  laborious  efforts  in  climbing  the  steep  ascent  to  the 
house ;  when  looking  up,  I  was  so  convinced  that  one  of  them 
was  my  wife  (who  in  anxiety  might  have  come  during  my 
absence),  that  I  was  overwhelmed  with  emotion  and  address- 
ing her  exclaimed,  "Why  my  wife !  is  it  possible  that  is  you — 
where  did  you  come  from?"  Her  confusion  led  me  to  closer 
inspection,  when  I  begged  a  thousand  pardons  and  explained 
my  mistake,  which  Mrs.  T.  said  was  justifiable  from  the  like- 
ness ;  though  as  she  afterwards  told  me,  my  wife  had  greatly 
the  advantage. 

This  recalls  the  amusing  incident,  already  I  think  recorded, 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Toy,  of  Belfast,  putting  his  arms  round  my 
wife. 

One  other  occasion  of  uproarious  hilarity  was  the  burlesque 
pantomime  in  imitation  of  the  ancient  mysteries  by  which, 
while  a  student  at  Princeton,  I  was  initiated  as  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Cliosophic  Society.  The  whole  plan  of  secret 
College  Societies  was  new  to  me,  and  the  mystifying  process 
of  induction  seemed  so  utterly  puerile,  that  while  I  submitted, 
it  was  with  an  abandonment  to  the  most  irreverent  laughter 
and  comic  make-believe  to  which  I  believe  the  curtain  had 
ever  been  lifted. 

Another  very  humorous  incident  occurred  during  a  visit  to 
Tellulah  falls,  in  Georgia,  in  company  with  Mrs.  James  K. 
Robinson  and  her  sister.  Miss  Ann  Robertson,  who  occupied 

■•It  was  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Mathews  that  Dr.  Smyth  was  ill 
after  the  shipwreck  on  Pea  Island. — Ed. 


488 

a  room  under  the  roof  during  a  very  rainy  night.  Their  bed 
was  close  to  the  hearth  where  there  was  quite  a  hole  or 
depression.  Finding  the  rain  dripping  upon  them  they  had 
got  out  of  bed  in  the  dark,  to  change  its  position,  when  its 
head  sunk  into  the  hollow ;  and  in  their  fright  Mrs.  R.  con- 
tinued screaming  for  me,  until  some  one  came  and  adjusted 
the  bed-stead.  We  had  a  very  hearty  laugh  over  the  matter 
at  breakfast  in  the  morning  and  occasionally  since;  and  pic- 
tured in  imagination,  the  thought  of  the  two  ladies,  in  night 
dress,  in  the  dark,  holding  on  to  the  bed  posts,  not  knowing 
which  way  to  move,  and  afraid  of  the  bedstead  coming  upon 
them,  has  often  awakened  involuntary  laughter. 

While  in  a  little  tattling  mood  I  may  relate  of  the  singularly 
gifted,  witty,  and  unfortunate"  Dr.  John  Witherspoon  from 
whom  I  have  preserved  one  or  more  letters. 

''Do  you  know,"  said  he  one  day  to  me,  "what  is  the  mean- 
ing of  the  five  letters  tacked  on  as  an  advertisement  to  my 
name,  D.  D.  L.  L.  D.?"  (degrees  which  had  been  given  in 
honor  of  his  able  championship  during  the  Old  School  con- 
troversy). "No,"  I  replied,  "what  is  it?"  "Why"  said  he 
"it  is,  being  interpreted.  Long  legged  dog  deeply  in  debt;" 
an  explanation  strikingly  descriptive  of  his  physical  configura- 
tion and  too  sadly  characteristic  of  his  economical  condition 
and  habits. 

Speaking  one  day  of  three  sisters,  all  married,  and  members 
of  one  Presbyterian  Church,  whose  united  weight  was  almost 
nine  hundred  pounds  and  each  nearly  three  hundred,  he  said 
"that  in  order  to  embrace  them  their  husbands  must  do  as  he 
had  to  do  with  his  wife,  (who  was  about  the  same  weight) — 
that  is,  hug  her  all  round." 

I  have  written  thus  far  and  must  now  close  the 
Meditation,       j-ccord  at  Icast  for  this  season  (Aug.  lo,  i860),  as 

Aug.,    i860.  , 

I  am  soon  to  leave  home,  never  perhaps  to  return. 
I  have  written  chiefly  at  night,  at  a  midnight  hour,  amid  great 
heat  and  exhaustion  and  multiplied  duties.  I  often  ask  myself, 
what  is  my  aim  and  end  in  this  work ;  and  I  can  give  no  other 
answer  than  an  inward  impelling  force  from  day  to  day  com- 
pelling me  to  go  on,  according  to  a  mental  habit,  towards 
something  like  completeness.  I  can  scarcely  believe  that  what 
I  have  with  such  labour  pasted  and  prepared  will  ever  be  read, 
even  by  children  or  friends;*  and  I  am  sensible  I  have  left 

^Unfortunate  because  a  brilliant  career  was  abruptly  terminated 
by  ill-health.— Ed. 

'See  "Well  in  the  Valley,"  vol.  VIII,  p.  45i,  Smyth's  Works.— 
Ed. 


489 

myself  open  to  a  very  humiliating  portraiture  and  to  the 
charge  of  egotistic  vanity  and  self  seeking.  Be  it  so!  The 
charge  would  only  be  a  gross  libel  because  a  great  truth;  I 
appeal  from  it  and  all  other  charges  to  my  own  conscious 
worthlessness  and  loathing  sense  of  miserable  imperfections. 
I  am  all,  and  more  than  all,  and  worse  than  all  that  I  seem, 
and  if  I  am  any  thing  good,  or  have  felt,  thought,  done  any 
thing  good,  or  other  than  evil  and  only  evil  and  that  continu- 
ally,— by  the  grace  of  God  I  have  done  it  and  to  Christ,  in 
me  the  hope  of  glory,  be  all  praise.  Perish  every  fond  ambi- 
tion, and  may  a  time  come  when,  forever  with  the  Lord,  I  shall 
look  back  upon  all  I  have  done  in  life  as  I  now  do  upon  the 
actions  of  childhood.  And  as  when  I  became  a  man  I  put 
away  childish  things  and  no  longer  thought  and  spoke  as  a 
child,  so  may  I  even  now  and  here  be  made  willing  to  realize 
that  all  the  events  of  my  life  shall  ere  long  perish  and  be 
forgotten,  my  memory,  and  my  name  be  gone,  obliterated  by 
the  successive  waves  of  new  and  holier  and  better  lives  and 
works  and  words. 

I  have  here  left  behind  me  some  foot-prints  on  the  sands  of 
that  shore  over  which  I  have  travelled.'  They  will  shew  of 
how  many  little  thoughts,  little  feelings,  and  little  actions, 
life  is  made  up ;  and  they  may  therefore  lead  some  future 
traveller  who  perchance  casts  his  eye  upon  them  as  he  walks 
despondingly  along,  to  take  heart  again,  and  amid  the  little- 
ness and  vanity  of  his  own  life  to  work  the  work  of  God. 
What  I  have  recorded  has  given  me  mingled  emotions  of 
pleasure  and  pain,  of  joy  and  sorrow,  of  regret  and  repent- 
ance. I  have  surveyed  the  busy  map  of  life,  made  an  index 
to  its  volume  of  many  leaves,  and  taken  an  inventory  of  its 
most  treasured  recollections,  present  hopes,  and  permanent 
possessions.  I  have  set  my  house  in  order  before  taking  my 
journey  into  a  far  country.  And  as  when  the  sky  is  overcast 
and  the  squall  is  approaching,  the  seaman  furls  his  sails  and 
turns  his  vessel,  so  have  I  endeavoured  to  prepare  for  the 
coming  storm  of  death,  and  putting  all  things  into  the  watch- 
ful keeping  of  the  Captain  of  Salvation,  wait  and  work  all  the 
days  of  my  appointed  time,  till  my  change  comes. 

It  is,  I  know,  a  very  painful  idea,  to  think  of  falling  like 
a  leaf  from  one  of  the  myriad  trees  of  a  multitudinous  forest, 
or  of  exhaling  like  one  of  the  drops  of  one  of  the  countless 
streams  that  are  lost  in  the  ocean.  But  the  feeling,  however 
natural,  is  not  christian. 

'Dr.  Smyth  was  very  fond  of  Longfellow's  Psalm  of  Life. — Ed. 


490 

"When  our  minds  are  in  a  right  state,  and  we  are  taking 
a  right  look  at  time  and  eternity,  we  shall  not  think  in  this 
way.  *  *  'The  righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance.' 'I  will  give  them  an  everlasting  name,  which  shall 
not  be  cut  off.'  'Their  names  are  in  the  book  of  life.'  And  I 
felt,  since  by  the  grace  of  God  I  have  a  good  hope  that  these 
promises  are  mine,  how  ungrateful,  how  unworthy  of  a  Chris- 
tian, to  repine,  even  for  a  moment,  because  my  lot  on  earth 
may  be  obscure  and  unknown!  I  committed  myself  to  the 
Lord  in  silent  prayer,  and  then  arose,  humbled  indeed,  but  the 
depression  was  gone,  nor  have  I  ever  since  that  day  yielded  to 
the  same  temptation." 

Oh  for  grace  to  covet  earnestly  the  best  gifts — fruit  that 
will  remain — friends  who  will  receive  us  into  everlasting 
habitations ! 

"  'What  shall  T  do  lest  life  in  silence  pass?' 

And  if  it  do, 
And  never  prompt  the  bray  of  noisy  brass. 

What  need'st  thou  rue! 
Remember  aye,  the  ocean  depths  are  mute. 

The  shallows  roar. 
Worth  is  the  ocean — fame  the  bruit 

Along  the  shore. 

'What  shall  I  do  to  be  for  ever  known?' 

Thy  duty  ever. 
'This  did  full  many  who  now  sleep  unknown.' 

Oh,   never,   never! 
Think'st   thou   perchance   that   they   remain   unknown. 

Whom  thou  know'st  not? 
By  angel  trumps  in  heaven  their  praise  is  blown. 
Divine  their  lot." 

August  i860. 

I  have  this  season,  i.  e.,  since  last  fall,  written 
Work  of  nine  articles   on  the  Eldership  for  the  Princeton 

months.  ■'  ^ 

Review — revised  The  Well  in  the  Valley  &  Why 
do  I  live;  continued  preparations  for  a  new  and  altogether 
revised  edition  of  Bereaved  Parents,  the  stereotype  plates  of 
which  I  now  hold  back  from  printing.  I  have  prepared  for 
press  a  tract  on,  "Can  the  heathen  be  converted,"  and  one  on 
the  support  of  the  Ministry,  to  which  I  have  appended  an 
Apology  or  Plea  for  the  liberal  maintenance  of  it,  which  I 
composed.  I  wrote  out  and  prepared  for  press  (when  re- 
quested,) an  unwritten  address  for  the  Installation  of  the 
Rev.  T.  O.  Rice  in  the  Circular  Church,  &  charges  at  the 


491 

Ordination  and  Installation  "services  of  Dr.  Thornwell.  I 
have  revised  for  Stereotyping  my  Conversion  of  the  World 
and  arranged  for  publication  my  own  portion  of  a  little  work 
on  the  aged ;  and  carried  on  preparations  for  other  works  on 
hand.  I  have  published  three  discourses  in  the  Central  Pres- 
byterian and  two  in  the  Herald  of  Truth  N.  Y.  &c.  I  have 
prepared  the  whole  scheme,  services,  topics,  &c.  for  our  Semi- 
centennial Church  Celebration^  &  given  some  personal  hints 
to  each  of  the  clergymen  invited.  I  have  not  been  in  bed, 
nor  confined  altogether  to  the  house  a  single  day,  nor  absent 
from  Church,  nor  from  Prayer  Meeting,  nor  prevented  from 
filling  any  appointment. 

I  have  also,  during  the  same  time,  prepared  all 
faphy.'°^'         *^^^  ^^^-^  volume  of  Autob.  MSS  and  vol.  2  from. 

p.  183  to  p.  216,  or  end.f 

*     *     I  have  revised  and  greatly  enlarged  my 
win     ""^^   ^     y^'iW.     In  this   I  have  taken   great  pleasure,   and 

hope  God  has  put  it  into  my  mind  &  heart  to 
make  the  little  he  has  given  me  in  trust,  bring  in  much  and 
permanent  usury  into  his  treasury ;  so  that  while  dead,  I  may 
live,  while  silent,  speak,  while  motionless,  move  in  many  ways 
of  holy  labour ;  and  like  Samson,  accomplish  more  by  my  death 
than  by  my  life.  I  have  eagerly  coveted  the  pecuniary  ability 
and  heavenly  wisdom  to  do  this,  and  I  can  now  refer  all  to 
God,  thanking  him  for  even  more  than  I  had  dared  to  hope 
to  be  at  my  disposal,  and  for  the  plan  of  certain  accumulation 
and  extended  and  various  usefulness ;  and  imploring  his  bless- 
ing upon  all  and  his  continued  good  providence  and  Spirit  to 
preserve,  perpetuate,  and  prosper  every  undertaking,  and  im- 
part living  and  loving  hearts  from  generation  to  generation 
to  enter  into  my  spirit  and  plans,  and,  by  a  wise  and  prudent 
adaptation  of  them  to  times  and  circumstances,  make  them 
acceptable  and  promotive  of  good  and  only  good  continually. 
I  am  perfectly  sensible  of  the  possible,  probable,  and  certain 

'The  programme  of  which  Dr.  Smyth  speaks  may  be  found  in 
the  volume  published  at  the  time  of  the  centennial  services  of 
1909.  But  it  was  not  carried  out,  as  the  bombardment  of  Fort 
Sumter  and  the  general  unrest  and  excitement  prevented  the  great 
gathering  for  which  he  had  hoped,  and  the  semi-centennial  was 
quietly  celebrated  on  May  5,  1861,  Dr.  Smyth  preaching  from  the 
text,  "Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth  year,  a  jubilee  shall  that  year 
be  unto  you."  Practically  everything  mentioned  in  this  list  is 
comprised  in  the  newly  issued  "Smyth's   Complete  Works." — Ed. 

fPractically  all  text  included  in  sections,  "Incidents  of  my  Life," 
and  "Sale  of  the  Smyth  Library,"  with  many  important  letters. — 
Ed. 


492 

imputation  of  selfish  vainglorious,  even  irrational,  and  per- 
haps unrighteous  motives.  That  I  wish  personally  to  live, 
love,  and  labour  in  all  the  ways  therein  provided,  I  admit;  I 
even  joy  in  the  thought  of  revisiting  and  reviewing  these 
earthly  scenes  and  of  taking  pleasure  in  all  the  good,  in  all 
the  enjoyment,  of  which  I  may  be  the  perpetuated  instrument. 
I  leave  in  my  will  an  exhibition  of  what  I  conceive  pure,  un- 
defiled  religion  to  be,  and  what  Christian  living  and  dying 
ought  to  be  and  to  do,  living  and  dying ;  and  a  standing  protest 
against  the  sinful  selfishness,  and  idolatrous  covetousness,  and 
penurious  niggardliness  of  Christians  under  the  utterly  per- 
verted and  misunderstood  plea  of  providing  for  their  own, 
that  is,  of  lavish  expenditure  for  their  own  to  the  neglect  & 
impoverishment  of  God's  own,  God's  widows  and  orphans, 
God's  children  and  friends,  God's  church  and  cause.  And  as 
the  Godless  exercise  of  the  trust  and  Stewardship  of  property 
is  deplorably  prevalent  at  the  South  above  all  places,  I  feel  the 
more  urged  to  set  an  example,  so  that  being  dead  I  may  yet 
utter  the  woe  and  the  warning  so  often  pronounced  by  my 
living  lips.^  And  now  I  do  most  unfeignedly  beseach  my 
Saviour,  Lord,  and  Master  to  pardon  my  imperfect  and  impure 
motives  and  all  amiss  in  my  desires,  designs,  and  doings,  and 
use  me  as  his  instrument — (and  am  not  I,  Thomas  Smyth, 
truly  and  altogether  his,'"  and  as  Thomas  Smyth  to  live  and 
die  and  live  evermore  as  His,  to  be  and  to  do  all,  and  nothing 
less  than  all,  for  which  He  has  fitted  me?) — so  that  my  good 
may  not  be  evil  spoken,  nor  made  a  cloak  for  the  unfruitful- 
ness,  and  unfaithfulness,  and  hypocritical  mock,  or  at  least 
unjustifiable,  modesty  of  others. 

Extracts  from  a  Testamentary  Paper.^ 

CHARLESTON,  June  28,  1838. 
Early  will.  Should  I  be  Called  out  of  this  world  during  my 

present  anticipated  absence  from  Charleston  or  before  I  make 
any  other  signification  of  my  Will,  this  will  testify  my  desire, 
which  as  I  have  no  demands  against  me,  my  friends  will  en- 
deavour to  fulfil. 

^Almost  the  last  work  from  Dr.  Smyth's  pen  was  on  this  sub- 
ject.— Ed. 

"See  "The  Well  in  the  Valley,"  vol.  VIII,  page  449,  Smyth's 
Works. — Ed. 

^This  is  the  only  paper  on  the  subject  in  the  MS.  The  other 
was  destroyed  after  the  loss  of  his  property  during  the  War.  A 
Deed  of  Trust  took  its  place. — Ed. 


493 

As  to  my  library,  /  wish  that  it  should  remain  unbroken. 
Either  let  it  be  retained  for  my  son  under  the  care  of  my  wife 
or  friends ;  or  let  it  be  sold  to  the  Second  Presb.  Church  as  a 
Church  Library,  the  interest  to  go  to  my  family  and  the 
principal  to  be  gradually  paid  over  in  installments.  It  is  worth 
at  least  $13,000.  Or  if  this  arrangement  cannot  be  made,  then 
let  a  similar  one  be  entered  into  with  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary if  possible,  or  if  not  there  with  some  other  church  or 
Institution :  but  of  the  Library  I  give  to  my  dear  Wife,  should 
she  survive  me,  whatever  books  she  may  wish  to  select,  and 
particularly  the  illustrated  and  ornamented  ones  and  the 
Poetical  &c.  Should  there  be  any  funds  coming  to  me  after 
meeting  Mr.  Adger's  claims,  I  wish  them  to  be  used  as  far  as 
needful  in  securing  the  publisher  who  may  undertake  to  pub- 
lish by  Subscription  or  otherwise,  some  volumes  of  my  ser- 
mons, &c.  in  a  neat,  handsome  style,  say  12  mo.  *  *  These 
I  wish  carefully  corrected  and  overlooked.^  *  *  The  print 
I  wish  large  and  the  paper  good.  To  be  dedicated  to  my  Wife. 
This  disposition  need  not  be  made  public  as  my  motives  (which 
I  believe  are  good,)  would  be  misinterpreted. 

If  I  leave  funds,  present  a  bound  set  to  every  public  Library 
in  this  State — ^&  to  all  the  College  and  Theological  Libraries 
in  the  United  States,  and  to  the  Library  of  the  College  at  Bel- 
fast, Ireland,  and  to  all  my  relations  and  poor  friends. 

I  leave  an  Epitaph  for  myself  and  one  for  a  monument  to 
be  erected  (at  my  expense,)  over  my  wife,^  whenever  she 
should  die.    They  may  be  amended  as  they  are  not  perfected. 

The  disposition  of  everything  else  I  leave  to  my  beloved 
Wife  or  Father-in-law,  or  brothers  in  law.  To  them,  and 
particularly  to  my  adopted  Father  and  Mother,  I  leave  my 
everlasting  gratitude  and  kindest  regard.  To  them  I  owe  my 
earthly  happiness.  I  trust  I  shall  meet  them  all  in  Heaven, 
however  we  may  severally  arrive  there. 

To  my  Congregation  I  leave  the  declaration  of  my  gratitude 
and  esteem.     *     * 

To  my  relatives  and  kin — the  assurance  of  sincere  affection 
and  any  token  of  regard  they  may  wish,  or  Margaret  may 
direct. 

"This  the  present  editor  must  claim  as  justification  for  the 
omissions,  rearrangements,  etc.,  found  advisable  in  this  volume. — 
Ed. 

^After  the  erection  of  Mrs.  Smyth's  monument,  her  daughter 
found  this  epitaph,  and  was  touched  to  realize  that  the  verse  her 
children  had  used  was  also  her  husband's  choice. — Ed. 


494 

I  beg  pardon  of  all  I  have  ever  in  any  way  offended.  I 
throw  myself  on  that  Sovereign  mercy,  which  alone  can  cover 
all  my  failings  and  sins. 

Signed  this  28"  day  of  June 
1838  Thomas  Smyth 

Dr.  Smyth  left  no  will;  shortly  before  his  death  he  placed  what 
property  he  had  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  Augustine,  the  lawyer 
of  the  family,  as  a  trust  to  be  held  until  it  was  sufficient  to  carry 
out  his  plans,  as  follows: 

$10,000 — to  be  given  to  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia, 
South  Carolina,  as  a  permanent  endowment  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  Smyth  Library. 

$10,000 — to  be  appropriated  to  the  same  Seminary  as  a  perma- 
nent endowment  for  the  establishment  of  the  Smyth  Lectures,  on 
the  same  general  plan  as  the  Babbington  Lectures  in  England. 

$10,000 — to  be  used  in  publishing  the  new  and  revised  edition 
of  his  works,  which  he  so  much  desired,  and  for  their  distribution 
among  the  principal  libraries  of  the  world. 

The  two  first  designs  have  already  been  carried  out.  The  last 
is   rapidly  nearing   completion. — Editor. 


THE  SALE  OF  THE 
SMYTH  LIBRARY 


497 


THE  SALE  OF  THE  SMYTH  LIBRARY. 

"Dr.  Smyth's  Library.' 

Library  pur-  "The  friends  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
chased  for  the  Columbia  will  be  gratified  to  learn  that  Dr. 
Seminary.  Smyth's  large  and  truly  valuable  library  has  been 

purchased  for  that  institution,  and  is  now  in  readiness  to  be 
removed.  As  few  of  our  readers  have  had  an  opportunity  of 
looking  over  this,  perhaps  the  most  extensive  and  complete 
collection  of  books  belonging  to  any  clergyman  of  our  country, 
a  few  particulars  respecting  it  may  not  be  unacceptable. 

"It  is  nearly  forty  years  since  Dr.  Smyth  commenced  the 
work  which  has  been  to  him  one  of  love,  as  well  as  of  great 
labor  and  expense.  Having  always  in  view  such  a  destina- 
tion of  the  Library  as  that  which  is  now  given  to  it,  he  has 
sought  to  make  a  source  of  information  on  all  branches  of 
knowledge.  Here  are  the  best  works  in  the  various  depart- 
ments of  Mental,  Moral,  and  Political  Philosophy,  History, 
Poetry,  Biography,  Classics,  Travels,  Systematic  and  General 
Theology,  Apologetics,  Homiletics,  Romish  Controversy,  Rit- 
ual and  Liturgic,  Confessions,  English,  Scottish,  and  Conti- 
nental Reformers,  Patristic,  Jewish,  Biblical  Commentaries, 
Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government ;  besides  Re- 
ligious Periodical  Literature  and  full  collections  of  the  works 
of  divines  of  almost  every  school,  age,  and  country.^ 
Estimated  at  "The  greater  part  of  the  books,  numbering 
11,000  nearly  eleven  thousand  volumes,  are  of  English 

volumes.  ^^^  Foreign  editions,  in  substantial  and  many  of 

them  elegant  binding,  and  in  excellent  condition.  The  cost 
to  Dr.  S.  has  been  very  great,  and  he  gives  our  own  Seminary 
the  preference  over  several  other  overtures  he  has  received, 
accepting  the  offer  of  a  sum  which  will  not  cover  half  the 
original  expense.  Failing  health  and  other  causes,  we  are 
informed,  combine  to  induce  him  to  part  with  the  Library  that 
it  may  at  once  be  appropriated  to  the  use  for  which  it  has 

^An  article  from  a  newspaper  of  that  date.  It  is  incorrect  in 
saying  forty  years  had  elapsed  since  Dr.  Smyth  began  to  collect 
the  library,  Dr.  Smyth  was  then  but  forty-eight  years  of  age. — Ed. 

"When  Dr.  James  McCosh  visited  Dr.  Smyth  and  was  shown 
this  library,  he  exclaimed  that  he  would  now  be  able  to  consult 
books  which  he  had  long  wished  to  reach,  but  had  never  been 
able  to  obtain  owing  to  their  rarity. — Ed. 


[321 


498 

always  been  designed  and  is  most  admirably  adapted.  We 
rejoice  that  our  Seminary  comes  into  the  possession  of  so 
rare  and  valuable  a  Library,  although  we  can  but  feel  many 
regrets  that  it  is  to  be  removed  from  our  city.  Whilst  here, 
so  free  and  generous  was  the  access  to  its  shelves  tendered 
to  us,  as  to  all  our  brethren,  we  knew  we  were  within  reach 
oi  any  volume  which  we  might  ever  have  occasion  to  consult. 
But,  doubtless,  it  now  finds  its  proper  place,  since  the  original 
possessor,  in  the  providence  of  God,  is  not  able,  as  in  former 
years,  to  explore  the  vast  treasures  of  knowledge  imbedded 
in  it,  and  distribute  them  abroad  for  the  benefit  of  others." 


Various  wishes  had  been  expressed  on  sundry 
Reasons   or       occasious   &  by   divcrs   parties,   that  my   Library 

might  be  placed  in  the  Seminary,  &  since  the 
failure  of  my  health,  that  this  might  be  done  at  once.  Dr. 
Palmer^  told  me  that  this  must  be  the  case,  and  would  be  a 
condition  of  his  going  into  the  Professorship.  Dr.  Thornwell 
irecjuently  expressed  similar  views  &  once  said  that  if  I  would 
part  with  it  he  thought  he  could  have  it  secured  for  the 
College  Library  at  $15,000,  which  he  thought  very  low.  Mr. 
Adger*- — looking  no  doubt  to  this  as  some  provision  for  me 
personally, — very  frequently  urged  me  to  dispose  of  it  to  the 
Seminary,  &  said  that  if  I  would  do  so  he  would  give  me  the 
house  I  then  lived  in,  on  Spring-  St.  in  which  I  had  ample 
library  room,  occupying  three  rooms  on  a  floor,  one  having 
been  built  by  him  for  the  purpose,  30  feet  long  with  piazza  & 
outside  blinds.  I  made  therefore  a  proposition  to  the  Semi- 
nary of  the  bulk  of  my  Library  for  $15,000,  which  Mr.  Adger 
&  my  other  family  friends  thought  too  low.  The  removal  of 
my  family  down  town  to  my  present  residence.  No.  12  Meeting 

St.,  made  this  conditionally  imperative  &  I  finally 
Dr.  Howe's       agreed  to   the  proposition   of  the   Committee   as 

advice.  "-^  ^       ^ 

advised  by  Dr.  Howe  &  gave  to  the  Seminary  not 
only  all  the  Vols.  I  had  separated  for  Dr.  Howe's  examination, 
but  many  more.  The  books  were  all  catalogued  and  boxed  up 
at  my  request,  under  Dr.  Howe's  personal  inspection,  in  some 
fifty  &  more  boxes,  &  packed  in  a  special  R.  R.  car  at  my  door 
in  Spring  St.  And  yet  unaccountably  some  sets  were  found 
broken.  The  occasion  was  one  of  deep  solemnity  &  regret 
among  my  family  of  which  it  seemed  to  be  the  utter  dispersion. 
I  would  only  add  that  it  was  always  my  inten- 
n  owmen  .      ^{q^^  ^g  now  provided  for  in  my  will,  to  secure 

*Dr.  Palmer  became  a  professor  in  the  Seminary  in  1856. — Ed. 
^Old  Mr.  James  Adger.— Ed. 


499 

the  endowment  &  permanent  increase  of  the  Library.  I  hope 
also  that  my  wife  will  secure  for  it  a  worthy  building.  I  have 
added  to  the  Library  towards  or  over  300  Vols,  since  its  pur- 
chase, all  purchased  for  it,  including  Codex  Vaticanus  5  Vols. 
4to,  cost  $75.  &  Codex  Cantabe.  2  Vols.  Fol. ;  one  work  which 
cost  $26  &  others  costing  $5,  $6,  &  upwards.  I  have  also 
labelled  for  it  a  number  of  Vols  (&  intend  many  more)  in  my 
present  library.  As  yet  (Aug.  i860)  I  have  not  received  a 
cent  of  interest  or  principal,  though  I  could  have  invested  it  in 
such  a  way  as  to  secure  8,  instead  of  7  per  cent. 

COLUMBL\,  S.  C.  Jan  18.  1856. 
REV  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D. 
REV  &  DEAR  BRO  : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Exec:  Committee  held  to- 
Action  o  night,  I  submitted  your  note  to  me,  as  it  made  a 

committee.  .      . 

distinct,  &,  I  suppose,  a  final  offer  of  your  library 
to  us.  It  was  resolved,  to  take  the  Library  upon  the  terms 
you  propose,  that  it  $1.25  per  volume — As  you  add  the  words 
"or  less,"  we  concluded  to  leave  it  entirel}^  to  your  generosity 
whether  you  make  any  further  reduction —  .We  agree  with 
you  upon  the  definite  proposal  of  $1.25.  The  only  other  con- 
dition we  propose  is  one  which  Dr  Leland  mentions  to  us  you 
are  willing  to  accept,  and  that  is  that  we  begin  to  pay  the 
interest  on  the  ist  January  1857,  by  which  time  we  hope  to 
complete  the  Endowment. 

I  write  this  now  hastily  in  the  midst  of  the  Committee,  to 
set  your  mind  at  rest.  I  will  write  you  soon  at  my  leisure  up- 
on the  private  portion  of  your  letter. — 

Yours  very  truly  in  the  Gospel, 

B.  M.  PALMER. 

Formal  &  leeral  asrreement. 


Formal 
agreement. 


This  Memorandum  of  Agreement  entered  into 
between  the  Revd  Thomas  Smyth  of  Charleston 
of  the  first  part,  and  the  Revd  George  Howe, 
Agent  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  of  the  Second  part— Witnesseth 

That  the  said  Revd  Thomas  Smyth  of  the  first  part,  does 
hereby  sell  to  the  Theological  Seminary  as  aforesaid  all  his 
Library,  now  contained  in  Fifty  Six  Boxes  packed,  and  in  his 
Study  and  the  Library  Room  adjoining,  with  certain  other 
Volumes  named  in  the  Schedule  hereunto  attached  containing 


500 

Eleven  Thousand  Volumes  more  or  less  at  the  rate  of 
($1  25/100)  One  Dollar  and  Twenty  Five  Cents  for  every 
Volume  and  the  same  price  for  each  full  case  of  Pamphlets, 
upon  a  credit  of  Five  Years,  with  interest  at  the  rate  of  Seven 
per  cent  pr  Annum  on  the  full  amount,  payable  annually  from 
and  after  the  First  day  of  January  which  will  be  in  the  Year 
of  our  Lord  One  Thousand  Eight  Hundred  &  Fifty  Seven. — 

And  the  party  of  the  Second  part,  the  said  Revd  George 
Howe  Agent  as  aforesaid,  does  hereby  agree  to  the  purchase  of 
the  said  Library  upon  the  terms  and  conditions  before  stated, 
and  in  consideration  thereof,  does  hereby  engage,  that  the  said 
"The  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  the 
Synod  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia"  shall,  at  their  meeting 
in  June  next,  execute  and  deliver  unto  the  said  Revd.  Thomas 
Smyth,  their  certain  Bond  or  other  sufficient  instrument  of 
writing,  with  their  Corporate  seal  attached  for  the  full  amount 
of  the  cost  of  so  much  of  said  Library  as  shall  then  be  deliv- 
ered, upon  the  terms  and  conditions  above  stated,  and  for  any 
portion  of  the  Books  named  in  the  Schedule  hereunto  attached, 
not  at  that  time  delivered,  a  similar  settlement  shall  be  made 
at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Board,  after  the  Books  are  all 
finally  delivered  reserving  to  the  said  Board  of  Directors  the 
right  to  prepay  the  said  Bond  at  any  time  before  its  maturity, 
should  they  so  desire — '  And  further  that  the  Library  thus 
purchased  from  the  Revd  Thomas  Smyth,  shall  be  kept  in  the 
Library  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia  South  Caro- 
lina, as  far  as  the  means  of  the  said  institution  will  allow,  as 
a  separate  collection  of  Books  to  be  known  as  and  entitled 
"The  Smyth  Library"  in  memory  of  its  former  Owner  and 
Collector. 

It  is  further  agreed  between  the  parties  hereunto  that  the 
final  counting  of  the  Volumes,  so  as  to  ascertain  their  exact 
number  and  cost,  shall  take  place  at  Columbia,  by  two  per- 
sons, one  to  be  appointed  by  each  party. 

Witness  our  hands  and  Seals  and  dated  at  Charleston  in  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  this  Sixteenth  day  of  February  1856. 

Witness  to  signature  of 
Revd  Thos.  Smyth,  GEO.  HOWE.  (L  S) 

ROBT.  ADGER. 

THOMAS  SMYTH.     (L  S^ 

Witness  to  Dr.  Howe's  signature, 
J.  H.  THORNWELL. 


501 

A  letter  kindly  mentioning  the  differences  al- 
etai  s     e-        ii^ided  to  below  was   sent  to  the  Board  in    Tune 

cided  in  June.  _  -J 

whose    action    consummated    by    a    deed    is    here 
given. 

Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Library, 
adopted  by  the  Board  of  Directors  at  their  meeting  held  June 
24-26,  1856. 

"Various  Papers  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  your 
Committee,  in  reference  to  the  purchase  of  Dr.  Smyth's  Li- 
brary, respecting  which  we  recommend  the  following  action : — 

"ist.  That  the  Board  approve  of  the  purchase  of  the  Library 
by  the  Exec :  Committee  inasmuch  as  its  owner  offered  great 
inducements  to  its  purchase — its  addition  to  our  Library  will 
add  greatly  to  the  attractiveness  of  our  Seminary — and  the 
expectation  had  been  generally  raised  that  such  a  purchase 
would  be  made,  and  large  funds  had  been  subscribed  to  the  new 
Endowment  with  that  end  in  view. 

"2nd.  The  terms  of  the  agreement  are  satisfactory  to  the 
Board ;  the  substance  of  which  is  as  follows,  viz :  that  the  Board 
pay  at  the  rate  of  $1.25  per  vol.  &  the  same  price  for  each  full 
case  of  Pamphlets,  for  about  11,000  volumes — upon  a  credit 
of  five  years  with  7  per  cent,  interest  payable  annually  from 
&  after  the  ist  day  of  January,  1857:  for  the  payment  of 
which,  the  Board  is  required  to  give  a  bond  or  other  sufficient 
instrument  of  writing,  with  their  corporate  seal  attached,  for 
the  full  amount  of  the  cost  of  so  much  of  said  Library,  as  shall 
be  delivered  on  the  terms  &  conditions  stated  in  the  articles  of 
agreement. 

"3rd.  So  soon  as  said  Library  is,  in  whole  or  in  part,^  de- 
livered &  counted,  the  President  of  the  Board  is  hereby  au- 
thorized to  execute  &  deliver  unto  the  Rev  Thomas  Smyth 
D.  D.  a  bond  or  other  sufficient  instrument,  with  the  Corporate 
seal  of  the  Board  attached,  according  to  the  terms  of  agree- 
ment entered  into  between  the  Rev  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D.  on  the 
one  part,  &  the  Rev  George  Howe  D.  D.  on  the  other  part : 
provided,  the  amount  required  be  not  more  than  $15,000 — 
said  amount  being  all  that  the  Board  is  now  willing  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  appropriating  to  the  purposes  of  a 
Library. 

"4th.     In  consequence  of  the  great  liberality  ex- 

^^^'  hibited  by  Dr  Smyth  in  abating  the  prices  of  his 

books,  the  Board  recommend  that  they  be  kept  in  separate 
apartments ;  &  be  called  after  its  founder  &  collector,  'the 
Smyth  Library.'  " 

"Some  of  the  volumes  were  in  the  hands  of  the  binders.     A  list 
of  these  is  included  in  the  manuscript. — Ed. 


502 

DEAR  BRO  SMYTH, 

On  the  foreg-oing  pages,  I  give  you  a  copy  of  so  much 
of  the  action  of  the  Board  as  relates  to  the  purchase  of  your 
library.  The  carrying  into  execution  all  its  provisions,  will, 
I  suppose,  be  necessarily  deferred,  till  Dr.  Howe's  &  your 
own  return  in  the  Autumn  when  the  books  can  be  counted  & 
the  bond  executed. 

I  would  have  sent  you  this  earlier,  but  have  been  too  busy 
even  to  arrange  the  Minutes  &  Papers  of  the  Board,  &  am 
now  on  the  wing  for  a  month's  absence  from  Home.  I  am 
less  particularly  acquainted  with  the  proceedings  of  the  late 
meeting,  as  I  was  not  the  acting  Clerk,  &  not  being  a  member, 
not  in  constant  attendance  upon  the  sessions  of  the  Board.  I 
trust  you  will  have  a  pleasant  summer's  trip  &  return  with  re- 
cruited strength.     In  haste, 

as  ever,  affectionately  yrs  in  Xt, 

^^^^-..^^.    ^  ,  p   ,  B.  M.  PALMER. 

COLUMBIA  July  14,  1856. 

{Entered  in  MS.  Aug.  15,  i860.     T.  S.) 

Extract  from  letter  to  Presbyterian,  (probably  by  Dr.  Gir- 
ardeau)  Charleston,  S.   C,  July,  1856. 

"You  are  aware  that  some  months  since  the  Doctor's  large 
and  valuable  library  was  removed  to  the  Seminary  at  Colum- 
bia; and  the  question  is  often  asked,  'What  will  he  do  without 
his  books?'  In  the  first  place,  as  I  am  told  by  one  who  lately 
visited  him  in  his  study,  he  has  already — some  of  them  retained 
when  the  great  bulk  passed  from  his  possession,  and  others 
since  procured — more  books  than  are  usually  found  in  clergy- 
man's libraries  of  even  the  better  class ;  and,  secondly,  as  it  is 
reported,  he  is  ordering  new  supplies  from  the  North  and 
from  Europe  almost  every  week;  so  that  if  his  life  should  be 
spared  for  ten  years  or  longer — and  God  grant  it  may  on  many 
accounts — the  shelves  that  were  left  so  distressingly  bare,  will 
be,  in  a  good  degree,  re-furnished.  Dr.  Smyth  without  his 
books !  It  requires  no  ordinary  powers  of  abstraction  to  con- 
ceive such  a  thing." 

After  the  removal  of  the  family,  in  1856,  to 
Library  in^  ^j^g  house  known  then  as  No.  12  Meeting  Street, 
new  home  what  was  le^ft  (-after  the  sale  to  the  Seminary)  of  Dr. 
Smyth's  library  was  established  in  a  large,  lofty, 
many-windowed  room  on  the  second  floor,  where  a  small  iron 
balcony  curtained  with  wistaria  OA^erhung  the  street  on  the  west, 
and  a  piazza  to  the  South  overlooked  the  garden.  The  great  book- 
cases  filled  nearly   every  inch   of  wall    space   and   towered   almost 


503 

to  the  ceiling,  so  high  that  a  long  ladder  was  needed  to  reach  the 
upper  shelves.  In  this  room  the  Doctor  slept,  at  one  time,  and 
his  servant,  John,  helped  him  dress,  while  one  of  his  children  read 
aloud.  Later  his  elder  grandchildren  played  there,  and  they  all 
have  happy  memories  of  the  room  in  the  years  that  followed, 
when  it  became  Mrs.  Smyth's  favourite  Summer  sitting  room. 
On  his  return  to  Charleston  at  the  end  of  the  war  the  Doctor's 
infirmities  grew  upon  him,  and  the  school-room  in  the  rear  wing 
of  the  house,  over  the  kitchen,  but  opening  on  a  stairway  in  the 
main  building,  was  arranged  as  a  working  study  and  bed-chamber; 
his  body-servant  was  in  attendance  on  him  there  at  night. — Editor, 

REV  &  DR  BRO :  COLUMBIA,  Feb.  22,  i860. 

Later  gifts  to  Your  box  of  books  has  arrived  at  the  Library 
the  Smyth  and  been  opened.  I  see  a  number  of  valuable  and 
Library.  curious  volumes  among  them,  but  am  not  able  to 

give  them  more  than  a  cursory  inspection. 

By  all  means  send  us  the  box  of  idols,  &c.  They  shall  be 
taken  care  of,  and  will  add  to  the  interest  of  our  collection. 
At  present  the  Missionary  Museum  adjoins  the  Smyth  Library, 
and  is  usually  inspected  by  strangers  at  the  same  time  the 
Library  is  visited.  I  have  not  had  time  since  the  reception  of 
yours  of  Jany.  30  to  look  further  at  Malista.  I  have  hitherto 
regarded  it  as  distinctive  and  not  descriptive,  dividing  persons 
or  things  into  two  classes,  See  Gal.  VI  :io.  Phil.  IV.  22.  i 
Tim.  V:8.  IV:io.  2  Tim.  IV:i3.  Tit.  i:ii.  2  Pet.  II.  10. 
Acts  XX.  38.  XXVI.  3  Such  is  the  notion  also  of  Calvin, 
Beza,  Piscator  &  others. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  of  your  improved  health,  and  ability  to 
labour.  But  your  statement  of  the  manner  in  which  you  spent 
the  night  is  rather  alarming.  You  must  take  care  of  what  yet 
remains  of  the  poor  body.  Yours  truly 

GEO.  HOWE. 

THEOL.  SEM.  OF  COLUMBIA, 
REV  &  DEAR  BRO  :  March  12.  i860. 

I  acknowledge  the  receipt  from  you  of  the  box  of  missionary 
curiosities  and  the  map  of  Jerusalem.  There  being  no  wall 
room  in  the  Smyth  Library,  I  have  suspended  it  in  my 
Lecture  Room  for  the  present,  &  will  enjoy  with  the  students 
who  resort  thither,  the  idea  it  gives  us  of  the  ancient  city. 

It  seems  to  be  known  here  that  you  are  writing  on  the 
eldership,  the  first  intimation  came  from  Charleston,  so  I 
suppose  there  is  no  use  in  trying  to  be  private  about  it,  any 
more.  Yours  trulv 

GEO.  HOWE. 


504 

The  actual  sale  of  the  library  was  dated  May  28, 
The  Library  jg^g^  ^j^^  amount  being  $14,400.  It  had  cost  Dr. 
paid    for.  f-  1      1  r    i  ■  ,  *  c,  , 

bmyth,   by   a    careful   estimate,   about   $23,000,     much 

of  it  without  duty,"  but  "to  see  it  at  once  where  I  would  wish  it" 
he  was  willing  to  consider  the  difificulty  the  Seminary  might  ex- 
perience in  raising  a  larger  sum.  The  payments  were  made  as 
follows: — 

Extracts  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary. 

May  6,  1862.  "It  appears  from  the  printed  minutes  of  i860  that 
the  principal  and  interest  on  the  debt  due  on  the  'Smyth  Library' 
amounted  then  to  $18,840.47,  on  which  there  is  paid  $1,600  on  ac- 
count of  interest  as  reported  in  the  Treasurer's  account  last  year." 
P.  4  "This  large  and  increasing  debt  is  a  subject  of  serious 
concern  to  the  Board  and  they  are  unable  to  propose  any  measures 
for  its  liquidation  during  these  troublous  times."     P.  13. 

May  4,  1863.  "The  Faculty  Of  the  Seminary,  appreciating  the 
importance  of  liquidating  this  heavy  debt  and  especially  in  view  of 
the  possible  transfer  of  the  Institution  to  the  General  Assembly, 
undertook  the  task  themselves,  and  their  efforts  have  been 
crowned  with  triumphant  success.  *  *  *  They  have  cancelled 
the  entire  debt,  principal  and  interest  amounting  to  $22,146.""  P.  28. 

This  was  raised  within  the  bounds  of  the  Synods  of  South 
Carolina,  Georgia  and  Alabama. 

May  5,  1863.  "The  Smyth  Library  at  the  last  re- 
Another  port  of  the  Board  contained  11,845  vols.     There  have 

been  added  to  it  during  the  year  by  the  donation  of 
Dr.  Smyth,  145  vols.;  all. of  these  are  books  of  value,  some  of  them 
costly  and  elegant.  They  embrace  22  vols,  made  up  of  cotempo- 
rary  accounts  of  the  various  battles,  incidents,  and  facts  of  the 
present  war  and  culled  from  our  current  periodicals  and  gazettes, 
which  will  be  of  great  value  to  the  Historian  of  future  times,  and 
will  be  among  the  many  evidences  this  library  contains  of  the 
untiring  industry  of  its  collector."     P.  35. 

Value  of  the  "^^^  following  statement  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thornton 

Smyth  Li-  Whaling,  President  of   the   Columbia   Theological   Sem- 

brary  in  1912.    inary,  shows  the  present  value  of  the  library. 

November  28,  1912. 
"The  Smyth  Library  at  Columbia  Seminary,  consisting  of  over 
fifteen   thousand  volumes,   represents   the   scholarship   and   culture 
of  the  gifted  collector,  and,  in  particular,  is  extensive  and  wellnigh 

"For  the  information  of  a  later  generation  it  may  be  interest- 
ing to  state  that  this  debt  was  paid  in  Confederate  money,  prac- 
tically the  only  medium  at  that  time;  although  never  legal  tender 
all  patriotic  Southerners  accepted  it.  In  the  spring  of  1863  it  had 
begun  to  depreciate,  about  $3.50  of  it  being  equal  to  one  dollar, 
gold,  on  April   ist. — Ed. 


505 

complete  in  the  field  of  the  Puritan  Theology  in  Great  Britain. 
Dr.  Smyth  for  many  years  purchased  books  from  the  book  stores 
in  England  and  on  the  Continent  in  this  field  and  secured  many 
rare  volumes,  which  now  cannot  be  purchased  anywhere  on  the 
globe.  There  is  no  library  in  America  which  is  as  complete  in 
this  particular  field  as  the  Smyth  Library,  and  it  is  destined  to  be 
in  coming  years,  when  its  riches  are  better  known,  the  Mecca 
which  many  scholars  will  visit  in  pursuing  their  researches.  A 
few  years  ago  $100,000  was  expended  by  Dr.  Briggs  of  New  York 
in  purchasing  a  library  in  this  field,  but  with  no  effort  spared,  the 
result  is  far  inferior  to  the  Smyth  Library." 

Such  of  Dr.  Smyth's  books  as  remained  in  his  possession  are 
still  the  property  of  his  family,  those  on  religious  subjects  having 
been  set  aside  for  the  use  of  the  grandson  who  should  follow  him 
in  the  Ministry.  These  books  will  go  to  Japan  with  their  mission- 
ary owner. — Editor. 


LESSONS  FROM   MY 
LIFE-REFLECTIONS 


509 


LESSONS  FROM  MY  LIFE— REFLECTIONS. 

Brief  Hints. 

Man's  life  in  its  duration,  as  truly  as  in  its 

origin,  is  from  the  Lord.     "It  is  not  by  might  nor 

by  strength  &c."    "Man  liveth,  not  by  bread  alone  &c."    "The 

race  is  not  to  the  swift  &c."     "One  dieth  in  his  full  strength 

&c."    Read  Psalm  103,  also. 

I  was  the  weakling  of  the  flock.  I  was  born 
during  the  time  of  my  mother's  failed  health — 
wet  nursed — ^badly  nursed — a  feeble  child  and  delicate  boy — 
always  complaining,  puny,  and  a  crock  (an  image  borrowed 
from  the  crock  of  churning  milk  which  in  the  old  country 
always  sits  beside  or  near  the  fire). 

My  father  used  to  say  of  me  and  to  me  that  there  was  "no 
cure  for  me  but  a  plaister  of  earth,"  meaning  a  grave. 

In  London  I  broke  down  very  much.  My  Brother  Joseph 
gave  me  at  the  outside  only  a  ten  years'  lease  of  life. 

In  Charleston  sick  headaches  became  an  additional,  and  very 
frequent  and  prostrating  ailment,  and  I  required  frequent 
changes  and  recreation. 

My  first  attack,  after  the  revival  in  1846  &c.,  was  not  con- 
firmed paralysis^  but  was  very  near  akin  to  it,  and  the  stiff, 
abnormal  condition  of  my  left  arm  and  fingers — a  want  I  pre- 
sume of  perfect  relation  between  the  nerves  and  muscles — 
has  never  passed  away  and  often  amounts  to  positive  and  very 
severe  pain. 

My  second  attack  of  undoubted  paralysis  in  1853  (June), 
left  me  long  on  crutches,  when  in  my  exertions  to  walk  I  was 
a  wonder  to  many.  Mr.  English  who  owned  and  kept  the 
Bathing  house  on  the  Battery,  and  was  so  stout  and  hearty 
as  never  to  wear  an  overcoat,  would  sometimes  say,  "Well  you 
are  a  wonderful  man !  I  have  just  been  watching  you, 
struggling  along  against  this  north  easter  that  would  almost 
defy  me  to  face  it."  Strange  to  say  he  soon  after  had  a  very 
similar  attack,  when  at  his  desire  I  saw  him.  But  he  would 
not  pursue  my  habits  of  exercise^  &c  and  in  about 
a  year  died  of  a  second  or  third  attack. 

^His  attack  of  1850  was  commonly  spoken  of  as  the  first. — Ed. 

^Physical  exercise  was  always  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's  hobbies,  and 
he  preferred  that  it  should  be  taken  in  the  open  air.  His  children 
were  expected  to  walk  around  the  Battery  every  morning  before 


510 

Several  notices  of  my  attack  predicated  or  reported  death, 
and  one  article  went  to  shew  that  only  second  rate  men,  and 
not  truly  great  men  such  as  Clay  and  Webster,  ''died  first  at 
the  top."  My  attack  was  however  literally  and  truly  from  the 
bottom — the  ganglionic  centre  at  bottom  of  the  spine — and 
never  for  a  moment  affected  consciousness,  memory,  speech, 
or  digestion. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  E.  D.  G.  Prime,'  who  visited  me  in  New  York 
the  week  after  this  attack,  told  me  I  had  just  come  in  time  to 
prevent  the  appearance  of  a  semi-obituary  notice.  Perhaps 
in  some  other  Editorial  drawers  similar  notices  are  held  back 
in  ready  reservation. 

In  my  own  estimation  I  have  lived  from  day  to  day  as  a 
tenant  at  will,  looking  any  moment  for  an  ejectment  and 
change  of  residence.  I  have  searched  curiously  for  the  secret 
source  of  vitality,  but  sought  in  vain.  Like  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Howard  who,  when  told  by  his  physicians  that  he  could  not 
live  more  than  a  few  hours,  (during  which  he  made  his  will 
and  partook  of  the  sacrament — he  was  then  pastor  of  the 
Huguenot  Church.)- — not  finding  himself  dying,  asked,  "Why 
do  I  not  die?  I  do  not  feel  myself  dying," — in  the  morning  I 
have  often  asked,  "is  it  possible  I  am  alive?"  And  when  worn 
and  exhausted  by  pain  and  wakefulness,  headache,  and  op- 
pressive sinking  of  the  heart,  and  the  soul  in  her  pleading 
voice  crying  to  the  body, 

"Cease  fond  nature  cease  thy  strife 
And  let  me  languish  into  life," 

breakfast,  and  usually  ran,  like  a  flock  of  little  sand-pipers,  to  get 
it  over  with.  But  the  Doctor  attended  to  his  physical  discipline 
very  systematically,  and  in  the  last  years  of  his  life,  after  his 
tongue  had  been  paralyzed,  would  go  through  the  small  side  streets 
to  East  Battery,  leaning  on  his  two  sticks,  with  a  blanket  shawl 
over  his  shoulders  like  other  old  gentlemen  of  that  time,  repeating 
alouid  with  his  halting  tongue,  the  Litany,  some  favourite  Psalm, 
or  his  beloved  Celestial  Country.  On  reaching  High  Battery  he 
would  hold  to  the  upper  rail  and  bend  back  and  forth  with  deep 
breaths.  One  favourite  spot  for  this  exercise  was  the  southeast 
angle  of  the  Battery.  One  day,  soon  after  he  started  out,  a  col- 
oured woman  came  hastily  to  the  house  to  warn  Mrs.  Smyth  that 
"de  Doctor  done  git  loose  and  gone  tro'  de  alley  to  de  Battry." 
Evidently  expecting  instant  pursuit  of  the  supposed  fugitive,  she 
was  much  disappointed  at  the  calmness  with  which  her  news  was 
received. — Ed. 

^Editor  of  the  New  York  Observer. — Ed. 


511 

I  have  wondered  with  a  great  amazement  what  invisible 
power  held  together  a  body  and  spirit  so  willing  to  dissolve 
partnership,  and  so  ill  mated  with  one  another/ 

"Our  life  contains  a  thousand  springs, 
And  dies  if  one   be  gone. 
Strange   that  a   harp   of  thousand   strings 
Should  keep  in  tune  so  long! 

But  'tis  our  God  supports  our  frame, 

The  God  that  made  us  first; 
Salvation   to  the  Almighty  name 

That  reared  us  from  the  dust. 

While  I  have  health  or  use   [of?]   tongues, 

My  Maker  I'll  adore; 
His  Spirit  moves  these  heaving  lungs. 

Or  they  would  breathe  no  more." 

On  the  occasion  of  my  first  attack  one  of  my  warmest 
friends  said,  in  view  of  my  going  to  Europe,  "you  may  yet  be 
serviceable  for  ten  years."  But  after  my  second  the  resolu- 
tions of  the  church  and  the  speeches  on  the  occasion  all  as- 
sumed that  it  was  a  preparation  for  my  burial,  and  the  close 
of  my  ministry.  The  eager  question  was  often  put  to  my 
wife,  "Do  you  think  he  will  ever  be  able  to  preach  again." 
And  when  I  did  preach  it  was  frequently  feared  by  others 
and  myself  on  occasion  of  some  great  excitement — as  at  Mr; 
William  Adger's  funeral — that  I  might  be  stricken  down  even 
in  the  pulpit;  and  yet  I  have  out-lived  my  friend,  and  many 
who  were  then  giants  in  the  congregation. 

But  later  prophecy  has  been  uttered  and  is  very  likely  to 
prove  true.    It  is  from  Hall's  Journal  of  Health  (F^&.  .1859) 

"Premature  Decline. 

Extract  from  "Many  years  ago,  in  travelling  among  the  blue 
Journal  of  mountaius  of  the  Old  Dominion,  on  a  visit  of 
Health.  curiosity   to   her   "springs,"   we   chanced   to   fall 

in  with  a  young  clergyman  just  married.  He  unfolded  to  us 
his  prospects,  bright  and  sad — bright  as  to  position  and  op- 
portunity— sad  as  to  the  poor  health,  which  threatened  to 
blast  them  all.  Since  then  he  has  risen,  and  made  a  high  mark 
among  his  fellow-men — a  mark  as  good  as  it  is  great.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  has  passed,  during  which  we  have  never 
forgotten  him,  and  have  never  met  him ;  but  to-day  we  re- 
ceived the  following: — 

*See  "Why  do  I  live,"  vol.  VIII,  p.  395,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


512 

"  "Dear  Sir — Very  highly  estimating  the  ability  and  utility, 
the  wholesome  moral  and  religious,  as  well  as  healthful  tenor 
of  your  Journal  of  Health,  you  will  please  mail  it  to  me.' 

"He  has  forgotten  that  we  ever  met ;  but  the  point  of  obser- 
vation is  this — the  writing  is  in  a  hand  so  trembling,  and 
indicating  such  bodily  debility,  that  it  struck  us  with  amaze- 
ment. Men  of  eighty  years  have  written  to  us  in  a  firmer, 
bolder,  younger  hand ;  and  yet  he  cannot  be  far  from  either 
side  of  the  line  of  half  a  century.  What  changes  has  time 
wrought,  and  how  different  our  constitutions !  We  are  as 
merry  as  a  cricket  and  as  blithe  as  a  lark  of  a  spring  morning 
in  spite  of  the  rubs  we  have  had  on  land  and  sea,  in  city, 
prairie,  or  boundless  forests  of  the  malarial  South.  A  knowl- 
edge and  practice  of  the  laws  of  life  unfolds  the  mystery.  He 
is  young  enough  to  electrify  the  Southern  pulpit  with  his 
profound  and  burning  eloquence  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  to 
come.     But  he  will  never  do  it,  nor  for  a  decade  even. 

"Moral : — Theological  students  ought  to  spend  less  time  in 
chewing  Hebrew  roots  and  poring  over  Greek  themes — less 
time  in  handling  theological  polemics,  and  more  in  studying 
how  to  live  long,  work  hard,  thrive  upon  it,  and  die  victorious 
— the  battle  won  over  sin,  Satan,  and  a  wicked  race. 

"Let  the  Church  in  general,  and  theological  professors  in 
particular,  remember  that  a  sick  soldier  is  bad  enough — he  is 
but  a  unit — but  a  sick  leader  modifies  the  efficiency  of  whole 
regiments.  The  remedy  is  patent — let  the  friends  of  a  sound 
Christianity  look  to  it." 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  no  man  liveth 
unto  himself  and  no  man  dieth  unto  himself — that  God  has 
appointed  our  bounds  which  we  must  reach  and  cannot  pass — 
and  that  man  is  immortal  till  his  work  is  done.° 
Second  lesson  Another  lesson  to  be  learned  from  my  life  is 
strength  not  that  great  health  is  not  necessary  to  great  labour, 
essential.  provided  there  is  an  adaptation  of  the  labour  to 

the  capacity ;  nor  is  feeble  health  and  an  imperfect  constitution 
inconsistent  with  long  life.     The  adage  that  a  sound  mind 

°I  forgot  to  add  to  this  statement  of  human  probabilities  against 
divine  purpose  and  providence  and  power  that  while  in  Europe  in 
1850-51,  I  consulted  among  other  eminent  physicians,  Sir  Henry- 
Marsh  and  Dr.  Stokes  of  Dublin,  who  separately  concurred  in 
opinion  that  my  constitution  was  shattered,  especially  my  nerves; 
that  I  ought  never  again  to  attempt  preaching  and  could  only  do 
so  at  imminent  hazard.  They  therefore  with  others  sealed  my 
lips  for  sometime  and  prevented  me  from  making  an  intended  jour- 
ney to  the   East — to   Egypt,   Palestine,  Asia   Minor,   Greece,   &c. 


513 

must  have  a  sound  body,  and  that  the  latter  is  essential  to 
ministerial  or  other  success,  must  be  received  with  very  great 
qualification.  Riches  is  a  condition  of  great  liberality,  but  by 
no  means  necessary  to  great  philanthropy,  nor  the  certain 
incentive  to  benevolence.  The  greatest  philanthropists  have 
been  from  among  the  poorest  or  middle  classes  of  society. 
And  so  also  is  it  in  the  v^rorld  of  mind.  The  greatest  thinkers 
and  workers  have  probably  been  on  the  whole  among  the  least 
healthy  and  vigorous,  and  often  among  the  most  sickly — 
dwelling  in  tenements  shaken  by  every  wind,  and  encircled 
by  a  network  of  nerves  so  finely  constructed  as  to  be  sensible 
to  every  movement,  and  TEolian-like,  responsive  to  every  air. 
When  I  was  in  N.  Brunswick,  examining  the 
^^  °        ^      question  of  my  locating  there  and  among  other 

grand-parents.      ^    .  . 

points,  my  adaptation  to  the  climate.  Dr.  Joseph 
Smith  asked  after  the  age  of  my  parents ;  and  when  I  told 
him  my  grandfather  Magee  lived  to  the  age  of  io6,  my  grand- 
father Smyth  to  that  of  over  90,  and  that  my  father  was  then 
towards  80 — "Why,"  said  he,  "you  will  live  till  you  are  ninety. 
For,"  he  added,  "long  life  does  not  depend  upon  vigor  or 
strength  of  constitution,  but  upon  the  harmonious  adaptation 
of  its  several  organs  to  one  another,  however  feeble  they  may 
be  in  themselves.  If  they  work  together,  and  the  one  does 
not  overtask  and  oppress  the  other,  the  organization  is  not 
diseased,  and  life  is  indefinitely  prolonged." 

On    mentioning    this    the    other    day   to    Chief 
Tane    ^^^^'^^     Justicc    Tancy,    who    spent    two    months    at    this 

place — Rockbridge  Baths — this  summer — 1859, — ■ 
he,  (and  he  is  now  83  years  old)  said  it  was  quite  true  and  that 
he  was  an  illustration  of  it,  since  he  had  always  been  a  valetu- 
cDinarian.  "And  another  reason,"  he  added,  "in  confirmation 
of  the  opinion  is  that  delicate  persons  are  sensible  like  weather- 
cocks to  the  first  symptoms  of  derangement  and  give  instant 
attention  to  them,  while  vigorous  constitutions  jresist  and 
resent  the  idea  of  sickness  until  disease  has  become  violent." 
"You  may,"  he  added,  in  the  spirit  of  the  Oriental  wish  (may 
you  live  forever),  "fulfill  the  Doctor's  prophecy." 

A  man  though  feeble  as  a  reed,  if  like  it  he  will 

yield  to  every  current  of  sickness,  and  by  pru- 
dential measures  either  preventive,  pallative,  or  curative,  assist 
and  relieve  nature,  may  out-brave  a  thousand  storms  and 
outlive  a  thousand  stronger  men.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Miller  was, 
I  think,  the  last  member  of  a  large  family,  all  whose  members 
had  died  of  consumption,  with  which  he  too  was  early  and 
dangerously  threatened,  but — as  he  informed  me — ^by  constant 

[33] 


514 

care  and  regular  habits  of  exercise  and  temperance  in  living, 
he  had  outgrown  the  disease  and  enjoyed  wonderful  health, 
and  he  died  in  a  good  old  age. 

There  is  frequently  also  in  such  a  constitution  a  resiliency 
and  recuperative  power,  a  buoyant  elasticity  and  energy  in  its 
periods  of  restoration,  as  to  give  to  it  great  advantages. 

And  as  to  perfection  in  all  our  limbs  and  organs — what  is 
actually  required?  Conversing  with  Dr.  Hodge  of  Philadel- 
phia (brother  of  Professor  Hodge,)  whose  professional  skill 
I  have  on  several  occasions  enjoyed;  "Can  you  eat?"  asked  he, 
"Yes."  "Can  you  talk?"  "Yes."  "Can  you  walk?"  "Yes, 
with  the  help  of  a  stick."  "Well,"  said  he,  "what  more  does 
any  man  want  or  need.  You  have  all  that  is  necessary,  if  not 
all  that  is  convenient." 

It  is  a  Jewish,  and  not  a  Christian  idea,  to  at- 
and  others  ^^^^  value  to  perfection  of  form,  figu're,  and 
limbs.''  Professor  Hodge  himself  was  for  years 
confined  very  much  to  his  couch,  or  a  recumbent  posture. 
And  around  me  here  I  find  fellow  limpers  and  lameters  in  the 
Rev.  Dr.  White  of  Lexington  and  Rev.  Mr.  Trunble  of  this 
county,  and  at  home  in  Dr.  Howe.  It  is  enough  if  we  have 
instrumentality  to  do  God's  work  and  a  heart  to  do  it ;  with  a 
right  good  will,  a  right  good  day's  work  may  be  done,  even  with 
one  eye,  or  ear,  or  arm,  or  leg.  When  I  last  saw  Mr.  School- 
craft in  his  studio  at  Washington,  and  got  from  him  the 
pattern  of  a  more  perfect  crutch — I  first  used  a  pair  borrowed 
from  him- — he  could  only  move  about  his  room  on  a  crutch, 
and  had  been  thus  helpless  during  his  labours  on  the  Antiqui- 
ties and  History  of  the  Indian  Tribes. 

Neither  is  perfect  and  uninterrupted  health  nec- 

appiness.  essary  to  enjoyment,  certainly  not  to  happiness. 
I  am  often  as  merry  as  a  cricket  which  I  have  been  endeavour- 
ing to  attach  to  my  room,  that  I  may  find  in  its  lively  song,  "its 
feeble  trilling  lay,"  a  soothing  lullaby  and  a  pleasing  remem- 
brancer of  childhood's  scenes.  I  often  soar  with  the  lark  in 
its  jubilant  flight  towards  heaven  and  join  in  its  carol  of 
ecstatic,  rapturous  joy.    And  when  not  in  a  humour  of  positive 

^"During  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life,  his  bent  form,  crip- 
pled gait,  and  growing  infirmities,  reminded  one  of  the  wreck  of 
a  noble  ship,  which  with  its  rent  sails  and  dismantled  hulk,  still 
rides  proudly  and  grandly  upon  the  billowy  sea,  and  weathers  its 
raging  storms,  when  scores  of  staunch  and  seaworthy  vessels  are 
stranded  and  wrecked  around  her.  The  hobbling  gait  did  not  lose 
its  dignity,  nor  the  shattered  form  its  manliness." — Extract  from 
Dr.   Brackett's   Memorial. 


515 

joy,  or  self  amusing  laughter,  I  can  often  sympathize  in  the 
peaceful,  playful  contentment  of  two  little  twin  kittens^  who 
frequently  visit  my  chamber,  perform  antics  around  my  table, 
partake  with  me  in  my  simple  fare,  and  nestle  themselves  in 
each  other's  embrace  upon  my  bed. 

Sweet  is  pleasure  after  pain'  like  sunshine  after 
dark  and  cloudy  days,  or  the  return  of  a  friend 
after  long  separation.  In  the  intervals  of  paroxysmal  suffer- 
ing, when  the  writhing  nerve  ceases  to  torture  the  morbidly 
sensitive  muscles,  and  allows  rest  or  easy  motion,  with  what 
velocity  of  thought  will  the  eye  take  in  visions  of  beauty  and 
the  ear  listen  to  words  of  sympathy  and  cheer ;  the  imagination 
riot  in  its  droll  and  laughter  giving  fancies,  and  the  heart 
nerve  itself  by  humble  contrition,  and  prayer  and  thanksgiving 
for  manifold  mercies,  for  another  encounter;  how  even  when 
faint  from  heart  affecting  pangs,  will  the  spirit  melt  itself  into 
tears,  or  vent  itself  in  a  scream  in  which  is  compressed  to  the 
ear  of  the  discerner  of  spirits  a  world  of  meaning,  no  part  of 
which  is  murmuring  complaint. 

I  have  often  thought  I  could  write  a  natural  history  of  pain. 
I  have  known  her  from  childhood.  We  have  walked  arm  in 
arm,  dwelt  in  the  same  house,  been  fellow  lodgers  in  the  same 
body,  and  occupants  of  the  same  bed.  She  is.  like  the  chameleon, 
of  every  hue  and  like  Proteus  of  every  shape,  and  often  like 
Iris,  a  compound  of  many  blended  into  one.  She  is  sometimes 
dull  and  heavy,  sometimes  constant,  and  again  fickle  and 
fleeting, — sometimes  sharp  and  again  flat — then  quick  as  light, 
or  like  an  Alexandrine  line  of  ten  single  words,  drags  her  slow 
length  along.^  At  other  times  like  the  forked  lightening  she 
courses  in  tortuous  torture  through  every  limb  and  fibre  of 
the  body,  dissolving  the  pent  up  and  collected  clouds  of  bitter- 
ness into  showers  of  fiooding  tears ;  and  sometimes  she  is  that 
lightning  in  its  negative  form  of  quiet  dull  monotony,  or  oc- 
casional playful  flashes,  just  enough  to  arouse  attention  and 
excite  the  fancy.    At  times  she  is  dormant  and  again  wakeful. 

'His  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Augustine  T.  Smythe,  tells  of  her 
first  experience  of  Dr.  Smyth's  tenderness  to  all  creatures.  While 
visiting,  during  her  engagement,  the  family,  at  their  residence  as 
re,fugees  at  Summerton,  she  came  one  morning  to  the  Doctor's 
study  window.  He  motioned  to  her  to  enter  quietly,  and  showed 
her  a  little  bantam  hen,  nestling  in  the  hollow  of  his  elbow.  Every 
day  this  little  hen  came  to  him  to  lay  her  egg  and  was  never 
disturbed. — Ed. 

*Dryden. — Ed. 

"See  Pope's  "Essay  on  Criticism." — Ed. 


THOMAS  SMYTH.  D/D. 
From  a  Photograph. 


517 

Sometimes  she  languishes  into  the  faint  tones  of  an  infant  in 
its  sleep,  or  in  its  dying,  or  like  the  bubbling  groan  of  some 
strong  swimmer  in  his  drowning  agony ,^  and  sometimes  like  a 
strong  man  in  the  whirlwind  of  his  passions,  she  puts  on  an 
angel's  might  and  mystery  of  power. 

I  have  learned  that  pain  is  sometimes  pleasure— never  mis- 
ery—  always  profitable. 

A  life  of  pain,  a  body  of  weakness,  and  a  feeble  effeminate 
constitution  are  perhaps  the  best,  on  the  whole  the  happiest 
for  the  soul,  always  the  healthiest  and  most  prosperous  con- 
ditions of  its  probationary  and  preparatory  state.  It  is  better 
to  dwell  in  such  a  house  of  mourning  than,  &c.  Eccles.' 

The    pathway    of    pain    and    weakness    leads 

umi  1  y.  through  the  land  of  humiliation,  and  under  the 

guidance  of  faith  to  humility,  lowliness,  hope,  and  heavenly- 
mindedness."*  It  opens  up  many  fine  prospects  and  enchanting 
visions,  as  it  conducts  through  green  pastures  and  still  waters 
towards  that  better  country,  where  there  shall  be  no  more  pain, 
where  the  inhabitant  shall  never  say,  "1  am  sick,"  where  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  off  all  faces,  and  where  all 
weakness  and  imperfection  shall  be  transformed  into  incor- 
ruptible, immortal,  and  glorious  bodies. 

Col.  Memminger  once  remarked  to  me  that  (as  a  Christian) 
he  always  preferred  to  be  in  a  minority.  So  have  I  felt  it  good 
to  be  afflicted  with  often  infirmities  and  constant  feebleness. 
It  teaches  a  man  to  walk  softly  because  of  his  inward  sorrow, 
through  humble  and  quiet  valleys,  shunning  the  giddy  heights 
of  precipitous  daring,  and  looking  out  for  snares  and  pitfalls. 
It  is  from  these  low  depths  heaven  opens  on  the  eye,  and  the 
■ear  with  sounds  seraphic  rings.*  Dark  and  cloudy  days  in  a 
hot  and  burning  clime  are  a  great  relief  to  the  exhausted  and 
depressed  system,  and  the  valley  that  is  shadowed  by  the 
mountain  covered  to  its  top  with  luxuriant  verdure  (not  less 
when— as  now — that  verdure  is  brilliant  with  all  the  hues  of 
decaying  vegetation,)  is  harmonious  with  the  best  feelings  of 
the  heart,  and  full  of  quenchless  longings  after  immortality. 

^"A  solitary  shriek,  the  bubbling  cry 
Of  some  strong  swimmer  in  his  agony." 

Don  Juan,  Canto  II,  stanza  53. — Ed. 
^"It  is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than  to  go  to  the 
house  of  feasting;  for  that  is  the  end  of  all  men."     Eccles.,  VII,  2, 
"The  heart  of  the  wise  is  in  the  house  of  mourning;  but  the  heart 
of  fools  is  in  the  house  of  mirth."     Eccles.  VII,  4. — Ed. 
'See  vol.  X,  p.  307,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
*See  "Why  do  I  live,"  vol.  VIII,  p.  680,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


518 

"When  the  groves 
In  fleeting  colours  write  their  own  decay,         ^ 
And  leaves  fall  eddying  in  the  sharpen'd  blasts 
That  sing  their  dirge ;  when  o'er  their  rustling  bed 
The  red  deer  spring,  or  flies  the  shrill  voiced  quail, 
Heavy  of  wing  and  fearful ;  when  with  heart 
Foreboding  or  depress'd,  the  white  man  mark'd 
The  signs  of  coming  Winter :  then  began 
The  Indian's  joyous  season.    Then  the  haze, 
Soft  and  illusive  as  a  fairy  dream, 
Lapp'd  all  the  landscape  in  its  silvery  fold, 
The  quiet  rivers  that  were  wont  to  hide 
'Neath  shelving  banks,  beheld  their  course  betray'd 
By  the  white  mist  that  o'er  their  foreheads  crept, 
While  wrapp'd  in  morning  dreams,  the  sea  and  sky 
Slept  'neath  one  curtain,  as  if  both  were  merg'd 
In  the  same  elements.     Slowly,  the  sun ; 
And  all  reluctantly,  the  spell  dissolved ; 
And  then  it  took  upon  its  parting  wing 
A  rainbow  glory. 

"Gorgeous  was  the  time 
Yet  brief  as  gorgeous.    Beautiful  to  thee, 
Our  brother  hunter,  but  to  us  replete 
With  musing  thoughts  in  melancholy  train."" 

It  is  very  humbling  to  pride,  and  trying  even  to  patience,  to 
be  the  observed  of  all  observers,  not  in  admiration,  but  to  be 
pitied,  laughed  at;  to  be  the  object  of  staring,  vulgar,  and  im- 
pertinent curiosity;  to  hear  the  Paul  Pry  questions  of  unfeel- 
ing passers  by;  to  be  obliged  in  strange  places  to  walk  with 
the  insecure,  unsteady  gait  of  the  drunkard  and  like  him  to 
relieve  tired  nature  by  a  seat  by  the  way-side  or  on  some  door 
step,  or  frequented  spot.  And  yet  even  these  clouds  have  a 
silver  lining.  There  are  sun-bursts  amid  the  gloom,  and 
radiant  smiles  to  awaken  gladness  when  some  whispering  angel 
says,  "This  also  is  from  thy  Lord.  Take  it  kindly.  In  silence 
is  thy  strength."  After  all  there  is  more  of  sympathy  than 
severity  in  our  nature.  Real  sorrow  and  helplessness  borne 
meekly  and  unobtrusively,  and  not  begging  for  pity,  will 
excite  kind  and  considerate  feelings,  good  wishes,  and  often 
generous  prayers.  "What  a  pity  it  is  that  such  a  gentleman 
as  you  are  should  be  so  afflicted."  "I  wish  you  had  my 
strength,"  "If  I  could,"  said  one  humble  wayfarer  in  the  ful- 

°By  Lydia  Huntly  Sigourney;  evidently  quoted  from  memory, 
after    Doctor   Smyth's   habit. — Ed. 


519 

ness  of  his  heart,  "I  would  give  you  my  strength."  "I  hope 
you  will  get  better."  "With  such  exertions  you  deserve  to 
get  better,"  "I  really  think  you  are  improving  and  will  re- 
cover." 

Thus  have  I  learned  to  think  and  feel  more  kindly  of  my 
fellow  men,  and  to  rely  more  upon  that  infinite  heart  of  sym- 
pathy, from  whom  all  such  feelings  are  derived.     *     *     * 

Submission  is  the  only  road  to  satisfaction  and 

Submission.  ,.r.       ,.  ,  j     ,  ,      .  .        ^      , 

sanctmcation,  and  good  hope  and  joy  m  God. 
Lord,  what  a  wretch  was  I,  and  how  have  I  kicked  and  re- 
belled like  an  untamed  horse,  or  unbroken  steer !  How  have 
I  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  said  to  Thee,  "Let  me  alone, 
wherefore  dost  Thou  contend  with  me  and  destroy  my  hopes 
and  weaken  my  strength  in  the  way.  Let  me  die,  let  me  die !" 
"That  man  had  better  be  dead  than  live  so,"  said  two  young 
gentlemen  the  other  day,  when  a  gentleman  afflicted  like  my- 
self entered  the  cars.  They  had  no  comfort  to  impart  and  no 
sympathy  to  share,  and  knew  of  no  life  beyond  that  of  the 
body.  Their  words  implied  a  quarrel  with  the  man's  manli- 
ness, and  seemed  to  say  he  ought  not  to  submit  to  live  in  such 
a  state ;  and  a  quarrel  with  God,  who  had  no  right  to  bring  a 
man  into  such  a  humiliating  condition.  And  yet  this  is  a 
very  natural  feeling  to  the  impenitent,  ungodly,  and  worldly 
heart,  whose  God  is  the  belly  and  who  minds  earthly  things. 
I  have  often  felt  so  myself.  So  foolish  and  brutish  have  I 
been  as  to  think  I  ought  not  to  live  and  was  not  fit  to  live,  and 
to  wonder  not  only  how,  but  why  I  lived.  *  *  But  oh !  my 
Elder  Brother,  Thou  Brother  born  for  adversity.  Thou  sym- 
pathizing high  Priest,  Thou  man  of  Sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief,  let  me  live  how,  and  how  long,  or  how  short  Thou 
pleasest,  only  be  Thou  my  life  f  so  that  whether  I  live,  I  may 
live  unto  Thee,  my  Lord  my  God,  or  whether  I  die,  I  may  die 
unto  Thee ;  that  whether  living  or  dying  I  may  be  Thine ! 

And  yet  Lord,  Thou  knowest  how  grateful  I  feel  (like  Thy 
eminent  servant  Monod,)  for  being  able-  contrary  to  any 
human  foresight  to  exercise  every  Sabbath  my  ministry,  and 
to  pursue  and  enjoy  my  studies ;  and  that  I  would  fain  continue 
to  do  so  till  the  last  breath  of  my  life,  for  this  is  my  life,  and 
I  feel  that  when  I  can  no  longer  perform  my  ministry  and 
pursue  these  labours  of  love,  I  shall  be  withdrawn  to  exercise 
a  better  ministry  and  higher  studies  elsewhere.     *     *     * 


"See  "The  Well  in  the  Valley,"  vol.  VIII,  p.  438.^Ed. 


520 

The  lesson  Another  lesson  I  derive  from  the  review  of  my 

of  an  Over-       history  is  that  our  course  is  directed  by  an  over- 
ruling .  ruling   and   irresistible   providence.     *     *     But   I 
cannot   dwell   on   this   subject   without   repeating 
much  already  said.     *     *     * 

Spiritual  ^till  another  thing  that  strikes  any  man  very 

growth  forcibly  in  thinking  of  what  I  once  was,  and  now 

essential.  ^^^^  q£  what  I  might  havc  been,  and  have  become, 

is  the  transformations  of  the  mind  and  character  as  well  as  the 
body.  Change — growth — progress,  or  decay — death  to  bring 
forth  life — are  the  universal  laws,  that  is,  the  actual  course 
of  nature.  Our  bodies,  how  incessantly  are  they  undergoing 
change,  or  even  entire  transformation,  both  in  elements  and 
form,  yet  remaining  identically  one  and  the  same.  *  *  So 
also  is  it  with  the  soul — with  intellect,  will,  memory,  disposi- 
tion, temper,  habit ;  and  character  as  the  result  of  all.  *  * 
Yet  it  is  unalterable  and  imperishable  spirituality,  the  soul 
abides  the  same,  though  borne  along  on  the  voyage  of  life  in 
a  vessel  ever  changing.  *  *  But  it  is  also  subject  to  the 
law  of  order  and  progress  for  the  full  development  and  per- 
fection of  its  nature. 

But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  while  in  regard  to  plants  and 
animals  there  is  progress  towards  maturity,  in  regard  to  the 
soul,  there  is  development  under  the  law  of  progress  either 
towards  perfection,  or  depravation ;  not  to  advance  is  to  go 
back.  It  is  impossible  to  remain  stationary.  Man  is  "not  an 
end,  like  the  animal,  but  a  beginning."     *     *     * 

In  this  law  is  found  the  true  nature  &  theory 
^J"^ ,.  of    education,  which    is    not    the    acquisition    of 

education.  ,  .  111 

knowledge  for  its  own  sake  as  the  end,  but  as 
the  means  of  development,  which  is  the  true  end.  In  this  law 
we  also  see  the  necessity  of  continued  education,  uninterrupted 
study,  and  perpetual  progress.  '^'  *  This  law  reveals  also 
the  true  secret  of  a  harmonious  operation  of  every  faculty 
and  the  preservation  of  a  fresh,  warm,  &  imaginative  mind, 
while  it  is  ever  growing  in  its  analytical  and  abstract  powers 
of  reasoning.  And  as  I  regard  this  as  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance, I  have  dwelt  upon  it  elsewhere,  and  would  again 
urge  my  own  experience.  Reading  and  thinking  must  be 
various,  and  adapted  to  nourish  and  to  exercise  every  faculty, 
and  taste  also,  so  that  no  one  may  become  dormant,  or  destruc- 
tive to  the  others.  And  I  am  a  living  proof  that  by  this  course, 
tastes  and  inclinations  may  be  modified  and  the  mind  made  to 
give  itself  wholly  and  with  delight,  to  whatever  course  of 
study  circurnstances  may  render  advisable,   or  necessary.     I 


521 

became  enthusiastic  in  antiquarian  and  historical  lore — again 
in  physical  science — again  in  controversial  discussions,  and 
always,  and  really  most  con  amore,  in  mental  and  moral  phil- 
osophy; again  in  exegetical  study,  in  practical  and  didactic 
discourse,  and  always  in  poetical  literature  and  Belles  Lettres ; 

1  feel  now  that   I   could   engage  in   any   line  of   study  with 

interest  and  enjoyment.     *     *     My  reading  this 
ummer  rea  -   g^j-^jj^gj-  j^^g  therefore  includcd  Leighton  on  Peter, 

mg,    1859.  ='  ' 

Hill  on  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  Brown  on  the 
Gospels,  Robertson's,  Trench's,  and  Hitchcock's  Sermons  ; 
Mansel's  Limits  of  Human  Thought,  McCosh,  etc.,  Pascal's 
Thoughts ;  Whateley's  Evidences  &  Worship,  Taylor's  Ele- 
ments of  Thought,  Guyot's  Earth  and  Man,  Dr.  Buckland's 
Geology,  2  vols.,  edition  by  Owens,  Natural  History  of  Trees 

2  vols.  &  of  Birds  i  vol. ;  Mantell's  Thoughts  of  a  Pebble, 
Martin's  Humming  Birds,  Gould's  volume  ditto ;  The  Roman 
Question  by  About,  Goethe's  Poems,  Guthrie's  Sermons.  Dr. 
Breckinridge's  Subjective  Theology,  Kwotz'  Astronomy  and 
Bible,  &  The  Old  and  New  Covenant ;  Sime's  Geology  and 
Scripture,  Hurd's  Rise  and  Progress  of  Christianity,  D'Au- 
bigne  vol.  3,  Macauley's  Essays ;  with  several  vols,  of  Poetry, 
Bunyan  and  other  Devotional  Books,  and  Hymnology.' 
Adaptability  ^ct  no  young  pcrson  be  discouraged !  There 
of  mind  and  is  a  power  of  mutual  adaptation  between  the  mind 
^°^^-  and  body.  Like  man  and  wife  they  grow  into 
each  other,  and  grow  like  each  other  when  suitably  mated  and 
wisely  treated.  Study  well  and  constantly  your  own  consti- 
tution and  especially  your  own  stomach.  This,  since  our  fall, 
is  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  our  studies  and  least  satisfac- 
tory in  its  results.  Depravity  leads  man  to  live  to  eat,  and  not 
eat  to  live.  The  concentration  of  a  student  increases  the 
natural  incapacity  to  act  with  perfect  wisdom — (and  we  have 
not  the  instinct  of  the  brutes) — inconsideration,  haste,  abstrac- 

^Many  of  the  works  mentioned  are  referred  to  in  Dr.  Smyth's 
published  Works.  We  see  reflected  in  this  list  his  varied  tastes, 
which  show  themselves  in  all  his  books  and  sermons.  There  is  a 
lecture  on  the  Importance  of  a  Knowledge  of  Natural  History  to 
a  Full  Understanding  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  in  vol.  VI,  p.  760; 
an  article  on  Tree  planting  in  the  City,  p.  749,  and  a  lecture  on 
Astronomical  Science,  p.  yji,  all  of  which  are  very  interesting. 
There  are  also  charming  passages  on  trees  and  flowers  in  the 
"Well  in  the  Valley,"  vol.  VIII, -p.  395,  and  on  p.  694  of  "Why  do 
I  live";  many  other  references  will  reward  a  careful  reading  of 
the  Doctor's  works.  The  Hymnology  is  covered  by  his  articles 
on  Psalmody  in  vol.  VI,  and  the  editor  has  been  forced  to  omit 
many  lengthy  poetical  quotations  from  this  autobiography. — Ed. 


523 

tion,  the  withdrawment  of  the  nervous  energy  from  the 
digestive  organs ;  and  thus  induces  manifold  improprieties 
and  evils.  Study  the  whole  subject  to  learn  what  man  is,  and 
study  yourself  to  learn  what  you  are;  and  adapt  your  studies 
to  the  condition  and  requirements  of  the  body  at  different 
periods  of  the  day,  and  different  conditions  and  invalidities. 

Arrange  your  studies  so  as  to  secure  sleep,  ex- 
study°  ^  °  ercise,  and  rest,  entire  rest  and  idle  vacuity ;  sleep, 
that  is  a  nap,  or  else  pleasant  occupation  of  the 
mind  after  sleep.  Adopt  rules  and  form  habits  and  adhere  to 
them  strictly,  but  not  too  rigidly;  feel  free  in  keeping  these 
and  at  liberty  to  suspend  but  not  to  abrogate  them.  Accustom 
yourself  to  fresh  air  by  day  and  night,  except  in  the  form  of 
draughts  especially  from  behind,  still  more  especially  when 
most  desirous  of  them,  that  is  when  heated,  after  preaching 
and  after  sleeping  and  while  sleeping.  ,  Stop  when  the  brain 
is  fatigued  and  either  rest,  recreate,  or  change  your  subject, 
which  is  itself  a  recreation  of  the  brain  and  mind.  *  *  * 
Patience  un-  Take  Care  of  the  trivial,  every  hour  recurring 
der  trivial  cvcuts,  and  the  great  events  may  be  left  to  take 
vexations.  (,^j.g   q^   thcmselves.     *     "^     The   thousand   vexa- 

tions that  come  upon  us  through  the  unreasonableness,  the 
carelessness,  the  various  constitutional  failings,  or  ill-aptedness 
of  others  to  our  own  peculiarities  of  temper,  or  of  character, 
form  a  very  large  item  of  the  troubles  of  life.  Many  sensitive 
natures  are  worn  away  by  the  constant  friction  of  what  are 
called  little  troubles.  '^  *  They  are  alike  ruinous  to  health, 
to  temper,  to  peace  of  mind,  and  to  piety  itself. 

The  evil  lies  in  excluding  these  from  the  providential  or- 
dering of  God,  in  failing  to  recognize  them  as  a  part  and  a 
chief  part  of  our  probationary  discipline,  and  as  requiring 
therefore  our  most  watchful  care  and  .solicitous  improvement. 
And  the  remedy  is  in  realizing  these  truths,  in  referring  them 
all  to  God,  in  bringing  them  all  to  Christ  as  our  Saviour  and 
to  the  Spirit  as  our  Sanctifier ;  and  in  our  seeking  continual 
help  and  grace  and  guidance : —  to  acknowledge  God  in  short, 
in  all  our  ways ;  and  whatsoever  we  do  or  endure,  to  do  and 
to  endure  all  to  the  glory  of  God. 

Chri     the  Human  sympathy  we  cannot  have.     The  very 

only  source  things  that  Wear  us  away  with  their  constant 
of  true  friction,  or  like  the  dropping  of  water  upon  the 

sympathy.  ^^^^^  ^^^^  wither  the  bloom  and  flower  of  exist- 

ence, that  dim  the  eye,  furrow  the  cheek,  break  down  the 
elasticity  and  happiness  of  the  spirit,  bow  down  the  yet 
youthful  frame  with  premature  old  age,  and  in  the  midst  of 


523 

comfort,  make  us  restless  and  unhappy; — these  are  to  others 
matters  of  indifference  or  of  ridicule,  and  awaken  not  sym- 
pathy, but  surprise,  or  contemptuous  pity. 

To  whom  then  shall  the  soul  turn?  To  go  to  none  and  to 
find  none  is  to  become- callous  and  stoically  selfish,  which  many 
never  can  become ;  or  to  allow  the  fine  chords  of  the  mind  and 
nerves  to  become  jarring  and  discordant,  superinducing  fret- 
fulness,  discontent,  and  habitual  irritability. 

But  let  such  an  one  tell  all  his  hourly  recurring  cares  to 
Christ,  confide  in  His  sympathy  and  repose  on  His  love,  and 
every  care  becomes  an  affiliating  bond  between  the  soul  and 
the  Saviour.  Christ  is  known,  as  a  man  knoweth  his  friend, 
by  the  hourly  wants  He  supplies,  the  hourly  cares  with  which 
He  sympathizes,  the  hourly  apprehensions  He  allays,  the  hourly 
temptations  He  turns  away  from  us,  and  the  hourly  storms 
of  passion  He  rebukes  and  calms  into  peace. 

I  can  now  see  clearly  that  the  true  secret  of  a 
God'^wiiT  ^°  holy?  active,  useful,  and  happy  life  is  conformity 
to  Christ,  and  like  Him,  conformity  to  the  will  of 
God^- — considering  life  as  given  by  Him  to  be  employed  in 
doing  what  will  glorify  Him  according  to  our  ability  and 
opportunity.  *  *  To  live  otherwise  is  a  continual  quarrel 
with  God,  fighting  against  His  laws,  and  kicking  against  the 
pricks.     *     *     * 

As    in    the    Scriptures    God   holds    communion 
'^^'^^^-  with  us,  so  in  prayer  we  hold  communion  with 

God,  and  an  interchange  of  mutual  affectionate  society.  It  is 
God  with  us  and  in  us,  &  man  with  God.  It  is  the  life 
of  God  in  the  soul.  It  is  union  in  dwelling.  It  is  power 
with  God  and  the  power  of  God  to  our  salvation,  sancti- 
fication,  and  joy.  It  is  life  and  health  and  peace.  Prayer 
— all  prayer- — pra5^er  always- — everywhere,  in  every  condition, 
for  everything,  giving  thanks  to  God  and  our  Saviour,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit,  this  is  the  soul  of  piety.     *     *     *=" 


^See  vol.  VIII,  p.  714,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

°Dr.  Brackett  says,  "Everything  with  him  seemed  to  crystalize 
into  prayer."  His  sister-in-law,  Miss  Janey  Adger,  wrote  after 
his  death:  *  *  "I  always  had  a  tender  love  for  him  and  feel 
that  I  too  mourn  sincerely  my  own  loss.  I  always  enjoyed  his 
Sunday  evening  visits  and  his  never  failing  fund  of  conversation, 
and  then  his  closing  prayer,  and  his  tender  remembrance  of  each 
one  present.     *     *"     See  also  vol.  X,  p.  693,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed 


534 

Danger  of  This  next  Icsson  I  learned  from  bitter  experi- 

eariy  mar-  ence,  extensive  observation,  and  the  confidential 
"^^^'  knowledge  of  the  experience  of  others.     One  of 

the  first  questions  Thomas  Wilson  Esq.,  of  London — of  blessed 
memory  for  his  benevolence  and  christian  zeal — was  wont  to 
ask  students  entering-  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Highbury 
was, — "Have  you  any  female  entanglements?"  and  if  they 
answered  "Yes,"  he  would  advise  them  to  break  them  off  at 
once,  "For,"  said  he,  "you  have  no  right  nor  business  with 
such  matters  now.  They  will  interfere  with  your  studies  and 
distract  your  mind.  Besides  you  are  not  now  capable  of 
judging  of  a  wife  that  will  be  suitable  to  you  three  years 
hence,  nor  to  your  people  and  field  of  labour.  And  as  no  one 
requires  some  independent  means  to  enable  him  to  supply  all 
his  wants,  and  if  he  has  a  family,  to  free  him  from  anxiety  on 
their  account, — more  than  a  minister,  if  you  wait  till  you  are 
settled,  you  may  just  as  well  as  not  marry  a  lady  who,  with 
piety  and  every  other  qualification,  will  have  some  resources 
for  the  demands  of  any  necessit}''." 

Let  a  young  man  take  up  this  cross  and  deny  himself  this 
gratification,  and  follow  Christ  into,  and  through  the  Semi- 
nary, and  into  his  appointed  field  of  labour ;  and  he  will  find 
that  Christ  will  give  him  an  hundred  fold  more,  in  this  world 
even,  than  he  would  otherwise  obtain. 

The  discipline  and  self  controul  secured,  the  independence 
and  manliness  of  character  acquired,  the  energy  and  deter- 
mination of  will  imparted,  the  example  of  purity,  continence 
and  singleness  of  purpose  exhibited,  and  the  preservation  of 
himself  and  the  cause  from  the  burning  shame  and  reproach 
so  often  brought  by  the  imprudencies  and  gallantries  of  stud- 
ents,— will  be  an  abundant  recompense. 

Providential  ^^   ^"^^^   ^   prayed   earnestly   and   perseveringly 

ordering  of  for  any  thing,  and  for  years,  it  was  that  the  Lord 
his  life.  would   keep   me    from   my   own   impulsive   afifec- 

tionateness  of  disposition  and  enable  me  to  leave  my  future 
in  His  hands,  until,  if  it  was  His  will,  I  should  marry,  and  He 
had  provided  and  prepared  a  wife  for  me,  and  a  field  of  labour 
for  both.  And  what  was  the  result?  The  result  was  in  every 
way  different  both  from  my  prognostications,  plans,  and  wishes. 
My  first  love  was  destroyed,  and  all  early  hopes  like  untimely 
blossoms,  perished  amid  the  frosts  of  an  ungenial  spring.  I 
was  called  out  of  my  own  country,  and  from  among  my  own 
kindred,  to  wander  in  this  strange  land,  among  foreigners 
alike  unknowing  and  unknown.  I  was  led  South,  instead  of 
remaining,   as   I   wished,   at  the   North.      I   was   brought  to 


MARGARET  M.  A.   SMYTH. 

Wife    of    Thomas    Smyth,    D.    D.,    from    a    daguerreotype    in    the 

possession   of  the   family. 


526 

Charleston  instead  of  going,  as  commissioned,  to  Tallahassee. 
I  was  directed  to  the  house  and  family  of  Mr.  Adger,  rather 
than  elsewhere,  as  had  been  intended.  I  was  led  to  fix  my 
heart  upon  my  present  wife,  rather  than  upon  others,  though 
more  to  my  fancy,  and  in  contrariety  to  first  impressions,  and 
to  all  probability  of  success.  She  was  made  willing  to  say, 
"I  will  go  with  this  man,"  and  she  has  gone  with  him  up  and 
down  hill,  over  rough  and  smooth  places,  over  the  land  and 
over  the  sea.  for  twenty-seven  years,  and  borne  him  nine 
children. 

The  whole  ordering  of  the  lottery  has  been  of  the  Lord.  I 
have  felt  that  He  has  appointed  the  bounds  of  my  habitation 
and  set  me  as  a  solitary  in  a  chosen  family  circle.  And  looking 
back  from  the  hill  top  which  I  have  now  reached,  upon  all  the 
way  by  which  He  has  led  me,  I  think  I  can  see  the  wisdom  of 
His  arrangements  and  the  appropriateness  and  efficiency  of 
His  disciplinary  probation.^  Taking  my  natural  character  and 
dispositions,  the  fact  of  having  been  a  weakling  and  therefore 
an  indulged  child,  a  precocious,  ambitious,  and  successful 
youth;  on  the  other  hand  assuming  that  my  life  of  laborious 
study  and  authorship,  my  constant  invalidity  and  often  infirm- 
ities, are  the  result  of  God's  purpose  and  providence,  and  not 
self  imposed  and  self  incurred — and  of  this  I  have  no  other 
proof  than  a  certain  irresistible  bent  and  perseverance ;  against 
wind  and  tide,  against  passion,  pride  and  self  interest,  domes- 
tic ties  and  homebred  joys,  congregational  prejudice  and 
indifference,  in  utter  want  of  any  approving  smile,  or  soothing 
sympathy,  or  encouraging  commendation ;  which  has  spent 
itself  and  yet  continues  spending; —  and  then  working  out, 
from  these,  apparent  good  results;  and  divine  blessing  be- 
stowed upon  me.  But  on  these  two  data  of  the  problem  of 
my  life,  I  can  see  plainly  enough  a  fitness  and  a  potency  in  my 
matrimonial  experience. 

This  has  not  been  what  my  nature  craved  and  seemed  to 
require  for  earthly  rest  and  happiness.  Nor  is  my  present  life 
consistent  with  what  would  have  appeared  the  inevitable  tend- 
ency of  an  ardent,  social,  home  loving,  and  helplessly  depend- 
ent nature.     "This  it  should  seem  was  not  reserved  for  me. 

Yet  this   was   in  my  nature: — as   it   is 

I  know  not  what  is  there,  yet  something  like  to  this." 

To  me  sympathy  and  society  were  life.  The  thought  of 
loneliness  was  terrible.  Pent  up,  accumulated,  and  intensified 
affections  burned  and  boiled  up  like  the  fires  of  a  volcano 

^See  vol.  X,  page  653,   Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


537 

underlying  mountain  masses  of  granite,  covered  with  the 
frosts  of  a  perpetual  winter.  Convulsive  trembling  has  made 
my  very  ribs  to  shake  with  an  unbearable  sense  of  miserable 
isolation.  Unanswered  voices  from  within  shrieked  in  agony 
to  find  no  answering  voice  respond  to  them  in  loving  sym- 
pathy. Much  of  this  was  doubtless  weakness,  and  imbecility, 
and  in  most  men  leads  only  to, 

"A  long  and  snake  like  life  of  dull  decay. 
The  long  year,  linked  with  heavy  day  on   day, 
And  all  which  must  be  borne,  and  never  told." 

Oh  it  is  a  sad  and  solemn  thing  to  feel  alone— 
Isolation  the     ^Iq^q    [^   |-jjg   uiidst    of    crowds — Solitary    in    the 

lot   01  man.  .  .  , 

family  circle' — to  look  out  alone  upon  eternity 
rushing  past  with  awful  swiftness  and  boundless  dark  im- 
mensity. 

And  yet  this  must  be  done  if  life's  duty  is  well  done.  Man 
must  learn  to  live  alone,  to  think  alone,  to  act  alone  in  order 
to  become  an  individual  man — independent — self  reliant — bold, 
confident,  and  resolute.  This  alone  will  secure  to  man  his  own 
originality  of  character,  principles,  pursuits,  and  plans.  Each 
man  has  his  own  talent  committed  to  him,  his  own  tempta- 
tions assailing  him — his  own  peculiarities  distinguishing  him, 
— his  own  sphere  and  opportunities  appointed  him, —  "a  new 
soul  with  an  untried,  boundless  possible  before  him."  He 
comes  forth  into  this  world  alone.  Alone  he  is  tempted  in  the 
desert  by  Satan  and  his  own  heart's  lusts.  He  must  resist 
and  overcome  alone,  or  be  enslaved  and  led  captive.  He  must 
conquer,  and  be  free,  be  delivered  from  the  spirit  of  fear,  or 
remain  under  the  spirit  of  bondage  a  dependent  slave — de- 
pendent for  character  and  for  happiness — for  opinion  and 
practice — upon  others. 

Now  this  is  a  fearful  struggle  in  every  soul,  and  where  the 
social  dispositions  and  affections  are  strong  it  is  a  crucifixion. 
It  is  to  live  among  the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert,  naked,  hungry, 
thirsty,  and  homeless.  But  to  be  enabled  to  form  convictions 
and  to  hold  them ;  to  adopt  principles  and  to  act  upon  them ; 
to  formulate  plans  and  to  accomplish  them ;  and  to  find  within 
the  motive,  means,  and  end,  the  recompense  and   repose — to 

'It  must  be  recalled  here  that,  as  before  noted,  Dr.  Smyth  had 
been  a  lonely  man  in  his  life  in  the  Church,  in  many  ways:  his 
brothers-in-law  differed  with  him.  on  some  important  points,  and 
the  Eldership  discussion  with  Dr.  Adger  was  just  beginning. 
Almost  entirely  cut  ofif  from  his  own  brothers  and  sisters,  the 
Doctor  felt  his  isolation  keenly. — Ed. 


528 

feel  in  short  in  some  sufficient  and  proper  measure,  complete, 
carrying  about  with  one  everywhere  one's  own  happiness, 
occupation,  and  instruments — to  be  delivered  from  the  intol- 
erable burden  of  ennui  and  melancholic  gloom — to  be  at  home 
everywhere,  and  contented  in  whatsoever  state  we  are — to  find 
companionship  in  nature,  and  friends  in  every  tree  and  stone 
and  mountain,  to  be  any  thing  like  this,  and  this  always,  every 
where,  and  in  every  condition — man  must  encounter  and  come 
off  conqueror  in  this  heart  struggle. 

I  can  understand  and  sympathize  with  John  Foster  in  his 
description  of  what  he  calls  this  communion  with  nature, — 
physiopathy, — a  life  and  agency  in  all  things. 

I  am  now  referring  to  the  experience  of  the  soul,  not  in  its 
religious  history,  but  in  its  intellectual  and  moral  development. 

To  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit,^  our  Divine 
Hoi^*^s^iri/  ^  Helper,  I  would  gratefully  ascribe  whatever  de- 
gree of  self  reliance  and  calm  serenity  I  have  been 
enabled  to  reach;  when  I  remember  what  a  visionary,  imag- 
inative, and  sympathetic  youth  I  was,  how  utterly  helpless  and 
dependent;  how  by  infirmity  I  was  habituated  to  find  support 
and  encouragement  in  others  ;*  when  I  think  how  it  is  with 
me  now  and  here,  how  for  years  with  increasing  helplessness 
and  multiplying  wants,  intensified  yearnings  and  quenchless 
desires,  I  have  been  for  months  together  absolutely  alone,  in 
comfortless  apartments,  with  few  conveniences,  with  unsuit- 
able food,  with  comfortless  beds  for  a  fleshless  body;  all  this 
with  a  frame  never  free  from  pain,  frequently  in  great  pain, 
with  constant  weakness  and  often  the  most  languishing  debil- 
ity, with  an  incurable  malady  preying  upon  my  vitals  and 
threatening  at  any  moment  a  fatal  consummation,  with  the 
grave  open  to  receive  me,  and  death  storming  in  at  the  win- 
dows and  casting  his  shadow  darker  than  night  upon  my 
nightly  couch ; —  when,  I  say,  I  think  what,  notwithstanding 
all  this,  and  much  more  which  I  could  depict — I  am  and  feel, 
and  am  able  to  accomplish,  and  with  what  delightful  peace  I 
can  spend  hours  together  in  my  lonely  and  fatiguing  walks, 
and  reading  by  the  forest  streams,  or  on  the  mountain  side, 
in  the  old  church  yard,  or  by  the  opening  chasm  and  the 
frowning  precipice;  how  I  can  commune  with  my  own  heart 
upon  my  bed,  and  be  still  with  God,  and  love  to  feel  Him  near 
— truly  I  can  say — "for  this  self  same  thing  He  is  God." 

^See  articles  on  Trinity,  vol.  IX  and  vol.  VIII,  page  630,  Smyth's 
Works. — Ed. 

^See  vol.  VIII,  p.  603,  personal  reminiscence. — Ed. 


523 

For  nothing  do  I  thank  God  more  to-night  than  for  the 
measure  of  this  state  and  spirit  which  He  has  in  infinite  mercy- 
imparted  to  me.  I  am  tonight  absolutely  alone  with  my  ser- 
vant, dangerous  sickness  in  the  neighbourhood  having  driven 
away  even  the  family  of  the  place/  But  as  I  am  girt  about 
with  mountains  so  is  the  Lord  round  about  my  soul.  *  *  * 
Sacredness  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^  have  written  I  do  not  imply  that  it 

of  family  would  be  Commendable  if  possible,  or  possible  if 

affection.  commendable   to   strangle   or   crucify  natural   af- 

fection, or  connubial  and  parental  love.*  God  forbid!  These 
are  as  holy  as  they  are  natural,  and  as  necessary  to  religion 
as  they  are  to  humanity,  to  the  church  as  to  the  world.  *  * 
I  think  therefore  that  I  love  wife  and  children  with  a  deeper 
and  truer  love,  the  more  I  have  attained  to  a  supreme  and 
satisfying  love  to  Christ,  and  this  with  less  and  less  looking 
for  returns  of  earthly  affection.     *     *     * 

I  hasten  also  to  observe,  that  I  may  close  this  unexpected 
discursus,  that  I  do  not  think  myself  some  great  man,  or 
clothe  myself  while  but  an  ass  with  a  lion's  skin,  because  I 
have  studied  much,  written  much,  and  subjugated  much  my 
natural  temperament  and  social  longings.  Much  may  he 
owing  to  circumstances  and  more  to  necessity — ^much  to  mor- 

^Reference  is  evidently  made  to  an  outbreak  of  "putrid  sore- 
throat"  spoken  of  elsewhere. — Ed. 

°"In  the  home  circle,  he  entered  into  all^  the  joys  and  cheer- 
fulness of  the  family,  and  delighted  to  draw  his  grandchildren 
around  him,  taking  pleasure  in  sharing  their  mirth  and  merry 
laughter."     Southern  Presbyterian. 

"I  well  remember  how  much  he  enjoyed  those  Christmas  sea- 
sons and  how  much  he .  contributed  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  large 
circle  of  friends  who  were  gathered  together  in  his  hospitable 
home."     Rev.  D.  L.  Buttolph. 

The  grandchild,  whose  labour  of  love  it  is  to  edit  these  papers, 
remembers  him  in  the  pulpit  and  in  his  buggy,  but  best  of  all  she 
remembers  his  saving  tid-bits  for  her,  biscuits  hidden  in  the  folds 
of  the  blankets  wrapped  round  him  as  he  sat  in  his  great  Holmes' 
chair;  and  she  is  told  by  her  mother  that  he  would  save  so  many 
nice  things  for  her,  under  napkins  on  the  mantelpiece,  that  no 
child  could  possibly  have  consumed  them.  Her  childish  nickname 
was  one  of  the  words  he  used  as  an  exercise  for  his  paralyzed 
tongue,  and  he  taught  her  to  repeat  the  Litany  at  such  an  early 
age  that  she  cannot  recollect  the  learning.  One  of  his  last  services 
in  the  old  Church  was  the  baptism,  on  June  i,  1873,  of  an  infant, 
the  daughter  of  his  eldest  son.  On  the  Christmas  after  his  death, 
gifts  were  distributed  to  all  his  grandchildren  in  his  name.  See 
Sermon,  vol.  IX,  page  525.  See  also  many  references  in  Solace 
for  Bereaved  Parents,  vol.  X,  page  141,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

134] 


530 

bid  physical  and  nervous  derangement.  In  other  circum- 
stances I  would  probably  have  lived  and  loved  and  done  as 
little  as  any ;  or  have  done  nothing,  like  the  man  mentioned  by 
the  ancient  Greek  historian.     *     *     * 

And  now  as  to  confidence  and  self  possession 
Advice  to         -^  prayer  and  speaking. 

speakers.  ir       j  ^  jr  o 

My  experience  is  a  great  encouragement  to  dif- 
fident and  self  distrustful  young  speakers.  Though  I  have 
been  frequently  complimented  for  great  apparent  coolness  and 
self  possession,  yet  this  has  been  only  to  a  certain  extent  real, 
to  no  extent  natural  or  constant.  I  was  originally  very  diffi- 
dent, and  received — though  very  wrongly — one  of  my  few 
school  punishments  for  not  speaking  out  when  set  up  to  recite. 
In  my  early  attempts  at  public  service  I  wrote  and  committed 
my  prayers  to  memory.  This  I  did  also  in  every  case  of  early 
speaking  and  debate.  On  occasion  of  my  first  debate  I  was  so 
disconcerted  and  abashed  as  to  lose  all  presence  of  mind,  and 
become  actually  incapable  of  seeing'  anybody.  But  I  went  on 
repeating  the  phrases  I  had  memorized,  by  degrees  coming 
literally  to  my  senses  and  thus  got  through  without  my  distress 
being  apparent.  I  can  also  well  remember  my  first  brief  at- 
tempt at  extemporaneous  rejoinder,  and  my  gradual  progress 
in  confident  self  reliance ;  until  like  the  fledged  bird  I  learned 
to  fly.'  But  I  have  never  risen  to  speak,  even  at  a  Prayer 
Meeting,  without  solicitude  and  much  incipient  nervous  trep- 
idation which,  if  not  well  prepared  in  mental  arrangement  of 
thought,  continued  more  or  less  through  the  whole  delivery. 
And  this  I  find  was  the  history  of  Burke,  who  even  failed 
egregiously;  and  Webster,  Patrick  Henry,  Cicero,  and  De- 
mosthenes. 

The  remedy  is  in  careful  preparation.     Demos- 

repara  ion.       ^j-jej^gg     ncvcr     would     Speak     unless     prepared. 

Neither  have  I  ever  spoken  without  knowing  what  subject  I 

was  prepared  to  discuss,  leaving  feeling,  and  the  occasion  to 

alter,  amend,  and  diversify  the  argument. 

Another  remedy  is  to  concentrate  the  mind  on 
the  subject  and  withdraw  it  from  the  audience. 
In  preaching,  remember  you  are  speaking  for  God  to  his 
creatures ;  and  in  praying  that  you  are  speaking  to  God  and 
not  to  man,  for  divine  blessings,  and  not  for  human  appro- 
bation. 


'Doctor  Smyth  became  so  skilled  in  debate,  that  Dr.  C.  S.  Ved- 
der  tells  that  he  has  seen  the  Doctor  sleep  placidly  through  his 
opponent's  speech  and  then  answer  unerringly. — Ed. 


531 

Never  go  back  to  correct  mistakes  in  grammar, 
Sei  -posses-  pronunciation,  or  any  minor  fault.  Where  one 
will  notice  the  mistake,  all  will  notice  and  be 
jarred  or  disconcerted  by  the  correction.  Above  all  never  go 
back  to  improve  the  diction.  This  will  excite  painful  and  dis- 
paraging feelings.  These  habits  have  made  stammering  and 
affected  speakers  of  the  most  talented  men.  Try  hard  never 
to  trip,  or  you  will  become  a  limping  horse. 

If  on  any  occasion  you  lose  the  train  of  thought  committed 
to  memory  or  arranged,  do  not  disconcert  yourself  by  an  at- 
tempt to  recall  it,  but  proceed  to  devise  some  other  treatment 
of  the  subject  that  may  connect  with  the  one  at  present  before 
the  mind,  and  prepare  your  way  for  a  speedy  or  remoter 
close,  as  you  may  or  may  not  feel  able.  In  this  effort  you  will 
restore  confidence  and  self  possession,  and  allow  the  mind  by 
a  natural  course  to  resume  and  restore  the  lost  train  of  ideas. 
Of  this  I  remember  vividly  two  memorable  cases.  In  one  of 
my  earliest  public  speeches  in  Belfast  before  a  large  audience, 
when  about  two  thirds  through  my  memorized  speech,  the 
whole  remainder  was,  as  with  a  sponge,  obliterated  from  the 
page  of  memory.  I  was  within  a  few  sentences  of  the  now 
oblivious  record,  and  at  once  excogitated  a  course  of  remarks 
which  would  lead  to  a  natural  and  speedy  close.  But  before 
it  was  necessary  to  use  it,  all  the  darkness  became  illuminated, 
and  the  invisible  cyphers  shone  out  brightly;  I  was  able  to 
dovetail  my  thoughts  together  and  very  pleasantly  and  ac- 
ceptably to  close  my  speech  as  intended,  without  any  manifes- 
tation of  my  inward  distress.  The  other  occasion  was  in  Dr. 
Boardman's  Church  in  Philadelphia  one  Sabbath  evening,  when 
I  delivered  to  a  very  large  audience  my  discourse  on  the  West- 
minster Assembly.*  The  MS.  had  become  loose,  and  in  look- 
ing over  it  in  the  afternoon  at  Mr.  Fleming's  house  close  by, 
I  had  unfortunately  left  behind  a  part  of  the  sermon  in  the 
midst  of  the  section  descriptive  of  the  historical  relations  of 
the  Assembly.  Dr.  Addison  Alexander  and  other  magnates 
were  among  the  auditory,  and  in  the  full  blast  of  earnest 
delivery  I  turned  my  page  to  find  a  hiatus,  and  on  turning  the 
leaves  I  saw  that  a  portion  was  missing.  Retaining  presence 
of  mind,  I  at  once  stated  the  fact  to  the  audience  and  requested 
young  Mr.  Fleming  to  repair  to  my  room  for  the  MS.  Mean- 
while I  gave  out  an  outline  of  the  argument  and  when  after 
a  few  minutes  the  missing  leaves  were  sent  up  to  the  pulpit,  I 
resumed  my  discourse.  The  audience  seemed  much  pleased 
with  my  candour  and  confidence,  and  many  afterwards  ex- 
pressed their  admiration  of  the  whole  movement. 
'See  vol.  IV,  p.  385,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


533 

The  same  encouragement  applies  to  the  facihty 

Composition  ,  .  j.  -j.-  '-ni  •      . 

and  propriety  of  composition.  This  to  me  now  is 
no  labour,  except  the  growing  difficulty  and  distressful  labour 
of  penmanship.  I  have  already  said  I  have  never  copied  nor 
entirely  re-written  any  thing  I  have  published,  nor  a  page  in 
these  memoirs.  But  when  I  wrote  my  first  essay  in  College 
for  the  Logic  and  Belles  Lettres  Class,  I  thought  I  never 
could  write  enough,  and  found  when  I  proceeded  to  transcribe 
I  had  entirely  more  than  was  needful.     *     *     * 

As  to  extemporaneous  speaking,  and  reading  in' 
ouT^r^ak^nr  ^^^  pulpit,  my  experience  teaches  me  very  em- 
phatically that  "both  is  best,"  and  neither  alone 
to  be  exclusively  adopted.  Lord  Bacon's  aphorism  is  the  sense 
of  wisdom.  Reading  will  always  make  the  full  man — if  it  is 
not  carried,  as  it  may  be,  to  repletion,  and  the  actual  stupor 
and  oppression  of  the  free  elastic  buoyancy  and  unction  of  the 
soul.  Speaking  will  make  the  ready  man.  And  writing,  and 
only  writing,  will  make  the  correct  man.  To  make  unduly 
prominent  any  one  method  is  absurd  and  suicidal.  The  age 
and  the  church  demands  each  and  all.     *     *     * 

The  true  plan  is  the  combination  of  all  these 
1  n  *™^  plans.     This  has  been  my  own  course.     And  al- 

though my  case  will  be  urged  on  the  opposite 
side,  yet  I  feel  confident  I  have  pursued  the  best  course  for 
me,  and  I  think,  with  due  adaptation  to  differing  talents,  of  the 
predominance  of  any  one  method- — best  for  all.  I  am  naturally 
adapted  in  several  respects  for  what  is  called  extemporaneous 
speaking.  In  this  my  manner  and  delivery  are  much  more 
animated,  effective,  and  .impressive.  It  has  always  been  pre- 
ferred by  my  people  and  my  friends.  I  have  very  frequently 
been  told  of  its  greater  power  and  agreeableness,  and  urged 
to  adopt  it  constantly,  especially  on  important  occasions.  I 
have  found  no  difficulty  insuperably  opposing  such  a  course, 
and  doubtless  I  could  have  become  more  popular  by  following 
it.  I  have  pursued  it  with  a  brief  however,  except  occasion- 
ally in  the  pulpit  and  always  in  Prayer  Meeting,  or  on  other 
occasions  of  Address, —  at  least  one  half  of  my  time.  And 
yet  for  all  the  reasons  given  and  from  experience  I  have  not 
adopted  it  exclusively,  and  I  am  sure  I  have  pleased  and 
profited  oftener  and  more  by  acting  as  I  have  done. 

As  to  Scriptural  authority,  more  can  be  said  for  the  plan 
here  proposed  than  any  other.  To  preach  the  gospel  is  to 
make  it  known  in  any  and  in  every  way.  But  beside  preach- 
ing, which  is  introductory  to  discipleship,  there  is  the  teaching 
of  all  things  whatsoever  Christ  has  commanded,  which  is  the 


533 

life-labour  of  the  ministry  and  of  the  initiated  disciples.'  The 
form  of  writing  has  been  largely  employed  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  both  as  a  divine  oracle  and  a  divine  pattern,  and  this 
method  of  preaching,  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit,  the  Holy 
Spirit  has  always  and. most  preeminently  blessed. 

And  contrary  to  the  opinions  of  some  I  am  of  opinion  that 
as  general  intelligence  and  familiarity  with  the  gospel  procla- 
mation is  extended,  men  will  more  and  more  seek,  not  for  the 
greater  excitement  of  popular  and  unwritten  address,  but  for 
satisfying,  sanctifying,  and  instructive  spiritual  preaching. 

I  will  here  add  a  word  on  originality,  about 
"^  "'  '  which  there  is  wonderful  delusion,  and  great  dif- 
ficulty and  danger  to  young  minds.  A  perfectly  original  mind 
is  not  a  finite  mind.  In  a  creature  it  is  therefore  impossible, 
and  in  man  its  assumption  is  an  ignorant  claiming  of  what 
cannot  exist. 

An  original  human  mind  is  an  unthinking,  untaught,  un- 
educated, undeveloped  mind.  In  proportion  as  man  is  de- 
veloped, educated,  and  become  full  of  knowledge  and  capacity 
to  impart  it,  he  is  not  original  or  individual,  but  assimilated 
and  conformed  to  the  intelligence  and  thoughts  of  others. 
Education  produces  community,  not  singularity — increase  by 
addition,  and  not  by  creation — improvement  by  experience, 
efforts,  induction,  and  analysis  brought  to  bear  successively  up- 
on every  new  exhibition  of  truth. 

Minds  vary  in  power,  not  in  originality.  All  are  original 
according  to  their  power  to  acquire  and  possess  themselves  of 
truth  already  known,  and  to  express  that  truth  to  others. 
Originality  is  in  the  form  of  presentation,  and  not  in  the 
truth.  There  may  be  new  facts,  but  not  new  truth — new 
expressions,  but  no  new  intuitions.     *     *     * 

In  fine,  originality  is  the  clear  knowledge  of  acquired  truth, 
and  the  presentation  of  it  as  it  stands  related  to  your  own 
thoughts,  bounded  by  your  own  attainments,  and  expressed 
in  your  own  words,  or  in  the  words  of  others ;  in  the  latter 
case  the  words  chosen  either  for  their  own  beauty,  or  as  ex- 
pressing the  idea  more  beautifully ;  or  else  as  an  honest, 
brotherly  tribute  of  admiration  and  regard,  to  perpetuate,  a 
good  name.^     '''     *     * 

When    greatly    boggled    and    bothered    in    my 
Free  exercise     ^^^^^y    ^^-^^  unsatisficd  with  some  plan  of  a  dis- 

of    thought.  -  '  ,     .         ,  1      ,  J 

course  or  argument,  i  have  lam  down  and  closed 

"See    "Preach   the   Word,"  vol.   VI,   p.   214,   and    S.    S.    teaching 
service  for  the  whole  church,  vol.  IV,  p.  521,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
^See  vol.  II,  p.   136,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


534 

my  eyes  and  rolled  the  whole  subject  over  and  over,  or  I  have 
ordered  my  horse  and  taken  a  ride  through  the  woods,  where 
I  have  often  resolved  knotty  difficulties, — sometimes  I  have 
buried  myself  in  bed  and  my  head  in  the  pillow,  or  perhaps 
laid  the  matter  over  for  a  night,  and  found  delightful  freedom 
and  satisfaction  in  the  free  operations  of  the  mind  in  sleep, 
or  half  conscious  rapturous  elysium  of  thought. 

In  this  state  I  have  had  intense  enjoyment — an  earnest, 
methought,  of  disembodied  freedom.  Funeral  addresses — "and 
that,"  said  Elder  Gilchrist  to  me  lately,  "is  your  forte"— have 
been  frequently  arranged  in  such  a  state.  It  was  in  such  a 
vision  of  the  soul,  without  a  word  ever  committed  to  paper, 
my  inaugural  address  to  Dr.  Thornwell  as  Professor  (1857) 
was  delineated.  I  had  just  finished  my  journey  to  Columbia 
from  this  place  (in  Va.)  the  day  previous  and  was  pressed 
into  the  service. 

I  am  reminded  to  press  the  great  importance  of  variety, 
appropriateness,  and  earnestness  in  such  addresses ;  and  in 
prayer. 

In  pra3^er  this  may  be  attained,     i.  by  premedi- 
Pr^eT  '"        tation,     2.  by  acquiring  the  habit  of  embodying 
some  sentiments  of  the  chapter  read,  and     3.  by 
special  adaptation  to  some  of  the  present  circumstances. 

This  has  been  with  me  a  great  study,  and  a  very  self  re- 
warding one. 

There  are  still  a  few  practical  points  suggested. 

Visiting  is  one,  of  the  importance,  obligation, 
and  power  of  which  too  much  cannot  be  said ;  yet 
to  be  truly  efficient  spiritually,  it  must  be  well  done,  and  it  is 
most  difficult  to  attain  to  the  happy  art.  To  me  it  has  been  a 
very  irksome,  painful,  self-denying,  and  often  very  exhausting 
duty,  and  yet  in  the  doing  of  it,  almost  invariably  pleasant  and 
profitable,  and  one  therefore  in  which  I  have  endeavoured  to 
be  faithful  and  increasingly  frequent.^ 

Visits  should  be  pastoral  and  ministerial ;  that  is  spiritual 
and  religious,  always  introducing  and  opening  the  way  to  free 
religious  communication  and  instruction. 

^Dr.  Smyth's  visits  were  usually  paid  in  the  company  of  his 
wife;  he  would  read  as  they  drove  to  the  house,  at  the  door  would 
be  roused  by  Mrs.  Smyth  who  would  remind  him  of  whose  house 
it  was,  the  number  and  names  of  the  children  and  household,  the 
nature  of  any  family  joy  or  sorrow  through  which  they  were 
passing,  and  any  other  details  that  might  be  advisable.  Dr.  Smyth, 
thus  prepared,  would  pay  a  successful  visit — and  the  same  per- 
formance would  be  gone  through  with  at  the  next  house.  He  also 
visited  alone  during  his  evening  drives. — Ed. 


535 

Visit  should  not  be  too  long.  They  will  be  less  valued. 
They  will  flag,  and  become  flat,  stale,  and  unprofitable.  They 
will  sink  the  minister,  and  very  probably  the  man  too — by  his 
becoming  playful,  puerile,  or  foolish,  jesting  and  talking,  with 
idle  words  and  vain  conversation.  They  will  encourage  and 
give  apparent  sanction  to  scandal,  backbiting,  and  tale  bear- 
ing. They  will  tempt  to  these  things  on  the  part  of  the  min- 
ister himself.     They  will  give  the  very  best  opportunities  to 

tempt  ministers  to  O familiarities  (a  suspended  Bishop), 

and  E improprieties  (who  abandoned  the  ministry),  and 

K dangers   (a  man  very  celebrated  in  his  day,  whose 

character  was  endangered  by  his  being  seen  on  a  lady's  knees ; 
or  he  was  so  reported,  as  the  world  is  ever  ready  to  do—)  ; 
and  the  fall  and  ruin  of  many  a  bright  and  promising  Timothy. 

Visits  for  the  same  reason  ought  not  to  be  too  frequent. 
No  man  can  be  seen  and  heard  familiarly  and  frequently  with- 
out breeding  contempt,  undue  familiarity,  and  a  certain  hail 
fellow,  well  met,  style  of  intercourse. 

Visits  ought  not  to  be  exclusively  spiritual,  while  not 
characteristically  social,  but  a  happy  mixture  of  both,  like  the 
minister's  grey  in  cloth,  a  lively  vivacious  combination,  mak- 
ing all  feel  at  ease,  pleasing  and  profiting.  And  here  is  re- 
quired the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  and  the  simplicity  of  the 
dove,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  power  and  of  a  sound  mind, 
the  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above  and  which  is  above  all. 

Visits  should  be  fewer  in  proportion  to  youth  and  inex- 
perience, both  because  time  is  required  for  the  primary  duty, 
prayerful  study — because  of  inexperience,  incapacity,  difficulty, 
and  danger,  and  because  they  will  then  be  importunately 
sought,  for  other  than  ministerial  purposes. 

Visits  should  therefore,  except  in  cases  of  spirittial  or  phys- 
ical life  and  death, 'be  made  within  prescribed  visiting  hours, 
arid  as  a  rule  onh^  then.     *     *     * 

Visits  ought  never  to  be  made  to  young  ladies  or  single 
ladies  when  alone,  and  if  so  found  the  visit  ought  to  be  very 
short.  For  some  years  I  made  such  visits  in  company  with 
my  wife.^ 

The  same  rule  will  apply  in  all  cases  and  ages  to  visits  made 

to   ladies   in  bed.     The   Rev.   Dr.   R had   much 

difficulty  in ,  from  an  allegation  made  by  Col 

on  some  such  conceived  impropriety,  involving  his  brother's 
wife. 

Visits  should,  in  all  cases  where  there  is  not  manifest  im- 
propriety  or   inexpediency,   be   closed   with  prayer.     And   if 

'See  vol.  VIII,  p.  395,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 


536 

this  is  done,  it  will  be  found  that  the  cases  are  very  few  in 
which  it  will  not  be  found  both  proper  and  expedient.  I  lately 
closed  a  visit  where  an  Episcopal  lady  and  a  gentleman  of  the 
world  were  present  as  evening-  visitors,  when  I  proposed,  if 
agreeable  to  all,  to  make  prayer;  which  I  did  with — what  in 
all  such  cases  I  would  advise — an  affectionate  and  earnest 
remembrance  of  the  parties  severally,  and  their  friends.  I 
was  told  afterwards  of  the  pleasure  it  gave,  and  that  the 
gentleman,  when  asked  how  he  liked  the  prayer,  was  so  full 
that  he  could  not  speak.  I  had  the  pleasure  since  of  admin- 
istering to  him  his  first  communion. 

In  another  family — Baptists — where  I  visit  a  daughter-in- 
law, — I  have  frequently  made  prayer  and  with  great  accept- 
ance.    But  I  pass  on  to  the  subject  of  intimacies. 

Form  no  unreservied   intimacies   or   friendships 

Intimacies. 

m  your  congregation. 

Never  confide  what,  if  friendship  ceases,  you  will  have 
cause  to  regret  and  which  may  be  used  to  your  injury.  And 
remember  there  are  birds  in  the  air  which  are  always  ready — - 
nobody  of  course  knows  how — to  carry  your  most  sweet  and 
sacred  communications  to  ears  for  which  the}^  were  never  in- 
tended.    *     *     ''' 

Go  not  however  to  extremes.  Be  not  morose,  diffident,  dis- 
trustful, cold,  or  austere.  Be  warm,  kind,  genial,  and  courte- 
ous. Be  candid,  sincere,  communicative,  trustful.  Give  and 
take  sympathy.  Be  all  things  to  all.  Study  well  character 
and  weak  points,  how,  and  how  far,  to  confide,  and  with  what 
cords  to  draw.  I  speak  especially  of  Elders,  Deacons,  and 
Officers.  The  only  way  to  be  independent  under  the  controul 
of  any  persons,  is  not  to  be  in  their  power,  and  under  cow 
through  fear  of  betrayed  confidence.  Be  impartial,  courteous, 
and  attentive,  and  suitably  deferential.  Be  blind  to  observed 
and  felt  and  cautiously  regarded  faults.  Keep  them  to  your- 
self. Be  yourself  sincere,  pure,  honest,  and  single  in  your 
aims  and  plans ;  be  Christ-like,  Christ-loving  and  Christ-serv- 
ing, having  no  selfish  purposes  to  accomplish,  satisfied  with 
doing  your  duty,  and  then  you  will  be  preserved  from  the 
distress  of  disappointed  expectations,  or  the  perhaps  even 
greater,  the  intolerable,  unchristian  distress  of  distrust.     *     * 

It  will  of  course  follow  from  this  that  you  must  never  resent, 
nor  retaliate,  nor  return  evil  for  evil,  slight  for  slight,  insult 
for  insult.  Never  report  nor  repeat  such  things.  Never  let  it 
be  seen  that  you.  either  feel,  or  notice  them.  Maintain  self- 
respect,  or  rather  respect  for  Christ  and  His  ministry.  But 
do  not  put  self  before  Christ.     Go  and  tell  all  things  to  Jesus 


537 

and  leave  Him  to  over-rule  and  set  right,  to  punish  and  to 
persuade.  Leave  your  cause  and  character  to  Him  and  His 
people,  and  He  will  undertake  for  you. 

The  thought  of  what  you  are  by  nature,  and 
The  peace  of     ^£  ^^^^  ^^-^  ^^^^  ^^  ^j^^^  ^^^  dcscrvc  and  what 

you  require,  of  the  deep  spirit  of  selfish  prefer- 
ence out  of  which  all  inordinate  expectations  and  harsh  judg- 
ments proceed,  and  of  the  aspect  in  which  your  own  conduct 
may  be  regarded  by  others — will  greatly  help  to  that  spirit  of 
love  and  charity,  and  hinder  that  of  morbid  and  malevolent 
misanthropy.  Thus  may  the  peace  of  God*  which  passeth  all 
understanding,  keep  your  mind  and  heart,  that  the  same  mind 
may  be  in  you  that  was  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  pleased  not 
Himself  nor  His  own  soul,  who  in  His  hatred  of  sin  ceased 
not  to  love  the  sinner;  who  ever  kept  His  soul  in  self  posses- 
sion, and  under  every  provocation  from  treachery,  desertion, 
and  betrayal,  maintained  at  all  times  mental  repose  and  per- 
fect self-controul.  "Hence  the  peace  which  evermore  sur- 
rounded Him,  which  flowed  forth  from  Him  upon  all  within 
His  circle  who  were  susceptible  of  its  benign  influence."  It 
was  a  peace  which  dwelt  in  His  own  calm,  harmonious  soul, 
and  which  He  can  ever  shed  abroad  in  yours  by  the  Holy 
Ghost — ^the  dove  whose  olive  branch — is  peace — given  unto 
you. 

I  owe  it  to  the  Hearer  of  praver  to  testify  to 

Cheerfulness.        tt-  .  •       i  •  i    ' 

His  great  mercy  ni  hearnig  and  grantmg  my  re- 
quest for  cheerfulness.  When  not  enduring  certain  forms  of 
pain  which  depress  and  dishearten  me  I  am  generally  cheerful. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Trimble  of  this  neighbourhood — Rockbridge 
Va. —  (Oct.  12,  1859)  found  me  yesterday  on  the  bed  taking 
my  usual  rest.  "Are  you  not  very  lonely?"  he  asked.  "Yes," 
I  replied,  "I  am,  for  every  body  has  left  the  premises  on  ac- 
count of  putrid  sore  throat  disease,  and  death  from  it.  Even 
the  waiting  boy  is  gone,  and  the  cook  who  says  'she  never 
could  cook  no  how;'  and  my  boy  servant"  and  I  are  left  to 
ourselves — sometimes  without  bread  and  anon  without  candles, 
and  these  at  best  the  meanest  sort  of  tallow  candles.  And  I 
would  feel  very  lonely,  indeed  intolerably  so,  were  I  not  so 
busy  as  to  have  no  time  to  think  of  loneliness,  and  no  disposi- 
tion to  foster  it  or  fret  about  it."  On  his  retiring  to  pursue 
his  ministerial  rounds,   I  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  my 

*See  vol.  VIII,  pp.  449  and  750,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
"Edward,  the  coloured  boy,  who  was  his   attendant  that   Sum- 
mer.— Ed. 


538 

usual  mountain  employment,  for  some  three  hours 
waik°''"*^'''       of  the  afternoon,  that  is  in  walking",  and  reading 

in  my  chair,  fitted  with  an  umbrella  for  the  pur- 
pose. At  this  place  I  have  a  romantic  walk  of  some  three 
fourths  of  a  mile  along  the  river,  to  the  bluffs  below  the  sum- 
mit on  which  is  beautifully  located  a  Presbyterian'  church. 

My  seat  here  is  under  such  a  tree  as  Spencer  graphically 
described  :• — 

"A  huge  oak  dry  and  dead, 
Still  clad  with  reliques  of  its  glories  old, 
Lifting  to  heaven  its  aged,  hoary  head; 
Whose  feet  on  earth  hath  got  but  feeble  hold; 
And    half   disbowelled,    stands    above   the    ground' 
With  wreathed  roots,  and  naked  arms, 
And  trunk  all  rotten  and  unsound." 

When  the  sun  retires  to  his  cloudy  chambers  and  veils  the 
heavens  in  mellowed  light,  I  sit  upon  the  verge  of  a  beetling 
rock,  beneath  and  around  which  the  river  glides  along,  some- 
times, (as  in  a  late  freshet  when  this  entire  walk  was  under 
water)  with  impetuous  velocity  but  ordinarily  in  a  quiet  flow ; 
on  this  spot  I  recently  read  Byron's  description  of  a  similar 
scene. 

Sitting  here,  I  can  look  up  the  rocky  river  to  a  dam  water- 
fall, and  down  the  stream  to  a  very  beautiful  bend  around  the 
base  of  increasingly  lofty  hills  bordering  its  course,  precipitous, 
but  still  luxuriant  v/ith  a  variety  of  trees  in  their  gorgeous 
autumnal  colours.  Opposite  are  the  meadow  lands  of  the 
valley,  with  houses  peeping  out  from  behind  their  surround- 
ing woods.  In  the  distance  are  ranges  of  lofty  mountains, 
overhead  the  arching  heavens  with  their  ever  beautiful  and  ever 
changing  panorama  of  clouds  of  all  appearances,  and  under 
the  pencil  of  sunset  and  twilight,  of  all  imaginable  hues. 
Climbing  with  the  help  of  a  strong  arm,  a  stout  staff,  and  a 
fearless  spirit  up  the  narrow  path  winding  along  the  slippery 
and  crumbling  ledge  of  rock,  I  ascend  in  time  to  enjoy  both 
rest  and  rapture  on  the  summit  amid  a  thin  grove  of  fir  trees 
within  sight  of  the  old  sanctuary,  from  whence  I  obtain  an- 
other and  more  extensive  vision  of  beauty,  sublimity,  and 
glory.  Overlooking  all  I  have  described,  as  it  is  partially 
revealed  through  the  obscuring  of  the  trees  around  me,  to  the 
north,  northwest,  and  east,  are  ranges  of  mountains  with  cul- 
tivated valleys ;  in  the  midst  of  this  beauty,  along,  though 
above  the  river,  I  wind  my  way  homeward,  then  across  a  bridge 
which  spans  another  mountain  river  which  here  forms  a 
"meeting  of  the  waters;"  not  so  softly  beautiful  and  pictur- 


539 

esque  as  that  vale  "in  whose  bosom  the  bright  waters  meet"^ — 
(where  I  spent  a  happy  night  with  friends  who  hghted  up  the 
scenery) — but  beautifully  grand,  and  with  a  monarch  free 
facing  the  bridge,  towering  towards  heaven,  and  exhibiting 
in  the  mellow  light  of  closing  day  the  softened  outline  of  its 
majestic  symmetrical  form. 

Returned  from  this  pleasing  and  profitable  walk,  and  en- 
joying beside  the  meditative,  cheerful  blaze  of  an  open,  wood 
fire  my  cup  which  not  inebriates,  served  by  that  Chinese  nymph 
of  tears,  black  tea,  I  am  stimulated  to  resume  my  labours  by 
the  sawing  and  squealing  perseverance  of  a  little  mouse,  which 
has  been  for  many  days  and  nights,  cutting  a  laborious  en- 
trance into  good  winter  quarters,  and  some  present  comfort. 

And  this  suggests  as  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  such  cheerful- 
ness a  growing  acquaintance  with  natural  objects,  and  a 
constant  cultivation  of  the  ever  enlarging  taste  for,  and  ca- 
pacity of,  enjoyment  of  natural  scenery — of  trees  and  flowers 
especialty.     *     *     "^ 

Cherish  then  a  lively,  cheerful,  laughing,  joy- 
A  joyous  Q^^g  spirit.      Some  of  the  greatest  and  best  men 

have  been  remarkably  characterized  by  it.  It  may 
be  carried  to  an  extreme,  and  then  is  danger  connected  with 
it.  But  it  is  a  gift  of  God,  and  may  also  be  very  useful  as  well 
as  tranquillizing.  A  gracious  and  wise  God,  says  Doddridge, 
does  not  expect  from  men  the  life  of  Angels.  And  the  wisest 
of  men  says,  "A  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  medicine,  but  a 
broken  spirit  drieth  the  bones."  He  also  tells  us  there  is  a 
time  to  laugh  as  well  as  a  time  to  weep,  and  that  everything 
is  beautiful  in  its  season. 

The  love  and  knowledge  of  singing,  or  instru- 
in^ine  mental  music,  will  be  a  great  help  in  reviving  the 

spirits,  dissipating  morbid  feelings,  and  enliven- 
ing the  heart.  Dr.  Alexander  told  me  he  was  in  the  habit  of 
intoning,  or  chanting  hymns  to  himself  in  his  study,  whenever 
he  felt  either  morbid  or,  as  the  Apostle  suggested,  when  glad. 
This  habit  I   constantly'  pursue.     Try  it.     And  even  in  the 

""The  Meeting  of  the  Waters,  Killarney,"  by  Thomas  Moore. 
—Ed. 

'Repeating  poetry  aloud,  or  sometimes  singing,  was  all  his  life 
a  favourite  exercise  of  Dr.  Smyth's,  and  he  was  most  particular 
in  training  his  children  to  read  and  recite,  laying  great  stress  on 
their  careful  enunciation.  Every  morning  while  he  dressed,  the 
child  whose  turn  it  was,  read  aloud  to  him,  from  books  selected 
according  to  his  judgment  for  each  individual  case.  The  Bible 
always  took  precedence,  then  followed  poetry,  prose,  essays,   one 


540 

woods,  Amphion-like  carry  your  harp,  and  see  if  you  cannot 
charm  away  every  evil  spirit,  if  you  do  not  allure  to  you  the 
herds  and  beasts.  My  servant  last  year  used  to  play  on  his 
flute  while  I  read,  and  partridges  have  more  than  once  come 
close  to  his  hiding  place. 

Akin  to  music  is  its  daughter,  if  not  mother  and  inspirer, — 
poetry.     Woo  her  tenderly  and  constantly,  and  she  will  be  to 
thee  as  a  well  of  living  waters  to  the  thirsty  soul. 
Rules  for  ^^^  experience  in  life  would  lead  me  to  urge 

young  Min-  upon  youug  ministers  as  rules  of  life,  i.  to  be- 
isters.  ware  of  wit  and  to  eschew  sarcasm,  which  often 

breed  coldness  and  dislike.  Never  use  them 
except  in  playful  pleasantry,  or  as  keen  and  burnished  weapons 
against  the  King's  enemies,  or  in  defense  of  endangered  truth. 

2.  Utterly   eschew   tobacco.      Its   use   is   deadly 
Avoid  tobacco,    and  its  manifestations  most  undignified  and  un- 
seemly,   and    its    expectorations    perfectly   beastly 

and  barbarously  disgusting.  I  believe  its  use  shortens  minis- 
terial life  greatly,  impairs  usefulness,  patronizes  a  vicious, 
expensive,  and  degenerating  habit,  is  offensive  to  God  and 
most  grateful  to  the  Devil." 

3.  Beware  of  ardent  spirits."    I  have  long  habit- 
ardent^ spirits    ^^^^^7  uscd  them — medicinally  and  beneficially.     I 

have  never  that  I  remember,  been  overcome  by 
them,  or  under  their  dominion.  But  for  this  I  am  indebted 
partly  to  constitutional  adaptation,  probably  necessity  to  sup- 
ply defective  natural  stimulus — but  still  more  to  restraining 
grace.  But  to  many  they  are  absolutely  poison — to  most 
wholly  unnecessary — ^and  to  all  dangerous.  In  their  use,  when 
they  themselves  are  pure — like  these  mountain  distillations — 
they  are  potent  and  invaluable  remedies  and  helps,  if  as  they 
can  be  when  necessary,  by  divine  grace,  used  and  not  abused, 
as  friends  and  not  foes — as  servants  and  not  masters. 

son  recalling  among  his  reading  Pollock's  "Course  of  Time." 

Two  of  his  children,  Sarah  Anne  and  Ellison,  were  inclined  to 
stumble  over  their  words,  and  therefore  worked  hard  on,  "How 
the  waters  come  down  at  Lodore;"  memorizing  it  and  reciting  it 
with  great  pain. 

Later  in  life  Dr.  Smyth  used  to  repeat  poetry  to  his  little 
grand-daughter  Sarah,  who  was  often  the  companion  of  his  drives, 
and  who  recollects  as  favorites,  "Hohenlinden,"  and  "The  Battle 
of  Blenheim."     See  vol.  VIII,  pp.  687  and  760. — Ed. 

^The  Doctor's  youngest  son,  Ellison,  tells  that  his  father  smoked 
one  cigar  in  his  life;  the  consequences  being  most  disagreeable, 
he  never  repeated  the  experiment. — Ed. 

^See  Bible  Temperance,  vol.  VI,  p.  357,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


541 

4-  Never  lend,  nor  borrow,  nor  become  surety, 
in^°or  lend^bT  ^^^  abovc  all,  in  your  congregation.  In  either 
form  you  are  brought  under  the  power  of  others, 
and  alienate — you  will  solve  the  mystery  by  observation  of  our 
deceitful  and  desperately  wicked  nature — where  you  hoped  to 
befriend  and  attach.  Lend  a  little  it  may  be,  when  you  can 
spare  it,  not  expecting  anything  in  return ;  and  in  any  other 
way  advise  or  assist,  but  remember  our  Saviour's  refusal  to 
arbitrate  difficulties,  or  even  to  join  Martha  in  scolding  Mary. 
Beware  of  a  5-  Bcware  of  a  passion  for  books  and  a  blind 
passion  for  chasc  of  a  large  library.  It  is  as  a  general  thing, 
books.  y^jj^  ^j^(-|  ^^seiggs.     It  is  often  impoverishing  and 

infatuating.  It  becomes  insatiate  as  the  grave,  crying  give, 
give.  It  diverts  the  mind  from  concentration,  and  frequent 
and  thorough  study  of  the  best  productions  of  the  best  authors 
on  the  best  subjects.  It  endangers  original,  independent  free- 
dom of  thought.  It  is  in  all  cases  of  change  an  incubus,  a 
barrier,  and  indeed  a  positive  insuperable  hindrance.  The 
principal,  interest,  and  insurance  incur  heavy  yearly  expen- 
ditures. . 

Dr    Sm  th's         ^^  ^^^^  point  at  Icast,  I  will  be  allowed  to  speak 
personal  ex-      authoritativcly  and  from  knowledge, 
perience  an  J  fggi  that  I  was  an  exception  to  a  general  rule 

excep  ion.  — ^  sacrifice  willingly  offered  up  to  the  public 
good.  I  have  felt  a  special  call  to  collect  a  large  library,  not 
for  myself  but  for  my  brethren's  sake,  and  for  posterity.  This 
has  been  a  part  of  my  life  work,  not  yet  fully  completed. 

But  except  for  research  and  reference,  I  have  confined  my- 
self within  my  rule,  having  my  select  library  and  preceptors, 
soul  companions  and  bosom  friends,  whom  having  early  loved, 
I  love  unto  the  end,  and  hope  to  live  and  love  with  them  in 
blissful  amity  in  a  world  of  light,  love,  and)  spiritual  progress. 
„,  a  And  now   Son,   reader,   friend,   fare-thee  well ! 

Ihese    reflec-  ' 

tions  candid  Another  day  is  past.  I  left  you  last  night  at 
and  unpre-  elcvcn,  and  was  up  this  morning  at  6  A.  M.  I 
have  had  another  similar  walk  and  readings  this 
afternoon.  "It  is  the  hush  of  night,  etc."  My  vacation  time 
is  nearly  ended.  This  work  in  which  it  has  been  spent  must 
also,  at  least  for  the  present,  come  to  a  close.  It  has  been 
unpremeditated,  and  unanticipated,  in  anything  like  fulness. 
I  have  yielded  to  the  promptings  of  each  day  and  have  un- 
bosomed myself  candidly  and  without  disguise,  as  before  God, 
to  my  fellow  men.  Whether  I  have  done  well,  I  cannot  tell. 
What  have  been  my  motives,  I  would  not  venture  to  affirm. 


An  Autumn 
day. 


542 

All  is  known  to  Him  with  whom  I  have  to  do,  whose  I  am  and 
whom  I  desire  to  serve. 

"One  prayer  I  have,  all  prayers  in  one 
To  be  Lord,  wholly  Thine. 
Thy  Will  O  Lord,  Thy  Will  be  done, 
And  let  that  Will  be  mine." 

In  M emoriam. 

Oct.  14,  1859.  Rockbridge,  Va. 
This  is  the  closing  day  of  a  months  stay  at  this 
place,  and  use  of  the  Baths.  The  day  has  been 
a  day  of  luxurious  delight.  Warm  and  balmy 
for  the  season,  it  was  also  a  breezy  and  a  cloudy,  though  not 
a  clouded  day.  It  was  the  very  beau  ideal  of  a  day  for  poets 
and  painters — among  whom  I  enroll  myself  as  an  ex-officio, 
honorary  member,  though  unprofessionally  and  inexpressively 
so.  The  lights  were  brilliant,  and  the  shadows  were  deep  and 
well  defined.  The  forests  were  in  full  dress  in  the  most  per- 
fect autumnal  variety  of  gay  and  dazzling  colours,  interspersed 
with  a  suitable  harmonious  intermixture  of  grey,  brown,  and 
darker  shades.  Yellow  predominated  in  all  its  shades  and  in 
their  most  perfect  tints.''  And  so  exquisitely  was  the  light 
shaded,  and  the  background  thrown  into  relief,  that  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  several  species  of  trees,  and  almost  every 
particular  tree,  could  be  distinguished,  though  at  a  distance  of 
several  miles.  I  crossed  the  river  on  two  bridges,  and  could 
with  difficulty  tear  myself  away  from  an  amphitheatre  of  such 
wondrous  beauty  and  sublimity.  In  the  sky  above,  an  endless 
succession  of  careering  clouds  were  throwing  their  ever  shift- 
ing shadows  upon  everything  beneath,  now  blackening  and 
now  brightening  in  turn,  and  exhibiting  every  portion  of  the 
scene  in  every  variety  of  hue,  while  they  themselves,  as  the 
chariot  of  Jehovah,  overwhelmed  the  mind  with  the  contem- 
plation of  His  magnificent  greatness.*  On  every  side  were  not 
only  the  undulating  hills  bordering  on  the  valley  and  gently 
sloping  down  to  the  river,  but  ranges  of  mountains,  and  ranges 
beyond  these  again.  The  two  remarkable  peaks  called  house 
mountains,  which  I  would  rather  call  twins,  or  man  and  wife ; 
and  then  the  distant  ranges  indicating  the  course  of  the  river 
towards  Lexington,  and  the  deep  and  narrow  gorge  through 
which  the  North  river,  at  some  conceivable  period  of  convul- 

^The  Doctor  was  blind  to  red. — Ed. 

*Dr.   Smyth   made   an   especial   study,   with   his   children,   of  the 
passages  in  the  Bible  referring  to  the  clouds. — Ed. 


543 

sion,  when  its  waters  were  a  deluge,  forced  its  way  for  some 
eight  or  nine  miles  through  lofty  and  precipitous  mountains, 
only  far  enough  apart  to  give  it  a  channel  obstructed  at  every 
step  by  immense  rocks  which  have  been  loosened  and  hurled 
from  their  summits. 

Beneath  me  also  another  world  of  beauty  was  revealed,  for 
so  placidly  did  the  river  flow  along  in  this  well-sheltered 
valley,  as  to  mirror  in  its  clear  waters  the  very  tints,  as  well 
as  shapes,  of  the  encircling  hills,  the  meadows  picturesque  with 
animal  beauty  and  enjoyment,  and  the  corn  fields  luxuriant 
with  their  well-filled  sheaves. 

Along  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  the  river  could  be  also  dis- 
tinctly seen  varieties  of  water  floral  beauties,  the  hiding  place 
or  gardens  and  homes  of  fish. 

I  again  spent  an  hour  or  more  under  my  river  tree,  the 
monarch  of  the  surrounding  woods — who  has  seen  hard  and 
troublous  times  in  his  countless  years  of  vicissitude  and  en- 
durance. Rooted  in  what  was  once  a  high  ground  at  the  base 
of  lofty  protecting  rocks,  running  out  lava-like  or  molten  into 
the  bed  of  the  stream,  its  homestead  has  been  so  constantly 
encroached  upon  by  the  river  as  to  be  now  frequently  deep  in 
water.  To  protect  itself  it  has  thrown  out  in  every  direction 
its  gigantic  arms,  which  look  pitiably  bare  and  lacerated  from 
exposure  to  every  rude  shock.  In  girth  near  the  base,  this  tree 
must  be  some  30  or  40  feet.  About  a  yard  from  the  ground  it 
branches  off  into  three  arms,  which  tower  laterally  high  into 
air  and  over  the  stream.  This  main  stem  is  hollow,  of  very 
considerable  dimensions,  and  from  where  probably  a  latger 
stem  once  proceeded,  several  young  and  powerful  branche:^ 
have  with  filial  reverence  and  devotion  flung  themselves  into 
the  front  of  danger,  and  with  heroic  fortitude  brave  the  shocks 
of  tempest,  hail,  and  frost,  and  the  wintry  torrent. 

Oct.   18,   1859. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  worth  jotting  down,  that 

wT^er^s  Cave    Yesterday   I   drove   from   Staunton  to  this  place, 

Weyer's  Cave,  and  explored  it  to  the  very  end, 

spending   in   it   some    four   hours,    resting   occasionally   on    a 

chair,  and  using  the  help  of  a  strong  and  vigorous  arm. 

Of  this  world  of  subterranean  wonders,  it  is  not  my  inten- 
tion to  speak  either  geologically,  theologically,  historically,  or 
sentimentally. 

It  is  a  joy  and  a  prais worthy  event  to  have  seen  it,  as  it  is 
pregnant  with  suggestive  thought  and  fills  my  soul  to  over- 
flowing with  wonder,  love,  and  praise.      Laus  Deo. 
I  wrote  two  letters  from  this  place. 


544 

Extracts  from  a  letter  from  Dr.  Smyth  to  his  Charleston 
congregation,  dated  Hot  Springs,  Va.  Aug.   i8j/. 

Preaching  to  ^  havc  assistcd  OH  three  occasions  in  admin- 
the  Virginia  istcring  the  communion,  and  have  preached  gen- 
Mountaineers.  ^^^^y  ^^^^  g^^j^  Sabbath.  On  two  or  three  oc- 
casions, I  have  travelled  eight  miles  to  preach  to  a  recently- 
gathered  congregation  in  these  secluded  valleys.  The  popula- 
tion is  sparse,  and  consists  generally  of  plain,  and  often  very 
poor,  farmers  and  mechanics.  They  are  a  simple-hearted, 
quiet,  and  unambitious  people,  having  little,  coveting  little, 
and  content  with  such  things  as  they  have.  Agar's  blessedness 
seems  to  be  theirs.  So  that  having  neither  poverty  nor  riches, 
they  are  delivered  to  a  great  extent  from  the  temptations  of 
pride  and  dishonesty. 

The  gospel,  however,  they  appear  to  estimate  highly,  and 
to  hunger  and  thirst  for  its  proclamation.  They  are  supplied 
on  alternate  Sabbaths  by  those  pioneers  of  the  Christian  army, 
our  Methodisf  brethren,  and  on  the  intervening  Sabbaths, 
hold  a  Prayer  meeting.  Their  church  is  a  log  house,  in  the 
very  depth  of  the  forest  and  in  one  of  the  most  wild  and 
romantic  gorges  of  this  wild  and  romantic  country.  To  this 
place  they  have  given  the  name  of  Eden,  as  expressive  of 
their  own  sense  of  its  natural  and  spiritual  beauty. 

I  have  twice  supplied  the  place  of  these  brethren,  when  I 
found  the  house  as  full  as  it  could  hold  of  women  and  chil- 
dren ;  and  on  surrounding  timbers  underneath  the  trees,  and 
stretched  along  the  ground  around  the  house,  were  a  goodly 
number  of  men  and  women. 

To  preach  to  such  a  congregation,  in  such  a  situation,  in 
all  its  fulness  and  simplicity,  the  glorious  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God,  I  felt  to  be  a  high  privilege  when  I  saw  the  attention 
fixed,  the  eyes  moistened  with  tears  of  joy,  even  the  young 
eagerly  listening,  and  the  aged  giving  every  expression  of 
their  solemn  joy;  I  was  more  than  ever  excited  to  glory  in  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  as  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God 
unto  the  Salvation,  Sanctification.  and  Solace  of  anyone  that 
believes  and  obeys  it. 

^During  the  residence  of  the  family  as  war-refugees  in  Sum- 
merton,  after  the  evacuation  of  Charleston,  Dr.  Smyth  and  the 
Rev.  Christopher  Gadsden  of  the  Episcopal  Church  devoted  them- 
selves to  work  among  the  country  people,  putting  themselves  on 
the  circuit  of  the  Methodist  Church.  They  were  always  close 
friends  and  held  opinions  in  advance  of  their  times  as  to  the  need 
of  a  more   sympathetic  relation  between   the   denominations. — Ed. 


545 

At  the  urgent  request  of  several,  I  have  arranged  again  to 
visit  and  preach  for  this  people.  On  last  Sabbath  I  preached 
to  the  company  at  these  Springs ;  among  them  are  to  be  found 
characters  of  every  variety,  and  infirmities  and  diseases  of 
every  form;  some  buoyant  with  hope,  some  hopeless  in  des- 
pondency, some  cheerful  and  some  sad;  the  old,  the  middle- 
aged,  and  the  young,  the  world  in  miniature.  For  all  flesh  is 
grass,  and  all  the  glory  of  man  as  the  flower  of  the  grass, 
flourishing  in  Weakness,  and  fading  even  in  the  midst  of  its 
evanescent  beauty.     *     *     * 

I  am  I  hope  improving  in  health  of  body  and  rejoicing  in 
spirit,  thankful  for  my  many  mercies  and  resigned  to  my  many 
needful  infirmities,  and  ever  desirous  that  you  may  all  grow 
and  prosper  in  the  Lord. 

Aff'ly  and  very  faithfully.  Your  Pastor, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


[35] 


PAPERS  RELATING  TO 
SECESSION 

AND  THE 
WAR-1860-1865 


549 


PAPERS  RELATING  TO  SECESSION  AND  THE  WAR, 

1 860- 1 865. 


Chapter  I.    The  Democratic  and  Secession  Conventions. 

In  his  Biographical  Sketch,  Dr.  Brackett  says :  "During 
the  recent  war  Dr.  Smyth's  whole  heart  was  with  the  South, 
and  he  prayed,  and  preached,  and  wept  for  her,  giving  his 
three  sons  to  her  service  and  his  worldly  all  to  her 
cause."  Another  friend,  unfortunately  anonymous,  but  sup- 
posed 'to  be  Dr.  Bulloch,  Editor  of  the  Christian  'at  Work, ' 
states : — . 

"When  the  war  came,  Dr.  Smyth  was  reaping 
Dr.  Smyth  at    j;j^a.ny  houours  of  a  faithful  pastorate.     His  con- 

the  beginning  -'     .  .         „.  ,   ,  , 

of  the  war.       grcgation    was    large,    mtelligent,    wealthy,    and 
liberal.     His  worldly  possessions  were  reasonably 
adequate  to  his  possible  wants  to  the  end  of  life.     His  position 
in  society  was  that  of  tutor,  example,  and  friend. 

His  position  during  the  unhappy  war  is  well  known  in  the 
North  and  South.  Whatever  convictions  he  might  have  had 
of  the  fundamental  ground  at  issue,^  his  whole  energy  and  life 
were  unreservedly  pledged  to  his  adopted  section.  And  when 
peace  returned,  the  old  Champion  sat  beneath  its  breeze, 
broken  in  fortune  and  in  health.  [He  had  invested  all  pos- 
sible funds  in  Confederate  securities. — Ed.].  For  a  time,  as 
I  gleaned  in  several  conversations  with  him,  his  hopes  seemed 
shattered  beyond  repair  and  scattered  at  the  grave's  mouth. 
*  *  I  knew  Dr.  Smyth  quite  well  after  the  war,  and  I  know 
that  he  cherished  warm  Christian  sentiments  toward  all  men, 
and  forgave  those  who,  in  deed  or  thought,  wronged  him,  as 
he  also  hoped  for  forgiveness." 

From  my  eldest  Brother  but  one,  not  seen  for  more  than 
forty  years. 

BLACK  RIVER,  Parish  of  Catahoula,  Louisiana. 

DEAR  THOMAS.  '  "  '^''"''  '^; 

This  is  intrusted  to  Charles  Jones,  who  visits 
Letter  from       Charleston  to  attend  the  Convention.     My  wife  is 

James    bmith.  •' 

a  sister  of  his,  and  he  lives  about  3  miles  above 

^His  descendants  in  reading  this  need  have  no  doubt  as  to  his 
convictions.  He  believed  firmly  in  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede. 
—Ed. 


550 

me  on  this  river.  The  famihes  however  have  ho  communica- 
tion. I  have  left  New  Orleans  to  reside  on  this  place.  The 
last  2  years  it  has  been  overflowed  and  I  did  not  make  ex- 
penses. This  season  I  have  the  prospect  of  a  good  crop ;  and 
we  are  now  well  leveyed  to  keep  out  high  water,  but  not  quite 
enough  yet.  We  do  not  apprehend  high  water  this  season. 
We  received  Wedding  Cards  of  your  son  and  Miss  Briggs.^ 
Give  the  young  folks  our  congratulations.  I  hear  indirectly 
from  you  (or  did  in  New  Orleans,)  frequently  and  hope  your 
ailments  are  not  such  as  to  deprive  you  of  comfortable  rec- 
reation and  exercise.  I  take  out  a  little  bored  rifle  gun  (say 
200  balls  to  a  pound  of  lead,)  nearly  every  morning  and  shoot 
the  heads  off  Squirrels  enough  to  eat.^  In  the  fall  and  winter, 
I  change  this  rifle  for  a  shot  gun  and  kill  abundance  of  wild 
ducks.  We  have  been  asked  to  dine  out  2  times  last  week 
among  neighbours  who  had  wild  turkeys  for  dinner.  I  have 
also  a  chest  of  tools  (very  good  they  are  too,)  with  which  I 
work  considerably;  last  week  I  built  a  new  Poultry  house  12 
feet  square  with  10  nests  for  the  hens.  We  had  a  small  one 
but  the  rising  family  of  chicks  required  more  roost.  AVe  have 
any  quantity  of  young  chickens  and  turkeys,  To  day  I  intend 
making  me  a  dip  net  with  a  piece  of  mosquito  netting  to  catch 
minnows,  with  which  to  catch  Barfish  and  herring.  The 
Barfish  are  our  best  fresh  water  fish.  I  have  also  library 
enough  for  life  with  the  help  of  the  Newspapers  occasionally, 
and  I  trust  I  have  obtained  a  good  hope  to  join  the  ransomed 
of  Christ  in  his  heavenly  Kingdom.  M}^  family  at  home,  and 
as  far  as  I  know  abroad,  are  well.  Give  our  love  to  your  wife 
and  family,  and  believe  me  affectionately  yrs, 

JAS.  SMITH. 

P.  S.  Our  address  by  mail  would  have  the  Trinity  Post- 
office  in  it.  J.  S. 

MY  BELOVED  BROTHER,    NASHVILLE,  April  i860. 

I  did  not  see  Dr.   Buist  before  he  left,  else  I 

ould  have  written  a  few  lines. 

Among  'The  Delegates'  you  will  no  doubt  be 

"Adger  Smyth  was  married  to  Miss  Anne  R.  Briggs,  on  March 
14,  i860. — Ed. 

^This  brother,  James,  was  an  excellent  shot,  and  very  reckless; 
so  much  so  that  when  troubled  by  an  ingrowing  nail,  he  shot  off 
the  offending  toe.     A  niece  writes: — 

"As  to  my  Uncle  &  his  ingrowing  nail,  I  know  nothing  but  the 
fact — &  think'  he  might  have  been  less  impatient  of  pain  &  of 
other  people." — Ed. 


rs.     aunt-      ghould  havc  written  a  few  lines 

leroy.  » 


551 

called  on  by  some  who  knew  Robert,  Sam,  and  all  of  us. — 
Mr.  Garvin  of  Louisville  and  Judge  Huntington  of  Indiana 
are  in  your  city,  both  old  friends  of  our  family. 

Last  week  I  parted  with  my  last  copy  of  your  "Why  do  I 
Live."  I  sent  it  to  Mrs.  Judge  Law  of  Vincennes. —  I  did  so 
in  hope  you  would  send  me  another  with  my  name  in  it, 
written  by  yourself — if  it  is  convenient,  do  send  one.  I  love 
the  book,  and  I  loved  Mrs.  Law  so  much  I  could  not  resist 
sending  it  to  her  by  another  friend  who  was  here. 
Adger  I  suppose  your  health  is  as  usual,  you  are  able 

Smyth's  to  prcach  every  Sabbath,  but  I  hear  from  you  so 

marriage.  scldom  I  am  nearly  starved  for  something  from 

yourself. —  We  all  received  Adger's  beautiful  tickets  and 
were  much  gratified  to  hear  he  was  married  so  happily. —  We 
offer  our  united  congratulations  to  the  young  bride  and  groom 
— did  you  perform  the  ceremony? — I  never  saw  as  beautiful 
tickets  in  my  life,  their  rich  plainness  and  of  course  elegance 
were  unusual.  I  have  not  heard  from  Jennie  lately" — is  there 
a  prospect  of  her  marriage  soon? 

Will  your  Augustine  go  to  Princeton  this  year — has  he  the 
gift  of  eloquence,  does  he  resemble  his  father  in  his  mental 
or  physical  faculties?  Is  it  not  three  sons  you  have  living, 
and  one  dead? —  I  dare  say  one  or  more  of  your  daughters 
are  grown  now  and  are  great  comforts  to  their  Mother,  who 
I  trust  is  in  good  health. 

Are  you  going  to  The  Hot  Springs  this  Summer^  or  to  the 
North  ? 

I  am  always  dissatisfied  with  my  letters  to  you ;  I  have  so 
much  to  tell  you  and  talk  to  you  about,  and  somehow  I  never 
say  any  thing  worth  while. —  Writing  to  you  always  sends  me 
dreaming  back"  to  when  we  were  all  children  in  Church  and 
Callender  Streets,  with  our  Father  and  Mother,  and  I  can  not 
get  my  head  quite  steady  for  my  little  home  duties  all  day — 
every  thing  seems  dreamy. 

Give  our  warm  love  to  Sister  M.  and  all.  Anna  and  family 
are  well. 

Yours  most  lovingly, 

ISABELLA. 


^Jennie  Smith,  one  of  the  family  in  Paterson,  N.  J. — Ed. 
°Dr.  Smith  spent  the  Summer  at  the  Virginia  Springs. — Ed. 
'In  the  old  Ulster  phrase,  "thinking  long." — Ed. 


552 

From  CENTRAL  CITY  COURIER. 

CHARLESTON,  April  30,  i860. 

Newspaper  '^^^  readers  of  the  Courier  will  be  surprised, 

account  of  after  all  that  has  been  said  in  the  papers,  to  learn 
Democratic  ^^^t  I  am  now  living  here  very  comfortably,  for 
about  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  a  day,  sleeping  at 
St.  Andrew's  Hall,  and  eating  at  a  restaurant  near  the  hall 
where  the  Convention  is  held.^  Prices  of  board  at  all  the 
hotels  have  been  reduced  to  a  reasonable  sum.  The  Mills 
House,  is  the  center  of  political  gravity  during  the  Convention. 
*  *  The  crowd  here  has  hardly  exceeded,  at  any  time,  that 
at  our  last  Democratic  State  Convention  at  Syracuse,  and  sev- 
eral delegations  are  quartered  in  houses  rented  for  the 
occasion,  and  a  caterer  employed,  as  at  St.  Andrew's  Hall. 

^  ^         ^ 

Second  Pres-  Yesterday  I  attended  morning  service  in  the 
byterian  Presbyterian    Church,    of    which    Rev.    Thomas 

Church.  Smyth,  D.  D.,  is  pastor.    It  is  a  very  large  edifice, 

somewhat  ancient  in  appearance,  but  comfortable  and  pleasant. 
It  stands  back  from  the  street  some  ten  rods  or  more,  and  the 
space  in  front  is  a  beautiful  lawn,  with  shrubbery  and  flowers 
in  profusion  and  taste.  A  fit  entrance  indeed  to  a  temple  of 
the  God  of  Nature  and  of  Love.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest 
church  organizations  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination  in  this 
vicinity,  and  several  colonies  have  gone  out  from  it,  but  the 
roll  of  communicants  still  numbers  over  six  hundred,  including 
a  considerable  number  of  blacks.  When  the  Zion  Presbyterian 
Church,  tO'  which  I  have  referred  in  a  former  letter,  was  or- 
ganized, Dr.  Smyth's  church  dismissed  over  one  hundred 
colored  members  to  it.  The  Doctor's  limbs  were  partly  par- 
alyzed a  few  years  since,  and  the  efifects  are  still  manifest,  in 
his  difficult  walk,  and  nervous  manner;  but  his  intellect  is 
wholly  unimpaired,  and  he  retains  his  position  as  one  of  the 
ablest  clergymen  of  his  denomination  in  the  South. 

In   the    afternoon,    I    went    again    to   hear   the 

Zion    Church.         ,  ,  ,  ^    „.  ^-,,  ,  ., 

eloquent  pastor  of  Zion  Church,  and  was  agam 
greatly  interested  in  the  services,  and  especially  in  the  devout 
and  earnest  appearance  of  the  sable  christians  to  whom  his 
thrilling  appeals  were  mainly  addressed.  A  large  concourse 
of  strangers  were  drawn  there,  (from  motives  of  curiosity 
mainly  I  suppose,)  and  the  preacher  alluded  to  the  fact  in  a 
most,  happy  manner. 

'Institute    Hall   in    Meeting   Street,   just   south    of   the    Circular 
Church,  burned  in  the  great  fire  of  Dec,  1861. — Ed. 


553 

Having  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Dr.  Smyth,  from  Rev. 
Mr.  Fillmore,  I  presented  it  at  the  close  of  the  morning  ser- 
vice, and  by  his  invitation,  called  at  his  house  in  the  evening 
and  passed  an  hour  most  agreeably.  I  found  there 
my  old  friend  Mr.  Elon  Comstock,*  formerly  of 
the  Rome  Sentinel,  now  of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Com- 
merce, who  has  the  good  fortune  to  be  a  guest  of  the  Doctor's 
most  interesting  family.  My  residence  in  the  Central  City  of 
Isms  and  of  Jerry  Rescues,"  was  somewhat  freely  commented 
upon,  but  when  I  assured  the  good  people  that  Syracuse  had 
a  worse  name  than  it  deserved — that  the  fanaticism  of  our  city 
was  not  nearly  as  extensive  as  prominent  and  noisy,  the  cer- 
tificate of  my  good  friend  of  the  Park  Central  was  deemed 
sufficient  evidence  that  I  was  not  upon  an  anti-slavery  mission, 
and  would  not  attempt  to  steal  anybody's  servant.  One  could 
hardly  listen  to  the  earnest  preaching  of  Dr.  Smyth  and  Mr. 
Girardeau  unprejudiced,  or  converse  candidly  with  them  and 
their  families,  as  I  have  done,  without  at  least  being  more 
charitably  disposed  towards  Southern  Christianity  than  are 
some  of  my  good  friends  who  listen  upon  the  Sabbath  to  Rev. 
Mr.  Strieby,  or  Rev.  Mr.  May."  There  are  two  sides  to 
almost  all  questions  in  dispute.  Who  shall  condemn  his 
neighbor  who  differs  with  him? 

H.  S.  McCULLUM. 

'The  following-  description  of  Mr.  Elon  Comstock  is  taken  from 
a  letter  dated  April  6,  i860,  from  Mr.  Gerard  Hallock,  the  Senior 
Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce:  "A  worthy  and  estimable 
gentleman  *  *  in  the  editorial  department  of  the  paper  who 
writes  most  of  the  articles  on  political  topics.  *  *  Companion- 
able, gentlemanly,  intelligent,  and  patriotic,  with  a  heart  grasping 
the  whole  Union  in  its  affections,  the  South  equally  with  the 
North." 

Mr.  Hallock,  who  was  the  brother  of  Dr.  Smyth's  friend,  the 
Secretary  of  the  American  Tract  Society,  was  first  invited  to 
come,  but  asked  permission  to  send  Mr.  Comstock  in  his  stead. — 
Ed. 

"Mr.  McCullum  had  been  introduced  to  Dr.  Smyth  as  "without 
taint,  though  coming  from  Syracuse,"  by. Mr.  J.  O.  Fillmore.  Syr- 
acuse was  one  of  the  cities  concerned  in  the  "Underground  rail- 
way," which  managed  the  escape  of  runaway  slaves.  Jerry,  a 
North  Carolina  negro,  was  arrested  in  185 1  as  a  fugitive  slave 
and  "rescued"  from  the  authorities  by  prominent  Abolitionists, 
several  of  whom  were  indited  for  the  offence.  It  was  considered 
an  important  case.     See  "Life  of  Garrison." — Ed. 

"Dr.  S.  J.  May,  pastor  of  the  Unitarian  Church  of  Syracuse, 
an  abolitionist,  and  one  of  those  indited  in  the  Jerry  rescue  case. 
See  "Life  of  Garrison." — Ed. 


554 

Prayer  offered  before  the  National  Democratic  Convention. 

Dr.  Smyth's  ^  ^as  waited  on  by  these  g-entlemen  at  half  past 
prayer  at  the  nine  with  a  requcst  from  Mr.  Gushing/  the  Pres- 
Convention.  {^Q^ni,  that  I  would  Open  the  Convention  with 
prayer.  Though  I  had  not  quite  finished  my  breakfast,  which 
I  take  alone  in  my  study,  I  hurried  through  preliminary  ar- 
rangements, and  going  to  the  Hall.  I  complied  with  their 
request.  Mr.  Gushing,  at  the  close  of  my  praver.  remarked 
that  "he  did  not  think  that  if,  as  had  been  intended,  I  had  had 
more  time  for  preparation,  I  would  have  made  so  able  and 
appropriate  a  prayer."  Similar  remarks  were  made  by  other 
gentlemen ;  and  at  the  request  of  the  Reporters  of  the  Mercury 
and  Courier,  I  wrote  it  out  at  the  table  of  the  Secretaries, 
using  the  very  full  notes  of  the  former.     Lans  Deo. 

The  Prayer  was  denounced  in  opposition  papers  as  a  Politi- 
cal Party  Prayer. 

'A  Patriotic  Prayer. —  The  daily  sessions  of 
Jmmiai  ^^^^  ^^^  Gharlcstou  Convention  were  opened  with 
prayer  by  the  resident  Clergymen.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  April  27,  when  the  prospect  for  united  action  looked 
discouraging,  and  the  hopes  of  many  hearts  for  the  unity  and 
continued  success  of  our  institutions  were  desponding,  the 
following  address  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth, 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  had  a  most  happy  effect,  and 
appeared  to  reassure  and  give  confidence  to  the  assemblage. 

^Caleb  Gushing  was  one  of  the  remarkable  Americans  of  that 
period.  ■  He  was  sent  to  Charleston  in  the  latter  part  of  this  year, 
as  confidential  commissioner  to  the  Secession  leaders.  In  1872, 
he  was  the  leading  American  counsel  in  establishing  the  "Alabama 
Claims"    against    England,    before    the    Geneva    Tribunal. — Ed. 

'This  was  the  National  Democratic  Convention,  charged  with  the 
responsibility  of  choosing  a  candidate  to  be  opposed  to  Lincoln. 
The  factions  were  too  evenly  divided  to  come  to  a  decision,  and 
after  casting  57  ballots,  the  greatest  number  ever  cast  at  such  a 
convention,  it  adjourned  to  meet  a  little  later  in  Baltimore.  Dr. 
Smyth's  prayer  was  offered  at  the  opening  of  the  morning  session 
of  the  fifth  day,  April  27;  balloting  continued  for  ten  days;  before 
its  close  the  State  Democratic  Constitutional  Convention  was  also 
in  session  in  the  city,  so  that  important  men  from  every  part  of 
the  country  and  State  were  gathered  in   Charleston. 

Only  ladies  were  admitted  to  the  galleries  of  the  Democratic 
Convention.  Dr.  Smyth's  son,  Augustine,  determined  to  be  pres- 
ent, and,  unable  to  gain  entrance  to  the  floor,  attended  one  evening 
dressed  in  the  garments  of  his  aunt,  Miss  Janey  Adger,  which, 
as  she  was  a  tall  woman  and  he  a  handsome  boy,  suited  him  welL 
—Ed. 


555 

If  the  noble  and  patriotic  sentiments  here  breathed  forth  in 
the  language  of  pure  devotion,  could  find  a  lodgment  in  every 
heart,  we  might  entertain  increased  hope  for  the  continued 
success  of  our  system  of  government : — 

"O  God,  who  art  a  spirit,  infinite,  eternal  and 

^^^^ '  unchangeable  in  Thy  being,  wisdom,  power,  holi- 

ness, justice,  goodness,  and  truth,  we  adore  Thee  as  the  God 
of  creation,  providence,  and  grace ;  the  high  and  mighty  ruler 
of  the  universe,  who  reignest  over  the  armies  of  Heaven  and 
amongst  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth.  We  adore  Thee  as  the 
God  of  order,  from  whom  proceeded  all  wise  counsels  and  all 
prudent  and  effective  measures.  We  rejoice  in  the  assurance 
that  government  is  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  that  by  Thee 
rulers  rule,  counselors  decree  justice,  and  citizens  are  enjoined 
obedience,  in  order  that  Thy  people  may  live  quiet  and  peace- 
able lives  in  all  goodness  and  honesty.  We  bless  Thee  for  the 
institution,  under  Thy  fostering  care,  of  the  government  of 
these  United  States,  and  for  all  the  wisdom,  patriotism,  and 
valor  by  which  it  was  carried  on  to  its  glorious  consummation, 
and  by  which  it  has  been  advanced  to  its  present  height  of 
prosperity  and  progress. 

"And  now.  O  God,  forsake  not  Thy  heritage.  Dwell  in  our 
land  and  make  us  that  happy  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord. 
We  have  confidence  in  looking  unto  Thee  as  the  arbiter  of  its 
present  destinies,  and  in  imploring  Thy  continued  benediction 
and  preserving  care. 

"Bless,  O  God,  we  beseech  Thee,  the  President  of  these  United 
States ;  his  Cabinet ;  our  National  Legislature  of  both  Houses ; 
our  Supreme  Judges ;  all  our  State  Legislatures  and  Legisla- 
tors ;  and  the  Judges  and  other  rulers  in  every  State  of  our 
great  Confederacy.  We  beseech  Thee,  O  God,  to  be  present 
in  the  counsels  of  this  National  Convention.  And  as  Thou 
art  pleased  to  represent  thyself  as  the  father  of  lights  and 
fountain  of  all  wisdom,  so  that  if  any  man  lack  wisdom,  he  is 
encouraged  to  ask  God  who  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  to 
bestow  upon  them  that  wisdom  which  is  profitable  to  direct 
and  thoroughly  furnish  for  every  good.  We  beseech  Thee  to 
shed  abroad  in  this  Convention  during  the  deliberations  of 
this  day,  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  of  power,  and  of  a  sound  mind ; 
the  spirit  which  is  pure  and  peaceable ;  the  spirit  of  discretion, 
moderation,  and  forbearance.  Preside  over  them,  and  do 
Thou,  O  God,  who  rulest  over  all  hearts,  rule  in  every  heart 
here  present,  and  dispose  to  such  counsels,  and  such  conclu- 
sions, and  such  determinations,  as  Thou  wilt  ratify  and  make 
effectual  to  their  destined  purpose. 


556 

"We  pray,  O  God,  that  Thou  wilt  be  with  this  Convention 
until  it  shall  have  closed  its  Sessions,  and  that  Thou  wilt  over- 
rule their  individual  and  differing  views,  and  bring  them  to 
unity  of  counsel  and  purpose.  And  when  Thou  shall  have 
led  them  to  a  happy  and  harmonious  conclusion  of  their  pres- 
ent deliberations,  secure  to  them  union,  co-operation,  energy, 
determination,  and  triumphant  success  in  that  contested  cam- 
paign through  which  they  have  to  pass  in  this  crisis  of  the 
Republic.  Wilt  Thou,  O  God,  grant  that  hope  may  prevail 
over  every  fear,  and  that  no  patriotic  heart  may  be  left  to 
despair  for  the  Republic,  but  hope  on,  and  hope  unfo  the  end. 
We  beseech  Thou,  O  God,  to  bring  every  counsel  of  Ahithophel 
to  nought,  and  that  peace,  unity,  and  concord  may  prevail. 
May  the  spirit  of  Washington  animate  his  children.  Or 
rather,  may  the  Spirit  which  made  Washington  what  he  was, 
be  with  them,  and  enable  them  to  transmit  the  heritage  which 
has  come  down  from  their  patriot  fathers,  secured  by  their 
blood  and  treasure,  to  their  children's  children,  that  under  the 
wide  banner  of  our  glorious  Constitution  they  may  continue 
from  generation  to  generation,  with  increasing  millions,  and 
ever  augmenting  glory,  to  worship  the  God  of  their  fathers, 
upon  the  common  altar  of  their  common  country. 

"And  now  unto  Thee,  O  God,  who  has  permitted  us  to  come 
unto  Thee,  and  to  ask  and  expect  every  needful  blessing ;  and 
to  Thee,  O  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  we  will  ascribe  present  and 
everlasting  praises.     AMEA"." 

Journal  of  Commerce 

NEW  YORK,  May  14,  i860. 
REV  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  favor  of  9th  inst.  has  just  reached  me  and 
ctmst^k"  •'-  ^^^°  received  yours  of  a  previous  date,  enclosing 
a  copy  of  the  Prayer  which  I  asked  you  to  send 
me.  This  Morning's  Journal  of  Commerce  contains  (on  first 
page,)  a  reprint  of  the  Prayer  with  a  brief  comment.  I  send 
you  the  paper  by  same  mail  which  conveys  this.  The  article 
in  the  Whig  has  not,  that  I  am  aware  of,  been  republished 
any  where,  and  probably  it  will  have  less  notoriety  if  let 
alone,  than  if  noticed.     *     *     =i= 

Be  good  enough  to  accept  for  yourelf,  dear  Sir,  and  to  con- 
vey to  every  member  of  your  family  my  warmest  gratitude  for 
the  kindness  which  I  received  while  an  inmate  of  your  hospit- 
able mansion.  My  Wife  and  Daughter  join  in  this  expression, 
desiring  to  be  remembered  to  Mrs.  Smyth  and  family,  and 
express  the  hope  that  they  may  be  able  to  reciprocate  in  some 


557 

measure  their  kindness  to  me,  by  entertaining  them  at  our 
modest  home  in  Yonkers.  Especially  do  they  join  in  the  wish 
that  Mr.  &:  Mrs.  J.  Adger  Smyth,  who  are  soon  to  visit  the 
North,  will  find  a  home  with  us  as  long  as  it  is  convenient  for 
them  to  remain  with  us. 

My  visit  South  has  been  an  occasion  of  almost  unmixed 
pleasure.  I  have  found  the  people  hospitable,  kind  and  intel- 
ligent, and  have  gained  some  insight  into  your  institutions. 
If  my  cherished  plan  of  spending  an  entire  Winter  in  the 
Southern  States  with  my  little  family,  shall  ever  be  carried  into 
effect,  this  limited  knowledge  of  Southern  institutions,  of  the 
Political  and  Social  economy  of  the  Slave  States,  will,  I  trust, 
be  materially  increased. 

As  to  the  prospect  of  a  more  harmonious  con- 
Baltimore  ycntion  at  Baltimore  than  we  had  at  Charleston, 

Convention.  ' 

my  feeling  is  not  as  confident  as  I  could  wish — 
rather  in  fact  that  of  hope  than  of  belief — but  still  we  will 
not  abandon  the  idea  that  all  will  yet  be  overruled  for  the  good 
of  the  Country.  The  nomination  of  Bell  is  not  going  to  excite 
any  enthusiasm.  And  I  think  Seward  will  be  the  choice  at 
Chicago,  so  that  we  will  have  a  fair  and  square  fight  against 
the  leader  of  the  Republicans.     *     * 

\^ery  truly  your  friend  and  obt.  Svt. 
Rev.  ELON  COMSTOCK. 

Thos  Smyth,  D.  D. 

From  Sister  Isabella,  with  message  from  Dr.  R.  J.  Breck- 
enridge  about  Article  on  Ruling  Elders,  in  the  Princeton 
Reviezv. 

MY  BELOVED  BROTHER,  -^^"^^  ^'  ^^^°- 

I   received   your   welcome  note   and  also   your 

lero       ^""'^      prayer — we  all  think  you  are  a  heretic  in  politics, 

and  were  truly  glad  that  for  once  your  prayers 

were  not   answered.      We   think   the   Democratic 

pl!t°"^*''^       party  have  had  power  too  long,  and  have  become 

very  corrupt;  and  hope  they  may  be  badly  beaten 

this  year.    We  are  great  "Union"  folks  here,  all  your  Kinfolk, 

save  Mr.  Plunket^  who  turned  Democrat  a  few  years  ago. 

Dr.  R.  J.  Breckenridge  preached  here  last  Sabbath  Day;  I 
suppose  his  reputation  is  too  well  known  for  me  to  say  any- 
thing to  you  about  him,  yet  his  feeble  voice,  want  of  teeth,  and 
want  of   all  the   graces  of   an   Orator,   caused   a   severe   dis- 

^Mr.  Plunket  was  engaged,  during  the  war  between  the  States, 
in   casting  cannon  for  the   Confederate   service. — ^Ed. 


558 

appointment  among  the  vast  audience  who  had  collected  to 
hear  him.  I  went  up  after  service  and  had  Mr.  Bardwell  to 
introduce  me  to  him  as  your  sister,  he  said  he  saw  a  great 
likeness  between  us. —  Spoke  instantly  of  your 
article  in  the  Review.  Said  no  one  had  told  him 
that  it  was  yours,  but  that  he  recognized  Thomas  Smyth  in- 
stantly in  it,  "Tell  him"  said  he  to  me  "when  you  write  to  him, 
that  I  see  if  he  is  an  invalid,  he  is  still  able  tO'  do  a  great  deal 
of  mischief ." — He  very  pleasantly  talked  to  Smyth  who  stood 
by  and  said  "Madam,  he  is  much  better  looking  than  his 
Uncle."  I  love  Dr.  B's  letter,  written  lately  to  his  nephew — 
think  the  concluding  part  perfection. 

I  am  going  to  get  the  Revieiv  from  Mr.  Bardwell,  Dr. 
Edgar  being  yet  absent —  I  shall  read  your  article  with  great 
interest. —  It  seems  to  me  we  shall  have  to  appoint  a  special 
committee  to  visit  you  and  get  you  straight.  Do  you  and  Dr. 
Thornwell  agree  in  your  views  about  The  Boards?  I  cannot 
think  he  can  be  right,  but  do  not  feel  competent  to  decide. 

Isabella   Plunket  Long,   residing  in   N.  O.  last 

r  a  mer.  -wrinter,  decided  to  become  a  member  of  Dr.  Palm- 
on    baptism. 

er's  church ;  he  would  not  receive  her  without 
baptizing  her,  he  did  not  recognize  her  Roman  Catholic  bap- 
tism at  all. —  She  objected  and  gave  up  her  idea  of  joining  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  Was  he,  Dr.  P — right  or  wrong?*  I 
was  very  sorry  about  it.  She  and  her  husband  we  expect  this 
week  to  stay  with  Anna  all  summer.  Willis  Long  is  a  second 
cousin  of  Charles  Jones  and  remembers  him  a  little.  I  am 
glad  you  saw  him,  C.  J. —  he  always  was  very  elegant  and  his 
sisters  are  too —  My  Eugene  to  our  great  astonishment  re- 
sembles them,  more  than  any  one  else,  and  would  pass  for 
one  of  their  family —  Sam  J.  Fauntleroy  you  would  recognize, 
I  do  believe  among  a  hundred,  as  being  your  own  blood,  even 
to  his  eyes — (as  honest  and  dauntless  a  pair  ever  you  saw)  — 
in  every  other  way  he  is  like  Pa.  Smyth  resembles  his  two 
grandmothers,  my  Mother  and  his  Pa's  Mother. —  One  day 
last  week  at  the  examinations  he  delighted  all  with  Algebra — 
the  next,  with  a  handsome  speech — the  subject — Home.  We 
are  very  anxious  to  know  what  to  do  with  him — he  rather 
fancies  business,  he  is  very  desirous  to  support  himself. — 
Jos.  Smyth  thinks  your  daughters  resemble  your  Mother,  is  it 
so?  You  must  give  them  and  their  dear  Mother  our  very 
best  love.     Can  you  not  give  yourself  release  from  your  hard 

^This  was  the  position  taken  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1845. 
—Ed. 


559 

Studies? —  Will  you  never  come  to  us?     Mr.  F.,  Anna  and  all 
of  us  are  in  good  health  and  send  you  much  love. — 

Yours  ever, 

ISABELLA. 

P.  S.  Do  write  me  a  note  sometimes.  Suppose  Jennie  will 
be  married  tomorrow. 

To  his  daughter,  who  was  recovering  from  a  sprained  ankle 
at  the  home  of  her  uncle,  Ellison  Adger,  Woodburn  Plantation, 
Pendleton,  S.   C. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  July  15,  i860. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

I  am  glad  you  are  coming  to  life  again  & 
vice  to  IS  j-g^ii^ing  how  sweet  is  pleasure  after  pain.  You 
did  not  know  how  valuable  a  foot  is,  &  how  much 
enjoyment  there  is  in  its  free  &  unrestricted  use.  How  won- 
derful is  it  that  God  can  put  together  the  thirty  &  more  bones, 
&  all  the  muscles  &  elastic  springs  of  the  foot  &  ankle  so  that 
they  keep  together,  do  not  hurt  or  break  one  another,  &  are 
capable  of  such  free  &  constant  motion  without  wearing  out. 
*  *  Take  the  will  for  the  deed.  Keep  up  a  good  heart. 
Laugh  &  be  merry.  Keep  Augustine  in  Spirits  &  in  order, 
&  do  not  let  him  impose  on  you  &  the  other  girls. 

Give  love  to  him,  Uncle,  Aunt  &  cousins ;  &  especially  to 
Susy  &  William  from 

Yours  Affly, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


ALLEGHENY,  PA.,  Sepr.  17,  i\ 
I  wish  you  would  come  &  see  me,  &  let  me  be 
somewhat   filled    with    your    company,    and    pray 
for  me  &  give  our  students  a  talk.     *     *     * 

Very  afif'y  yours, 

WM.  S.  PLUMER.' 


PARIS,  Oct.  16,  i860. 
Rev.  J.  H.  Qj^g  Qf  Qm-  excursions  from  Cork  was  to  Blar- 

ney Castle.     O,  Doctor,  how  I  did  think  of  you, 
when    at   this    place,    and   saw    most   vividly    that    irresistible 

"Dr.  William  Swan  Plumer,  then  a  professor  in  Western  Semi- 
nary, Allegheny,  Pennsylvania;  afterwards,  from  1862  to  1880,  in 
Columbia  Seminary,  and  a  power  in  the  Southern  Church. — Ed. 


560 

twinkle  of  fun  in  your  blue  eye,  just  as  if  you  had  been  pres- 
ent, and  heard  repeated  the  advice — "Be  sure  and 
stone  ^^'^^  ^^^^  ^^^  Blarney  stone."  And  indeed  didn't  I? 
Much  as  I  felt  the  necessity  of  more  "persuasive 
power,"  I  think  I  was  so  promptly  propelled  [  ?]  to  perform 
the  "feet,"  from  the  encouragement  &  sanction  lent  the  opera- 
tion by  a  benevolent  and  beloved  D.  D.  in  our  party,  one  of 
the  professors   in  our   Theological   Seminary.     *     *     * 

J.  HITCHCOCK  CARROLL.' 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

DEAR  DOCTOR:  ^^^"  ^^^°- 

Sympathy  ^^  ^^^Y  surprizc  you  to  hear  from  me  so  soon 

with  again,  but  the  truth  is,  I  want  to  be  at  work,  and 

Charleston.  ^-^^^  ^^^^  jj^  ^  Southcm  field,  and  to  tell  the  whole 
truth,  in  Charleston. —  Is  there  any  opening  for  me  in  your 
city?  or  can  you  make  any  work  for  me  to  do? 

I  need  not  assure  you,  or  indeed,  any  of  my  southern 
friends,  that  my  sympathies  and  prayers  are  with  the  South  in 
this  hour  of  trial  and  of  triumph  too,  so  much  so,  that  my 
sincerest  heartwish  is  to  make  my  home  in  the  new  Confeder- 
acy.    *     *     * 

Please  remember  me  with  sincere  affection  to  your  dear 
family —  Trusting  that  you  may  be  able  long  to  labor,  and 
lead  your  people  and  city  onward  in  the  progress  and  power 
of  the  coming  time,  as  in  the  past.     I  am, 

affec.  and  indebtedly, 
Yours 
J.  H.  CARROLL. 

Journal  of  Commerce. 

NEW  YORK,December  7/60. 
REV  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Eion  Com-  •"■  havc  oftcu  bccu  movcd  to  write  to  you,  since 

stock  on  the  evil  times  came  upon  the  Country,  but  have 

Secession.  ^g  oftcu  postpoucd  it,  bccausc  really  I  had  little 
to  say  to  South  Carolinians  on  such  a  subject.  I  send  you 
however  today,  a  copy  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce  of  this 
date,  which  contains  some  suggestions  relative  to  the  action 
of  your  State.  I  do  not  suppose  such  an  article  will  be  re- 
published  by   your   papers,   and   therefore   send  you   a   copy 

"Extract  from  a  long  letter  from  a  young  minister  on  his  wed- 
ding trip.  He  had  taught  school  in  Charleston  for  some  time. — 
Ed. 


561 

direct.     People  here  tell  me  that  it  is  not  sufficiently  hopeful, 
but  it  is  as  much  so  as  were  my  feelings  when  it  was  written. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  what  are  the  prospects  for  our  Country 
in  the  future.  South  Carolina  will  go  out  of  the  Union  and 
several  other  States  will  follow  unless,  in  the  interim,  we  can 
bring  the  Northern  mind  to  an  appreciation  of  the  duty  they 
owe  to  other  sections  in  fulfilling  their  Constitutional  obliga- 
tions. There  is  unquestionably  a  powerful  reaction  at  the 
North,  and  if  the  influences  at  work  can  have  time  to  develop 
the  change,  I  shall  hope  for  the  Union,  even  after  your  State 
shall  have  formally  seceded.  But  it  may  be  that  the  change 
will  come  too  late.  Nothing  but  a  trust  in  an  All  Wise  and 
Overruling  Providence  affords  the  least  hope  for  the  future 
of  our  Country,  in  this  gloomy  period.  I  should  be  most 
happy  to  have  a  letter  from  you  and  to  know  how  you  view 
these  questions  at  this  time. 

I  wish  I  could  go  South  this  Winter,  but  imperative  duties 
will  keep  me  here.  Be  kind  enough  to  remember  me  to  Mrs. 
Smyth  and  to  all  the  members  of  your  family,  of  whom  I  have 
the  most  agreeable  recollections. 

I  remain  my  dear  Sir  very  Respectfully  your  friend, 

ELON  COMSTOCK.     ' 

As  the  last  letters  show,  the  throes  of  Secession 
Secession  were   upon   the    South;    Lincoln's    election   had   taken 

imminent.  11,1  •  -it 

place  and  the  whole  country  was  in  a  turmoil,  in 
South  Carolina,  the  Legislature  in  session  in  Columbia  passed  on 
November  11,  an  act  calling  for  the  election  on  December  6,  of 
delegates  to  a  State  Convention. 

The  decision  of  this  Convention  was  most  anxiously  awaited. 
Commissioners  sent  to  Washington  assured  President  Buchanan 
that  there  would  be  no  act  of  hostility  on  the  part  of  South 
Carolina,  provided  that  no  such  action  was  taken  by  the  United 
States  Government;  but  that  any  change  in  the  status  quo  of  the 
fortifications  of  Charleston  harbour,  either  reinforcement,  or  the 
concentration  of  forces  within  Fort  Sumter,  would  be  construed 
as  an  act  of  hostility.  On  December  11,  Major  Anderson,  in 
command  of  the  garrison  in  Charleston,  received  orders  from  the 
War  Department  to  make  no  movement  whatever,  unless  attacked; 
or  in  case  of  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  South  Carolina  to  take 
possession  of  any  of  the  fortifications. — Editor. 

REV  DR  SMYTH :   :  PHILA.  lo  Dec,  i860. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr    Chamb-  *     *     '^Y  friend's  heart  beats  in  unison  with 

ers'  hope  for   my  own  for  the  South  and  there  is  not  a  drop  of 
the  South.        blood  in  my  heart  that  does  not  flow  on  your  side. 

[36] 


562 

I  still  pray  however  that  God  would  save  the  nation.  Not 
however  at  the  expense,  or  honour,  of  the  South.  I  have  long 
thought  and  said  that  the  South  was  shamefully  treated  by  the 
North,  or  rather  by  the  Anti-Slavery  men  of  the  North.  The 
Democrats  to  a  man,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  are,  with 
you.     May  God  give  us  all  wisdom ! 

Yours  truly 

JOHN  CHAMBERS.^ 
Pastor  of  the  ist  Independent  Presbyterian  Church,  Phila- 
delphia. 1 

ELIZABETH,  Dec.  19,  i860. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER— 

Nothing  but  the  highest  respect  for  your  char- 
prote^t^^'^^      acter  prompts  me  to  write  you  in  the  midst  of 
pressing  duties. 

I  thank  you  for  your  sermon,'  but  let  me  ask — can  we  not 
make  ourselves  understood  by  "our  Southern  friends:  Is  it  a 
fact  that  you  feel  authorized  to  put  the  whole  Republican 
Party  into  a  conglomeration  of  atheism,  infidelity,  communism, 
bible-hating  and  anti-christian  men!  This — or  even  the  re- 
mote implication  of  this — I  must  say  astounds  me.  Might 
not  I,  with  equal  propriety,  characterize  the  Democratic  Party 
with  you,  by  the  hanging,  the  imprisoning,  the  tar  and  feather- 
ing few,  who  disgrace  humanity.  No,  my  beloved  brother, 
this  is  not  the  way  for  us  to  speak  of  each  other.  The  Aboli- 
tionists are  of  course  Republicans,  but  not  one  in  twenty  of 
the  party  is  a  technical  Abolitionist.  Besides  the  party,  as 
such,  embodies  as  large  a  share  of  the  enlightened  piety,  the 
true  love  of  country,  and  the  genuine  conservatism,  which  we 
all  prize  as  any  other  in  the  land — 

Much  of  your  sermon  I  cordially  approve  of,  and  hail  heal- 
ing influence  from  any  and  every  quarter. 

'John  Chambers  D.  D.,  was  born  in  Stewardstown,  Ireland,  in 
1797.  This  Church,  over  which  he  presided  all  his  life,  was  after- 
wards  named   by   Presbytery,   "the    Chambers    Church." — Ed. 

*The  Governor  of  South  Carolina  appointed  as  a  day  of  humil- 
iation and  prayer,  Nov.  21,  i860.  Dr.  Smyth  preached  that  day 
on  the  text  from  Daniel  IX,  11. 14.  The  sermon  was  printed  under 
the  title  of,  "The  Sin  and  the  Curse,  or  the  Union,  the  true  source 
of  disunion;  and  our  duty  in  the  present  crisis,"  and  copies  were 
sent  to  many  of  his  friends  at  the  North,  as  well  as  the  South. 
Most  of  the  letters  immediately  following  this  are  in  answer  to 
his  argument.  The  sermon  may  be  found  in  vol.  VII,  p.  537, 
Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


563 

As  for  myself,  I  turn  from  man  to  the  God  of  our  fathers, 
who  has  often  appeared  for  us  in  the  time  of  trouble.  My 
prayer  is  that  some  adjustment  may  yet  be  made,  which  will 
place  the  exciting  negro  question  for  ever  at  rest,  and  leave 
the  country  free  to  pursue  a  course  of  greater  prosperity  than 
ever.     In  this  you  will  join  us. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  sending  you  a  sermon,  which  at  some 

leisure  hour  you  may  feel  inclined  to  look  over. 

„       T^,  0,7  Yours  in  unbroken  bonds — 

Rev  Thomas  Smyth.  ^^^^^  ^^^^^. 

On    Monday,    December    17,    i860,    in    the    Baptist 
The  State  Church    of    Columbia,    the    State    Convention,    com- 

Convention.  ,  ,        _  .  „  .  ,,     , 

monly  known  as  the  Secession  Convention,  was  called 

to  order;  the  church  had  been  partially  burned  the  night  before, 
and  one  gable  was  screened  with  canvas.  The  help  of  Divine 
Wisdom  was  invoked  by  the  pastor  of  the  church,^  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Breaker,  and  business  began  with  the  appointment  of  the  neces- 
sary committees. 

But  as  smallpox  had  broken  out  in  Columbia  the  Convention 
then  adjourned,  and  after  a  hurried  journey  to  Charleston,  met  on 
December  18,  at  Institute  Hall,  on  Meeting  Street.  This,  how- 
ever, was  too  large  for  convenience,  and  on  December  19  the 
Convention  assembled  at  St.  Andrew's  Hall,  on  Broad  Street;  and 
here,  on  the  morning  of  December  20,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of 
169,  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  was  adopted. 

That    all    due    ceremony   might    be    observed,    the 
igning  o  ordinance    was    sent    to    the    Attorney    General,    Col. 

the    Ordinance  ,  ,       ,  , 

of  Secession.  ^-  ^-  Hayne,  to  be  engrossed  and  the  great  seal 
attached:  and  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the 
members  of  the  Convention,  led  by  President  D.  J.  Jamison, 
marched  from  St.  Andrews  to  the  larger  Institute  Hall,  where 
Governor  Pickens  and  the  Legislature,  sitting  for  this  purpose  in 
Charleston,  were  assembled,  together  with  a  dense  throng  of 
intensely  excited  citizens.  There,  under  a,  palmetto  tree,  the 
Ordinance  was  solemnly  signed  and  ratified,  this  being  formally 
announced  by  President  Jamison.  The  secession  of  the  South, 
under  consideration  for  fully  thirty  years,  had  begun. 

Among  the  crowd  in  the  galleries  was  Augustine  Smyth,  who, 
sliding  down  a  pillar,  possessed  himself  of  a  pen,  blotter,  and 
fragment  of  palmetto.  These  are  now  in  the  museum  of  the 
Daughters  of  the  Confederacy;  the  blotter  shows  plainly  the  sig- 
nature of  the   Honorable   C.   G.   Memminger. — Editor. 

*Pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Elizabeth,  N.  J.,  Director 
in  the  Am.  Tract  Soc.  and  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.— Ed. 

^At  all  later  sessions  of  the  convention  this  service  was  per- 
formed by  one  of  the  twelve  ministers  who  were  among  the 
delegates. — Ed. 


564 


Chapter  II.     From  Secession  to  Sumter. 

SAVANNAH,  GA. 

REV.  &  DEAR  SIR,  ^^^-  ^^'  ^^^• 

Dr.  Axson  Will  you  pardon  me  for  becoming  a  beggar — 

requests .  I  am  anxious  to  read  your  recent  Fast-day  Ser- 

sermon.  mOfl— 

Will  you  do  me  the  favor  to  send  a  copy  to  my  address — 
Yrs  very  truly 

I.  S.  K.  AXSON.' 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
Dec.  24,  i( 


REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr.  Smyth  There  are  none  for  whom  I  cherish  more  loving 

defends  the  aftectionatc  revcrencc  than  yourself,  and  I  hasten 
South.  therefore  to  put  myself  right  in  your  continued — 

as  always — kindly  and  highly  appreciated  estimation. 

As  a  Union  and  a  Union-loving  man  I  was  driven  from 
point  to  point,  until  as  the  last  human  hope  of  its  yet  possible 
preservation,  I  concurred  in  our  secession,  of  the  power  to 
accomplish  which  I  have  no  doubt,  and  of  whose  propriety  I 
was  now  against  my  will  convinced. 

My  reasons  for  coming  to  the  conclusion  you  could  see  in 
a  letter  from  S.  C.  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce  of  last  week, 
Dec.  20;  a  private  letter. 

In  the  sermon  I  went  as  far  as_  possible,  so  as  without  creat- 
ing opposite  feeling  to  touch  the  chords  of  long-cherished 
feeling  for  The  Union.  This  I  did  while  such  a  course  was 
branded  by  some  writers  as  treason. 

Now  in  examination  you  will  find  that  I  avoided  naming 
any  political  party  and  that  my  division  was  purely  a  moral 
one. 

You  will  also  see  that — ^at  the  same  risk  of  offence — I  char- 
acterized a  large  body  without  distinction  of  party,  who  had 
voted  against  us  as  "God-fearing  and  Christ-loving,"  &c. 

Under  this  I  covered  many  known  Christian  friends  among 
the  Republican  party;  but  not  naming  it,  or  any,  I  could  not 
make  distinctions. 

Dr.  Hodge  on  "The  State  of  the  Country'"  shews  plainly 
that  many  such  without  any  "perverted"  views  &c.  and  from 

^See  Dr.  Axson's  letters  on  Baptism  in  section  "Authorship." 
—Ed. 

^Article  by  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  in  the  Princeton  Review. — Ed. 


565 

Other  motives,  voted  very  fatally,  with  that  party  whose  plat- 
form is  to  me  unquestionably  sectional  and  destructive  to  any 
continued  union  with  the  South,  under  a  compact  whose  foun- 
dations it  destroys. 

Dr.  Hodge's  whole  argument  is  in  violation  of  his  own  prin- 
ciple that  the  North  ought  to  be  judged,  not  by  public  opinion, 
and  innumerable  personal  and  associated  forms  of  malignant 
hostility  to  the  South,  and  to  the  securities  pledged  to  it  by 
the  Constitution — but  by  its  course  as  a  zvhole  body. 

But  on  this  ground  the  Republican  party's  principles  and 
precipitation  of  disunion  were  unjustifiable,  since  the  removal 
of  the  Missouri  Compromise — (of  what?  and  why?) — of  the 
rightful  claims  of  the  South  for  the  sake  of  the  Union — and 
the  Kansas  matters,  were  not  the  result  of  any  constitutional 
or  united  action  by  the  South  as  States,  or  as  a  whole.  The 
latter  (i.  e.  Kansas,)  was  as  generally  frowned  on  as  Aboli- 
tion hostility,  at  the  North.  The  whole  result  he  admits  to  be 
a  retaliation  against  offensive  measures  on  the  part  of  indi- 
viduals at  the  South,  not  even  of  a  political  party,  much  less 
of  States  as  such. 

Judge  Woodward''  gave  you  the  right  rendering  of  the  ver- 
dict against  the  South  in  the  late  trial — in  which  she  was  made 
to  stand  judgment  as  a  felon,  and  hear  a  felon's  doom  pro- 
nounced, sentence  passed,  and  execution  ordered. 

And  is  it  not  idle  to  say  that  because  the  responsibility  is  on 
Government,  and  State  Action,  which,  nullifying  the  Constitu- 
tion and  Congressional  law  also,  is  pronounced  unconstitu- 
tional, but  still  left  in  vital,  vicious,  treasonable  operation,  that 
the  South  must  submit  to  their  humiliation,  injury,  and  insult, 
and  the  North  be  exculpated ! 

That  article,  as  indicating  that  such  men  and  minds  are 
united  in  the  vindication  of  the  North  and  condemnation  of 
the  South,  leaves  little  hope — though,  against  all  hope,  I  still 
hope  some  sunburst  in  the  storm  of  death  may  come  forth 
from  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb,  and  dissipate  the 
settling  of  a  night  of  unimaginable  sorrows  to  the  church  and 
the  world. 

I  have  no  sympathy  with  Secession  per  se,  but  be  it  death, 
it  is  better  than  degradation. — 

'Trobably  Judge  G.  W.  Woodward,  of  the  Pennsylvania  Su- 
preme Court,  who  had,  on  Dec.  13,  i860,  delivered  a  speech  at  a 
Union  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  defending  the  Southern  attitude 
toward  slavery.  What  Dr.  Smyth  means  by  "the  late  trial"  the 
editor  has  been  unable  to  determine,  but  it  is  suggested  that  he 
referred  to  the   recent   Presidential   election. — Ed. 


566 

I  love  and  cherish  you,  and  all  like-minded  and  like-hearted ; 
and  would  God!  we  could  clasp  hands  in  inseparable  union 
and  communion,  and  in  Christ  we  both  may  and  can  and  will. 

Very  sincerely  Yrs. 
Rev  David  Magie.  THOMAS  SMYTH. 

ALLEGHENY,  Dec.  21,  i860. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Many  thanks  to  you  for  your  excellent,  tem- 
Mpeai^'^°  "^  perate,  and  Xian  Discourse  on  the  Crisis. — It  is 
quite  such  as  I  could  have  expected  from  you. 
Would  God  that  all  our  brethren,  North  and  South,  had 
spoken  thus !  I  have  ventured  to  send  you  mine, — and  hope  it 
may  meet  your  approbation.  But  that  which  I  discussed,  as 
to  the  Constitutional  right,  is  tin  fait  accompli,  as  regards 
South  Carolina.  Who  can  believe  it  that  you  are  not  an 
American  citisen,  in  the  worldwide  sense  of  that  proud  name? 
I  am  sure,  my  dear  brother,  that  our  hearts  beat  in  unison. — 
And  the  great,  national  Pres.  Chh  ought  to  have  vast  power, 
at  such  a  time,  with  God  and  zvith  men,  and  prevail  to  heal 
breaches,  and  to  prevent  the  shedding  of  fraternal  blood. 
Whatever  be  your  laudable  love  for  your  State,  you  yet,  do 
surely,  prefer  Jerusalem  above  your  chief  joy!  What  then  is 
to  befal  our  Chh,  if  these  divisions  go  unhealed,  and  eventuate 
in  warlike  hostilities,  which  none  can  check?  Let  me  say  ist: 
I  fear  our  Southern  brethren  misunderstand  the  great  na- 
tional mind  and  feeling  at  the  North.  In  Penna.  I  am  sure, 
and  in  N.  Jersey  (my  native  State),  and  elsewhere,  the  masses 
would  be  ready,  at  a  moment's  warning,  to  pledge  themselves 
in  defence  of  the  South,  within  the  Union.  But  alas !  out  of  it, 
my  fear  is,  that  no  power  could  check  the  raids,  privateering, 
fillibustering,  and  wars,  that  would  go  on  to  the  bitter  end. 
Will  you  not  exert  yourself  with  our  brethren,  and  use  your 
great  influence  with  your  public  men,  assuring  them  that  the 
Conservative  Spirit  there  wd.  be  fully  responded  to  by  the 
Conservative  Spirit  here?  Cannot  some  ground  be  taken  and 
some  terms  definitely  set  forth  which  can  both  be  given  and 
accepted  ?  I  know  it  may  be  said  .S".  Car.  has  fixed  her  policy 
of  Secession  immovably.  But  my  dear  brother,  will  nothing 
answer  but  a  rupture  of  such  sacred  bonds — nothing  but  a 
rolling  back  of  civilization  and  Christianity  in  the  land  and  in 
the  world,  by  the  most  awful  and  interminable  of  Civil  Wars? 
2d.  The  opinion  obtains  with  many  that  S.  Car.  will  accept 
nothing,  and  only  rushes  upon  a  foregone  conclusion  accord- 
ing to  a  settled  purpose  long  ago  taken.     But  I  cannot  con- 


567 

template  such  a  case  without  horror.—  When  I  think  of  all 
that  must  ensue — why  cannot  the  moderate  Xian  men  of  all 
sections  stay  the  fanaticism  and  heat  of  their  brethren,  and 
stand  by  the  Constitution  and  Union  of  these  Sister  States ! 
It  can  be  done!  And  1  have  confidence  that  whatever  party 
leaders  at  Washington  may  utter,  in  their  ill  advised  orations 
on  either  side,  the  public  sentiment  will  show  itself  true  to  all 
the  guarantees  which  our  fraternal  relation  could  reasonably 
seek — to  secure  the  South  whatever,  in  like  circumstances,  the 
Northern,  Eastern,  Western,  and  Middle  States  would  ask 
for  themselves — a  -final  adjustment  of  a  question  that  tyran- 
nical Reformers  and  hot  politicians  have  been  stirring  into 
the  cauldron  of  sectional  strife.  Oh!  make  some  movement 
with  God,  on  the  National  Fast  Day,*  in  behalf  of  Peace  and 
Union.  Your  brother  in  Xt, 

M.  W.  JACOBUS." 

On  the   night   of  December  26,   Major   Anderson, 
Major  An-  .  ,  .  ,    -r- 

derson  con-       acting  under  private  orders,  secretly  evacuated  rort 

centrates  Moultrie,  which  had  been  his  headquarters,  and  con- 

forces  in  centrated    his    forces    in    Fort    Sumter.      This    being 

Sumter.  construed  by  the   State  authorities   as   a  hostile   act, 

all  the  other  fortifications  in  Charleston  harbour  were  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  South  Carolina  troops;  and  the  convention, 
which  had  taken  no  recess  from  the  arduous  work  of  building  a 
government,  either  on  Sunday  or  Christmas  Day,  communicated 
again  with  President  Buchanan. 

On  December  2y,  Secretary  of  War  Floyd  urged  the  withdrawal 
of  the  Union  troops  from  Fort  Sumter;  but  the  President  hesi- 
tated in  taking  so  decisive  a  step;  although  the  South  Carolina 
commissioners,  presenting  to  him  on  December  28  the  Ordinance 
of  Secession,  demanded  possession  of  the  fort  as  the  right  of  their 
State. 

On    December    29,    Secretary    Floyd    resigned    his 
Convention         ^^^^^    feeling    his    honour    involved.      President    Bu- 

calls    for    vol-        ,  ...  ^  ,  ,       i         o         i       ^         i-  /- 

unteers  chanan    still   refused;    and    the    South    Carolina    Con- 

vention issued  a  call  for  volunteer  troops. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
REV  AND  DEAR  SIR,  Dec.  31,  i860. 

Dr    Smyth's  Many    thanks    for    your    kind,    cordial    letter. 

answer  to  Though  uo  longer  united  in  the  Union,  we  are 
Dr.  Jacobus,  united  out  of  it;  and  will  still  be  joined  in  heart, 
in  hope,  may  we  hope,  in  church;  and  is  it,  O  God,  beyond 

^President  Buchanan  had  appointed  Jan.  4,  1861,  as  Fast  Day. 
—Ed. 

^Professor  at  Allegheny  Seminary,  and  Dr.  Smyth's  old  friend. 
—Ed. 


568 

hope,  in  the  Union  purified  and  perfected !  To  such  a  hope  I 
still  traitorously  cling.  This  led  me,  as  I  was  driven  from  step 
to  step,  to  Secession — not  for  its  own  sake,  nor  because  I  loved 
my  country  less.  This  I  was  led,  and  am  still  forced  to  con- 
sider, the  last  hope  of.  a  preserved  and  perpetuated  Union. 
A  new  life  and  character,  requiring  a  new  birth  were  neces- 
sary, and  it  seems  that  these  can  be  secured,  if  God  has  them 
in  store,  only  through  rupture  and  thro'  blood.  Nothing  short 
of  this  it  seems  could  lead  to  conciliatory  compromise,  and  a 
sincere  return  to  the  simplicity  and  co-equal  compromises, 
mutual  confidence  and  good  will,  of  the  Constitution.  Will 
they  yet  do  so?  God  alone  can  work  in  us  all  both  to  will  and 
to  do.  With  man  it  is  impossible,  but  with  God  all  things  are 
possible.  Here  am  I  where  his  church  and  providence  sent 
me  and  have  hitherto  bound  me,  and  for  weal  or  woe  her  des- 
tiny, even  if  destruction,  is  mine. — 

Blood  must  be  shed!     In  an  awful  sense,  with- 
avoi'arbie.  ""'    °^^  ^^^  shedding  of  blood  there  can  be  no  peace, 

no  at-one-ment.  Madness  rules  the  hour  and  the 
dogs  of  war  are  let  loose,  and  howl  and  raven  for  their  prey. 
I  write  in  a  camp  all  in  commotion.  Two  forts  are  in  battle 
array.  Three  or  four  redoubts,  on  islands  guarding  the  ap- 
proaches of  the  harbour,  are  going  up.     Hundreds  of  laborers 

— perhaps  thousands — are  at  work,  and  the  youth 

Volunteers.  ,       .  .       ,  .  .  ,  , 

and  chivalry  of  our  city  are  as  yet  the  only  sol- 
diers ;  and  besides  those  who  have  rallied  to  these  points,  our 
streets  are  martial,  and  every  man  is  either  a  soldier  or  for 
fighting,  with  the  watch-word  death,  but  not  degradation! 
One  old  man  over  ninety,  says  if  he  can  hold  a  gun — and  he 
can — he  has  a  life  for  South  Carolina.  Five  young  men  took 
leave  of  me  yesterday  after  church,  having  received  counsel 
and  encouragement  from  Paul  and  Silas,  in  their  midnight 
prison  prayer  of  praise  and  cheer — and  are  now  in  the  ram- 
parts, or  in  the  deadly  breech :  one  is  an  Elder  and  devoted 
Superintendent,  two  are  Northerners  and  one  English,  one  of 
them  a  son  of  a  Massachusetts'  clergyman.^  They  hardly 
hoped  to  meet  me  again  in  the  body,  and  may  even  while  I 
write — midnight- — be  making  a  desperate  and,  to  my  mind, 
hopeless  assault  on  the  impregnable  fortress  in  our  harbour, 

"Of  these  young  men,  Major  R.  C.  Gilchrist,  who  took  a  prom- 
inent part  in  the  defense  of  Morris  Island,  was  the  Elder  and 
Superintendent;  the  Englishman  was  James  H.  Taverner,  who 
died  of  a  wound  received  at  Secessionville  and  was  buried  by  Dr. 
Smyth  in  the  old  church  yard;  one  Northerner  was  George  S. 
Baker,  afterwards  an  Episcopal  clergyman. — Ed. 


569 

accessible  only  by  sea,  our  troops  being  without  ships,  or  nec- 
essary implements  of  war. — 

Oh,  my  God  I  my  God !  why  hast  thou  deserted  and  de- 
stroyed us. — 

Oh  1  ought  not  such  spirits  to  have  been  more  appreciated 
and  cherished  by  the  brotherhood,  and  preserved  for  a  common 
foe  and  for  the  glorv-  of  a  common  country. 

But  I  must  close;  I  shall  be  with  all,  every  where,  who  in 
this  hour  of  extremity  (which  is  God's  opportunity^, )  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  theirs  and  ours.  In 
Him !  our  blessed  I  thrice  blessed  Jesus  I  We  are  one  and  for- 
ever One ! 

Annihilation  ^^  conclusion,  be  ye  sure  that  until,  like  Ben- 

preferabie   to    jamiu,  this  little  tribe  in  our  Israel  is  annihilated, 
submission.       ^^iq  nevcr  can  be  united  by  coercion. 

Yours  in  the  Lord — 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

P.  S.  Dr.  Hodges'  Special  pleading  article'  drives  the 
wedge  of  disunion  hard  into  the  opening  fissure. 

To  Rev.  Professor  Jacobus. 

From  Elder  Gilchrist,  in  Camp  on  Morris  Island. 

DEAR  DR., 

Remember  to  pray  for  us  down  here ;  if  there  is  a  fight  we 

are  the  ist  to  be  in  it  and  anticipate  being  probably  cut  to 

pieces —  We  realize  our  position  and  do  not  shrink  from  it. 

Every  night  and  morning  we  have  a  prayer  meeting  which, 

altho'  voluntar)',  is  attended  by  the  whole  corps,  with  one  or 

2  exceptions.     Our  only  trust  is  in  the  arm  of  God.    ]May  He 

Bless  you  all.  Affectionately  Vours, 

,    ^  '  R.'C.  GILCHRIST. 

In  Camp 

Jan  5/61 

To  Dr.  Smyth. 

'Dr.  Hodge  had  unfortunately  used  the  following-  phrase  in  his 
article  which  neutralized  in  great  measure  his  honest  efforts  to 
preserve  the  unity  of  the  Church: — 

■'All  this,  until  recently,  was  the  common  sentiment  of  the 
country;  and  the  man  who  should  advocate  a  dissolution  of  the 
Union  would  have  been  associated,  in  the  estimation  of  his 
countrymen,  with  Benedict  Arnold.  And  such,  we  doubt  not.  will 
be  the  position  assigned  by  the  judgment  of  posterity  to  the 
authors  of  disunion,  should  that  calamity  befall  us."  Hodge's 
State  of  the  Country,  p.  2. — Ed. 


570 

The  Star  of  the  West,  a  vessel  sent  by  the  U.  S. 

Firing  on  Government,  with  supplies  for  Fort  Sumter,  endeav- 

the   Star   of  ^11  ,       ,  ,  . 

the    West.  oured   to   enter    Charleston   harbour   on   the   mornmg 

of  Jan.  9,  1861.  This  being  construed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  South  Carolina  as  a  hostile  act,  the  battery  stationed 
on  Morris  Island  opened  fire  when  the  vessel  entered  Ship  Island 
channel;  the  battery  at  Fort  Moultrie,  under  command  of  Major 

Ripley,  also  joined  in  the  action.  In  all  there  were 
The  first  f^^j.  ghQ|-g.  ^he  first,  from  Morris   Island,  where  the 

•y^^j,  battery  was  manned  by  the  Citadel  Cadets,  was  fired 

by  Cadet  G.  W.  Haynesworth;  the  gun,  No.  i,  was 
under  command  of  Cadet  Capt.  John  M.  Whilden,  Major  P.  F. 
Stevens  being  in  charge  of  the  whole  battery.  Fort  Sumter  did 
not  fire;  but  an  officer  was  sent  by  Maj.  Anderson  to  the  Gover- 
nor in  Charleston,  to  enter  a  formal  protest. 

The  Star  of  the  West  was  struck  by  one  shot  only,  in  her  coal 
bunker,  the  damage  being  slight;  but  no  further  attempt  was  made 
by  her  to  approach  the  fort.  The  Zouave  Cadets,  under  Capt. 
Chichester,  were  also  on  duty  on  Morris  Island  at  this  tim^. — 
Editor. 


ROCKBRIDGE  BATHS. 

Jan'y  ii,  1861. 
REV.  DOCT.  SMYTHE: 
DEAR  SIR 

I  am   feeling  great  anxiety  for  you  and  your 

Message    from  j^     -^    ^j^j^    ^^^    ^^^^    ^^    ^j^^.^.    ^^j^|      ^-^^ 

Virginia.  .  .   .  .         . 

please  write  me  the  condition  of  affairs  in  your 
City,  we  here  so  many  false  rumers  we  cant  tell  who  or  what 
to  believe,  we  see  it  stated  that  your  people  are  on  the  point  of 
starvation  and  much  sickness  prevailed  in  the  army  &.  C. 

If  any  of  your  people  wish  to  leave  the  city  and  flee  to  some 
place  of  safety,  say  to  them  for  me  that  I  have  comfotable 
quarters  for  100.  and  will  take  pleasure  in  making  them  com- 
fortable. 

We  are  in  no  danger  here  in  the  mountains  of  having  any 
attack  made  on  us.  I  think  they  would  be  perfectly  safe,  if 
they  leave  they  better  leave  soon  for  our  rail  Roads  and  pub- 
lic conveyances  will  all  be  torn  up.  Virginia  thinks  you  all 
went  too  hasty  but  her  feelings  and  simpathies  are  with  you, 
and  in  battle  and  war  we  are  for  our  rights  and  the  rites  of 
the  South. 

Your  Friend, 

W.  A.  MANN. 


571 

Copy  of  Letter  to  Mr.  Comstock,  Journal  of  Commerce, 
Jan.  14,  1861. 

DEAR  SIR  :— 

Your  recent  editorials  have  pained  me,  both  pri- 
protest  vately,    and    in    hearing    others    remark    on    the 

against  change. 

Northern  What  is  the  conncction  of  "no  coercian,"  which 

publications.  .  .  ,       , 

has  been  your  Doctrme,  with  the  enforcement  of 
revenue,  the  defence  of  property,  and  the  maintenance  of 
rights  ? 

Surely  this  is  saying  peace  and  meaning  war !  Has  the 
South  no  interest  or  property  in  all  that  was  the  common 
capital  of  a  copartnership,  from  which  she  withdraws?  Does 
dissolution  of  compact  forfeit  and  escheat  all  right  and  title 
to  the  common  domain?  To  whom  ought  forts, 
of  the  South  arsenals,  custom  houses,  &c,  to  go  in  the  division 
on  the  forts  of  property,  but  to  those  for  whose  immediate 
within  her  benefit  they  were  provided  and  to  whom  alone 
'    '  they  are  either  of  value  or  service?     Has  not  the 

South  paid  2/3ds  of  the  cost  and  the  expenses  of  said  prop- 
erty? Has  she  not  besides  paid  a  large  proportion  of  all 
national  expenditures?  Does  she  not  expect  and  desire  to 
account  for  these,  and  all  common  property  found  in  her 
hands,  in  an  equitable  arrangement  of  the  public  domain  [  ?] 
and  public  property? 

7.  Does  not  the  great  proportion  of  such  forts,  arsenals, 
munitions  of  war,  manufactories  of  arms,  mint,  &c,  remain  in 
the  hands  of  the  North  and  Northwest? 

8.  Is  it  kind  then  to  speak  of  the  South  grabbing  (that 
means  stealing,)  property  which  by  every  instinct  of  self 
preservation  and  of  equitable  right  she  was  impelled  by  neces- 
sity to  use? 

9.  What  would  it  be  in  the  North  to  claim  this,  while  hold- 
ing on  to  all  other  property ;  and  instead  of  proposing  by  com- 
mission to  treat  for  an  equitable  partition,  threaten  the  South 
with  a  war  of  destruction,  hold  our  only  strong  fort  to  menace, 
and  when  she  pleases,  virtually  endanger,  our  life,  liberty,  and 
happiness; — universally  applauding  Major  Anderson's  be- 
trayal of  public  and  private  confidence  and  his  own  word  of 
honor,  repeatedly  given  in  private,  and  his  endeavor  to  put 
the  fort  into  condition  to  destroy  our  city  and  countless  lives? 
,,  .    .    ,  But  enough ;  Major  Anderson's  movement  be- 

Maj.   Ander-  &      »  j 

son's  action  youd  coutrovcrsy  gave  to  Secession  Georgia  and 
precipitates  Alabama,  and  precipitated  the  whole  movement 
movemen  .        goutli  and  North  of  us.     His  occupancy  of  the 


573 

fort,  which  can  and  will  be  taken  if  made  necessary — though 
with  dreadful  hazard  and  loss — keeps  up  the  war  heat  which 
would  long  since  have  subsided. 

Could  the  South  be  left  to  take  her  forts  and  enjoy  them 
undisturbed,  and  go  on  and  make  out  her  platform,  she  would 
sober  down  to  calm  reasoning;  and  present  a  tangible  basis 
for  propositions  for  compromise  and  reconstruction,  But 
goaded  and  stung  by  continual  threat  of  coercion  and  destruc- 
tion, of  necessity  she  will  return  evil  for  evil,  and  at  all  hazards 
pursue  her  course. 

Compromise  '^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  ^^  judgment.     There  is  still  a  deep 

still  possible  Underlying  affection  and  pride  for  our  late  United 
if  coercion        Country  which,  if  not  crushed  out  by  the  presence 

abandoned.  ,.  ,.  .  ,  ,  .  .     • 

of  malignant  passions,  would  be  ready  to  sprmg  up 
under  any  favourable  culture,  and  be  glad  to  find  State  Sov- 
ereignty and  confederated  union  again  harmoniously  blended. 

It  is  most  amusing  to   read   the  accounts   you   even,   and 
others  still  more  freely,  publish  of  our  social  condition. 
Charleston  ^  ucvcr  saw  greater  order,  quietness,  confidence, 

quiet  and  and  pcacc — uo  mobs  nor  gatherings  nor  tumult; 

orderly.  j^^^.  gygj^  ^j^  iHuminatiou  for  Secession.     None  of 

the  occurrences  pathetically  and  patriotically  related  have  oc- 
curred.    No  levies  have  been  made  by  private  marauders. 

On  the  Sabbath  alluded  to,  and  every  other,  we  had  a  full 
attendance  of  ladies,  and  a  quiet  respectable  number  of  men, 
at  Church,  nor  do  I  believe  one  lady,  and  not  ten  women  in 
Charleston,  have  spent  Sabbath  time  in  preparing  bullets,  &c. 
The  health  of  some  2  or  3000  soldiers  has  been  remarkably 
good — no  sickness  beyond  colds,  and  no  deaths  that  I  have 
heard  of. 

Dr   Smyth  ^^  ^^^^  dear  Sir,  lose  heart  qr  hope.    The  same 

urges  honor,    truth,   high    spirited   bearing   you    always 

patience.  admired   are    still   here   and   actively   in   control. 

Some  movements  many  have  regretted,  but  on  the  whole  au- 
thority and  the  best  public  opinion  have  been  in  favor  of 
peaceful  and  purely  defensive  measures,  and  have  prevented 
no  doubt,  rash  and  dangerous  attempts,  eagerly  desired  against 
the  Fort.— 

I  am  still  a  mourner  at  the  grave  of  our  com- 
He  mourns       ^^^^  couutrv ;  but  if,  as  it  would  seem,  the  belief 

the   Union.  '    ' 

has  taken  root  that  she  was  designed  to  be,  and 
was,  a  consolidated  military  and  coercive  majority  govern- 
ment, then  let  any  amount  of  misery  be  endured  nozv  while 
the  monster  is  in  its  immature  condition  in  order  to  destroy 
it,  and  let  all  the  thunders  of  heaven  blast  it  with  perdition. 


573 

Give   us   this   liberty,   equality,   and   coequal   fraternity   and 
respectability  as  Sovereign  States,  or  give  us  death. 
Yours  as  ever  very  cordially, 
Alls  Well.  .  "      THOMAS  SMYTH. 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 
MY  DEAR  DOCTOR ;  Jan.  15,  1861. 

*  *  Is  there  nothing  that  I  can  do  for  your 
Abo^iiUotlists  brave  little  State,  the  home  of  my  adoption?  You 
are  not  aware  how  I  gloried  in  the  opportunities 
afforded,  and  they  were  legion,  when  abroad,  of  defending  the 
South  and  her  rights — especially  when  in  Edinburgh,  where 
Cheever's*  advent  furnished  ample  occasion ;  and  where  the 
letters  of  two  former  officers  of  his  church,  proving  upon  him 
the  charge  of  winking  at  and  abetting  the  "sin  of  slavery"  in 
the  person  of  a  wealthy  member  of  his  church,  produced  a  pro- 
found impression,  awakening  not  a  little  suspicion  as  to  that 
Rt.  Rev.'s  veracity,  as  well  as  vaporing.  And  here,  every  day, 
I  am  attacked  more  or  less  on  the  "vexed  question,"  and  in 
my  humble  way  defend  the  South  and  her  gallant  leader,  S. 
Carolina.  But  these  encounters  make  me  feel  I  am  in  an 
enemy's  country,  and  I  long  to  be  where  all  my  predilections 
and  principles  point,  zvith  you.  Yet  there  is  nothing  for  me 
to  do  in  Charleston?  *  *  How  about  a  chaplaincy  in  the 
army  of  the  "Republic  of  So.  Ca.f" 

But  I  must  not  forget  to  thank  you  for  your  thoughtful 
and  discriminating  discourse  on  "the  Sin  and  its  Curse," 
which  lays  bare  the  bitter  root  of  the  whole  evil — and  whilst 
Declaration  of  V^j'^^S  ^^e  tribute  of  a  lofty  patriot  to  a  Majestic 
Independence  Constitution,  discovers  the  poison  of  our  "Dec- 
at  fault.  laration"   imbedded  in  its   original  principle  ;  the 

only  practical  antidote  to  which  is  the  secession  of  your  State, 
and  the  chivalrous  conduct  of  her  sons.  God  speed  the  right 
and  bless  you  and  yours !      Your  son  in  Christ, 

J.  H.  CARROLL. 

ALLEGHENY  Jan.   18,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER  SMYTH, 

Your    note    to    "the    Banner,"    enclosed    with 
The     resbyte-   j^^jjj^g    ,^^g   delivered  as  you   requested.     Let  me 

nan    Banner.  '  .  -'  ^ 

say  ist,  that  neither  Dr.  Plumer  nor  myself  have 

'Rev.  George  B.  Cheever  of  New  York,  one  of  the  violent  abo- 
litionists; classed  with  Beecher  as  a  speaker.  See  reference  in  vol. 
1,  p.  547,  Smyth's  Works.— Ed. 

^Dr.  Plumer  was  very  much  in  sympathy  with  the  South,  where 
he  had  received  his  education  and  spent  his  early  ministerial 
career.     He  was  always  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's  personal  friends. — Ed. 


574 

any  association  with  that  paper — and  never  had ;  and  can  have 
no  responsibihty  for  its  issues.  Often  such  items  as  you  com- 
plain of  are  as  disagreeable  to  us  as  they  can  be  to  you.  What 
can  either  you  or  we,  do,  at  such  a  time  of  excitement,  but 
trust  in  the  Xian  integrity  and  fraternity  of  our  Chh.,  and  not 
drive  such  unhappy  dissensions  through  her  bosom.  I  will 
do  what  I  can  to  expostulate  with  the  Edr  of  Banner!'  I  no- 
tice your  kind  and  patriotic  words  as  to  a  reunion. 
Se^aration"^  God  in  his  mcrcy  grant  it  for  the  Chh's  sake,  and 
for  the  sake  of  our  afflicted  nation !  But  why  is 
it  that  we  hear  no  such  soothing  words  from  your  public  men? 
It  seems  to  us  that  they  will  hear  nothing,  except  of  utter  and 
final  separation.  And  alas !  the  violence  provoking  violence, 
has  been  my  chief  fear.  Ought  not  the  Xian  element  to  show 
itself  as  an  element  of  forbearance  even  under  wrongs,  of 
patriotism  and  peace,  instead  of  violence  and  defiance?  Must 
our  dear  Country  be  rent  in  sunder,  whether  or  no,  without 
EVERY  MEANS  first  used  to  procure  adjustment?  These 
things  cannot  be  done  in  a  day.  Perhaps  some  pressure  of 
rare  emergency  is  well.  But  why  not  some  pause  ? 
Concession        Some   forbearance,   at   least  some   concession   on 

necessary    on  .  .  r  .-, 

both  sides.        both  sidcs,  cvcu  to  supprcssion   [?J,  rather  than 
do    wrong?      This   is   my   constant   doctrine   and 
testimony  here.     And  the  Xian  rule  works  both  ways,  and  in 
both  sections  the  same.     The  pushing  to  such  desperate  ex-. 
tremities  as  lead  to  blood  and  destruction,  is  my 
government       dread.  The  Government  ought  to  be  distinguished 
distinct  from    from  the  States  of  either  section.     It  may  take 
State  gov-        strong  measures  to  maintain  its  position.    But  the 
States  hereabout  are  not  hostile  to  the  South,  as 
has  been  inferred  from  their  note  at  the  late  election.     And 
they  will  not  be  alienated,  except  at  the  last  extremity — I  hope 
and  pray  never;  they  would  fly  now  to  your  relief,  with  a 
sharing  of  their  last  loaf  and  of  their  last  regi- 
feeHna'^^  mcut,  for  dcfcncc  against  foreign  invasion.     And 

if  they  talk  of  coercion!     I  know  of  no  sense  in 
which  it  is  approved,  except  in  the  sense  of  Jacob's  wrestling 
with  the  covenant  angel,  "I  will  not  let  thee  go!"     This  mis- 
erable question   of  future  territories   seems  now 
territories  ^°  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  Sticking  point.     And  the  scheming 

politicians  are  thus  far  in  the  way  of  adjustment. 
If  it  can  get  to  the  people,  I  am  persuaded  some  method  of 
settlement  wd  be  found  and  you  wd  see  that  the  people  here 
are  not  hostile  to  the  South,  as  you  suppose.    My  dear  brother, 

^Dr.  David  McKinney.     See  letter  p.  578. — Ed. 


575 

can  you  not  use  your  large  influence  to  counsel  utmost  mod- 
eration— to  study  the  things  that  make  for  peace?  Do  not 
despair  of  our  nation.  Do  not  countenance  bitter  denuncia- 
tions of  all  the  North,^-&  of  the  Union.  You  cleave  to  the 
Constitution.  Why  can  we  not  live  together  under  it  as  afore- 
time? Even  Mr.  Seward  declares  himself  ready 
Possible  ^Q  £qj.  ^j^  amendment  prohibiting  any  future 

amendment  .        "  .  ,         ,  a  j     i 

prohibiting  mtcrfcrcnce  with  slavery,  where  it  exists.  Can 
future  inter-  you  join  the  Garrisou  Abolitionists/  against  us, 
Svery  "^''^  ^  ^^^^y  ^^^  Union  ?  And  I  think  the  fighting  had 
better  be  in  the  Territories,  when  they  are  wanted 
by  either  section,  or  both,  than  to  have  the  States  deluged  with 
blood,  about  such  an  abstraction,  where  climatic  &  Providen- 
tial law  will  best  settle  it.  My  dear  friend,  this  I  know  that 
'whether  I  am  a  brother  of  all  mankind^  or  not,  I  am  your 
brother  in  Xt.  I  can  see  where  your  section  has  been  ag- 
grieved, irritated,  wronged.  But  I  can  also  see 
tions  not  so  whcrc  you  havc  been  led  to  misjudge,  if  you  have 
extreme  as  thought  tlic  North,  as  such,  would  allow  the  East 
Eastern  ^^  meddle  with  your  domestic  institution.     And 

the  great  Middle  and  Border  States  are  anxious 
to  see  this  great  matter  set  right  for  all  the  future,  in  a  way 
honestly  satisfactory  to  both.  If  you  (or  we)  cannot  now  get 
every  thing  we  think  fair  and  equal,  can  we  not  be  content  for 
the  time,  with  what  is  practicable,  rather  than  see  the  infinite 
wrong  done  to  brethren,  to  humanity,  to  the  Church,  of  break- 
ing down  this  glorious  Republic?  The  Lord  bless  &  keep  you 
always. 

Your  brother  in  Xt, 

M.  W.  JACOBUS. 

P.  S.  The  convention  for  Prayer  assembled 
^"'pra' er  here,  comprising  300  delegates  from  Ohio,  Central 
&  West  Pa,  N.  W.  Virga,  &  Indiana,  appointed  me 
to  draft  a  letter  on  a  Revival  in  reference  to  the  State  of  the 
Country;  which  was  unanimously  adopted.  I  will  send  it  to 
you.     Circulate  it  if  you  &  the  Southern  Pres.  like  it. 

M.  W.  J. 


^Garrison  and  his  followers  had  for  years  declared  the  Union 
unholy  and  the  Constitution  unconstitutional,  because  slavery  had 
been  officially  permitted. — Ed. 


576 
From  the  Editor  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce. 
REV  &  DEAR  SIR,  YONKERS,  N.  Y.  Jany,  19/61. 

Answer  to  Your   esteemed    favour   of    14   inst.    was    duly 

Dr.  Smyth's  received,  and  I  need  not  assure  you  was  very 
protest.  welcome,  notwithstanding  its  disapproval  of  some 

of  the  views  I  have  felt  called  upon  to  express  in  the  Journal 
of  Commerce.  At  a  time  like  the  present  much  latitude  of 
opinion  must  be  allowed,  and  I  am  most  happy  to  agree  so 
nearly  with  one  upon  whose  judgment  I  place  so  high  an 
estimate. 

You  will  agree  with  me  respecting  the  duty  of 
dent's  duty  ^^"^^  President  under  the  Constitution  and  laws, 
to  protect  He  has  no  choice  but  to  collect  the  revenue  and 
public  protect  the  public  property   //  practicable.     This 

he  has  sworn  to  do,  and  at  the  date  of  our  articles 
on  the  subject  to  which  you  refer,  it  did  not  seem  entirely  im- 
practicable. But  under  existing  circumstances  Congress  should 
relieve  him  of  what  seems  an  impossibility  and,  I  think,  enter 
upon  negotiations  with  the  seceding  states. 
The  North  From   your    standpoint   you    cannot    appreciate 

just  awaken-  the  force  of  pubHc  opinion  here,  nor  can  we  under- 
ing  to  the        stand    fully    the    feelings    which    animate    your 

people.  You  know  how  much  I  sympathise  with 
the  South.  They  have  been  injured  and  wronged,  and  I  would 
labor  in  any  manner,  or  do  anything  consistent  with  honor  to 
redress  those  wrongs.  The  people  of  the  North  were  not 
generally  aware  of  the  feeling  and  spirit  pervading  the  South, 

and  it   required   perhaps  the   election   of  Lincoln 
mco  n  s  ^^^  ^j^g  consequent  determined  movement  of  the 

election.  ^ 

South,  to  arouse  our  people  to  a  sense  of  the  peril 
in  which  the  Union  has  been  placed.  Now  the  North  feels  and 
understands  this  and  we  thought  if  you  would  give  us  a  little 
time,  a  reformation  could  be  wrought  in  public  sentiment  and 
the  Union  saved.  It  was  for  thi^  that  your  conservative  friends 
pleaded  for  time,  for  moderation. 

But  it  is  too  late  to  discuss  causes.  We  must  deal  with 
existing  facts.  I  deprecate  beyond  measure  a  resort  to  arms. 
It  would  be  an  unnatural,  an  inhuman  war,  and  ought  to  be — 
The  South  must  be  avoided.  If  the  President'  will  let  mat- 
^tack^Fort  ^^^^  remain  in  statu  quo  your  people  must  not 
Sumter.  rashlj  attack  Fort  Sumter. 

You  will  see  that  we  plead  earnestly  for  a  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  our  difficulties.  This  we  shall  continue  to  do,  but 
should  the  Lincoln  administration  propose  a  different  policy, 


577 

we  shall  be  found  in  direct  antagonism  to  it.  I  regret  to  say- 
that  there  is  but  little  prospect  of  any  relief  from 
d^n  kn"^"'  Congress.  The  Crittenden  plan*  will  not  pass,  and 
I  fear  that  nothing  satisfactory  will  be  dbne. 
Possibly  New  Mexico  may  be  admitted  as  a  State,  thus  dis- 
posing of  all  present  Territories  south  of  36°  30'.  This  would 
be  a  measure  of  security  for  the  North,  and  is  practicable  be- 
cause it  requires  no  constitutional  amendment. 

Deeply  as  I  regret  the  necessity  of  separation,  I  do  not  see 
how  it  can  be  avoided.  Possibly  we  may  reconstruct  a  govern- 
ment upon  a  basis  where  the  right  of  each  section  being 
Separation  clcarly  defined,  will  be  more  fixed  and  satisfac- 
apparentiy  tory.  To  this  let  US  look  as  our  ultimate  hope.  A 
unavoidable.  prompt  Separation  will  greatly  facilitate  a  satis- 
factory reconstruction. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  family  are  well.  Is  my  young 
friend  Ellison  a  secessionist?  Ask  him  to  write  me  a  letter, 
as  I  have  forgotten  none  of  the  pleasant  moments  spent  with 
him  and  Janey,  and  the  other  members  of  your  family.  Be 
kind  enough  to  remember  me  to  them  all. 

Very  truly  your  friend,  ELON  COMSTOCK. 

P.  S.  You  must  excuse  the  use  made  of  your  letter.  See 
paper  sent  herewith. 

*A  compromise  proposed  in  Congress  by  Senator  John  J.  Crit- 
tenden of  Kentucky,  on  December  18,  i860.  See  "Life,"  and 
Rhodes  "History  of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of 
1850."  The  following  summary  of  the  five  amendments  is  kindly 
furnished  by  the  Congressional  Library: 

"(i)  That  the  right  to  property  in  slaves  was  to  be  recognized 
and  that  slavery  was  to  be  permitted  and  protected  in  all  the  com- 
mon territory  south  of  36°  30',  and  prohibited  north  of  that  line, 
while  the  land  remained  in  its  territorial  status;  (2)  that  Congress 
was  not  to  have  power  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  places  under  its 
exclusive  jurisdiction  which  lay  within  a  State  where  slavery 
existed;  (3)  that  Congress  was  to  have  no  power  to  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  so  long  as  it  existed  in  either 
Maryland  or  Virginia,  and  then  only  after  the  owners  of  the 
slaves  had  been  compensated;  (4)  that  Congress  was  to  have  no 
power  to  prohibit  or  hinder  the  transportation  of  slaves  from  one 
State  to  another,  or  to  a  Territory  where  slavery  was  legal;  (5) 
that  Congress  might  provide  that  in  cases  where  escaped  slaves 
were  rescued,  or  their  arrest  prevented  by  mobs,  the  owners 
should  be  compensated  by  the  United  States,  which  in  turn  might 
recover  damages  from  the  County  in  which  the  illegal  act  oc- 
curred. All  of  these  amendments  were  to  be  permanent  and 
'unamendable.'  The  compromise  was  defeated  in  a  committee  of 
the  Senate  and  failed  of  consideration  in  the  House." — Ed. 

[371 


578 

PITTSBURGH,  PA.  Jan.  21/61. 
REV  THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D :' 

REV  &  DEAR  SIR, 
Dr.  McKin-  Yours  of  the  9th  has  been  read  with  much  sor- 

ney's  view  of  row.  It  is  painful  to  see  that  worldly  affairs,  and 
conditions.  those  mainly  misapprehensions,  should  so  trouble 
Christian  minds,  and  so  alienate  life-long  friends  and  brethren. 
We  have,  at  the  North,  no  such  feelings  toward  the  South  as 
you  attribute  to  us.  We  are  not  conscious  of  having  given 
you  any  adequate  provocation  to  treat  us  as  you  do. 

We   allow  you,   without   interference,   to   have 
Slavery  your  scrvauts.    All  we  ask  of  you  is  to  apply  the 

Nortii"^if  ^^  principles  of  the  Gospel ;  and  of  this  we  leave  you 
merciful!  to  bc  the  judgcs.     If  some  fellows  of  the  baser 

sort  go  among  you,  you  must  defend  yourselves, 
as  we  defend  ourselves  against  incendiaries  and  murderers 
from  abroad. 

Laws  protect-  ^c  accord  to  you  a  law  for  the  capture  of 
ing  slave-  fugitives  ;  and  if  any  interfere  you  have  the  United 
holders.  States  Court  and  the  whole  power  of  the  Execu- 

tive.    The  Territories  have  been  laid  open,  to  your  wish  and 

by  your  votes,  and  you  have  the  Constitution,  the 
economfr  Courts  and  the  Army.    If  the  laws  of  climate,  and 

conditions  of  humau   incrcasc,   and  of  immigration,   and  of 

against  moral  sentiment  are  against  you,  these  things  are 

slavery.  &  .7        j  &> 

not  under  our  controul.  These  are  God's  dis- 
pensations, and  they  will  roll  on,  as  rolls  the  tide.  Men  may 
fret  and  fight,  but  God  will  rule. 

Coercion  "Cocrcion,"  wc  dcprecatc  as  much  as  you  do. 

deprecated  We  havc  DO  idea  of  attempting  it,  in  any  unlawful 
unless  lawful,  ggj^gc.  We  wish  to  do  our  duty  toward  our 
brethren,  and  live  in  peace.  To  be  obliged  to  enforce  the  laws 
is  a  most  painful  thought.  But  how  can  we  avoid  it?  "Un- 
willing partners"  we  do  not  want;  but  how  can  we  help  our- 
selves, when  such  are  determined  to  occupy  the  National 
domain. 

South  Caro-  South  Carolina  is  no  Soverign  State ;  and  never 
lina  no  Sov-  was.  It  was  a  Colony  of  Great  Britain,  then  a 
ereign  State,  p^^^  q£  ^  Confederation ;  then  a  part  of  the  U.  S. 
It  never  had  a  sovereign  existence  and  must  not  have.  It  is 
part  of  a  Country,  to  whose  whole  territory,  the  whole  Nation 
has  a  right.     No  part  may  become  foreign. 

"From  Dr.  David  McKinney,  Editor  of  the  Presbyterian  Banner, 
and  a   Director  of  Allegheny  Seminary. — Ed. 


579 

A  State  must         ^^  ^^  ^°^  permit  the  English  government,  the 
not  make  French,  the  Spanish,  to  assume  authority  over  an 

itself  a  for-       ^cre   of   our   soil.      Why?     Because   it   wd   be   a 

■eign   power.  r         ■  a       i  .  ^ 

foreign  power.  And  can  we  permit  a  State  to 
make  itself  a  foreign  power?     No,  never! 

We  accord  to  the  people  of  all  the  States  equal  rights — per- 
fectly equal,  but  we  cannot  permit  any  part  of  our  territory 
National  do-  ^°  bccomc  alien.  The  National  domain  belongs 
main  property  to  all,  and  it  must  bc  preserved  to  the  Nation, 
of  the  Nation,    ^Vc  trust  that  you  will  not  try  to  coerce  us :  by 

not   the   State.     .1  ,  r     o  ■  1     r  r         •  ,■,■ 

threats  of  Secession,  armed  forces,  foreign  alli- 
ances, the  navies  of  England  &  France,  the  seizure  of  public 
property,  and  the  fire  of  your  cannon.  Be  at  peace.  Treat  us 
as  brethren.  Let  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  and  the  Courts, 
settle  our  affairs.  And  let  us  as  brethren  take  the  Gospel  for 
our  guide. 

I  trust  you  will  still  take  the  Banner.  Hear  what  we  have  to 
say.  If  you  wish  a  column  to  respond  to  my  notice  of  your 
sermon,  it  is  at  your  service. 

Yours  in  Christ  Jesus, 

DAVID  McKINNEY. 

Sister  Isabella — anti-Secession  fury.^ 

January  26,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  ADGER, 

There  was  a  paper  came  today  from  the  King- 
Hamiin^^'  ^"*  doui'  of  Charleston,  containing  the  pedigree  of 
Hamlin,"  it  was  marked  by  you,  and  purported  to 
have  been  composed  by  a  gentleman; — !  !  It  reminded  me  so 
much  of  the  story  told  of  the  French  writer  Dumas,  that  I 
think  I  must  tell  you  so.  You  probably  have  often  read,  that  on 
one  occasion,  Dumas  who-  HAS  some  African  blood  in  him ; 
was  attacked  by  an  impertinent  fellow  who  was  curious  about 
his  pedigree,  thus — Dumas,  who  was  your  father?,  a  Mulatto, 
Sir,  and  who  was  his  father?,  an  African,  Sir,  &  his?,  why, 
answered  the  writer,  my  pedigree  commenced  where  yours  has 
ended,  he  was  an  Ourang-Outang !  !  Do  please  find  the 
gentleman  and  furnish  him  with  this  item,  and   say  to  him 

"Heading  by  Dr.  Smyth. — Ed. 

'On  January  7,  1861,  the  Hon.  W.  G.  DeSaussure  spoke  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  duties  as  paid  by  "the  citizens  of 
other  kingdoms  than  the  State  of  South  Carolina." — Ed. 

'Vice-President '  to  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  was  commonly  be- 
lieved that  he  was  of  negro  descent  and  had  been  chosen  for  his 
position  for  that  reason. — Ed. 


580 

from  an  admirer  of  his  veracity — If  the  cap  fits,  let  him  wear 
it.     /  think  'twill  fit. 

A — is  a  man  here  with  some  money ;  he  will 
sympathizers  make  that  thousand  up  he  sent  to  "the  Kingdom," 
from  a  off  somc  poor  fcllow  who  trusts  to  his  word  and 

Northern  dout  havc  his  Written  bond. 

view-point.  A  1  -NT      1      -11  1  11- 

Another  JNashville  man  you  have  had  m  your 
kingdom  is  B — ;  he  is  a  man  of  no  standing,  a  bag  of  wind, 
a  loafer  and  a  drunkard;  has  changed  his  politics  over  and 
over.  He  married  an  elegant  woman  with  some  money  on 
whom  he  sponges  for  a  living;  he  has  nothing,  and  cannot 
get  the  chance  of  making  a  speech  either  in  a  Union  or  Dis- 
union crowd —  C —  is  another  of  our  b'hoys,  was  expelled 
from  West  Point  in  his  younger  days,  and  is  now  a  poor, 
disgraced,  drunken,  d;ebauchee — his  elegant  wife  and  two 
children  have  taken  refuge  at  her  father's.  He  is  here  now 
and  is  bragging  that  he  is  the  very  boy  who  fired  into  the 
Star  of  the  West  and  committed  such  dreadful  havoc  on  her 
decks.  How  will  your  naval  heroes  like  to  hear  of  the  shine 
being  taken  off  them  by  poor  C —  Oh !  chivalry. 
Su    lies  be-  Nobody  is  doing  any  business  here  but  the  Rail 

ing  drawn        Roads — they  are  on  the  drive  all  the  time  for- 
trom  the  warding,  shall  I  tell  you  what — ■  Let  me  whisper, 

somebody  might  hear  me  in  your  AUSTRIAN 
City !  Why  bread  stuffs  from  the  "North,"  our  streets  are 
filled  with  flour  from  Indiana,  from  Ohio ;  oh  horror !  how  can 
the  Southern  stomachs  consent  to  such  food  being  forced  into 
them — for  bless  you !  all  this  is  NORTHERN  bread,  if  for 
the  South.  Cotton  in  the  present  state  of  science,  not  being 
found  capable  of  being  convertible  into  bread,  not  even  mixed 
with  molasses  or  rice ;  the  weather  is  so  mild  that  I  dont  know 
but  what  we  shall  have  to  get  Northern  Ice  next  Summer ;  oh 
horror ! 

The  blue  robe        ^^  ^^^  name  of  ten  thousand  and  one  women,  I 
of  the  being  that  one,  I  protest  most  vehemently  against 

Speaker.  ^]-j^^  Viccroy  of  yours  wearing  a  Mazarine  Blue 

robe;°  let  him  get  up  red  or  black  or  yellow  or  something  we 

*The  only  blue  robe  worn  by  a  State  official  was  that  of  the 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  its  colour  was  more 
properly  described  as  "peacock  blue,"  the  robe  of  the  President 
of  the  Senate  being  purple.  These  two  magnificent  robes  were 
made  of  the  finest  Irish  poplin,  trimmed  heavily  with  velvet,  and 
were  purchased  by  special  appropriation  of  about  $2,000.00  in  1838; 
they  were  used  continuously  until  the  War  between  the  States, 
during  which  the  robe  of  the  President  of  the  Senate  disappeared. 


581 

all  dont  love  and  must  have  for  Winter,  sure.  Why  there  are 
99  in  every  hundred  of  our  bonnets  trimmed  with  it ;  and  every 
time  we  see  the  beautiful  colour,  we  send  off  on  the  wings  of 
the  wind  our  minds  to,  your  Viceroy's  robe  (forgive  me  if  I 
dont  give  your  dignitaries  grand  enough  titles,  I  am  too  much 
American  to  get  highfaulutinisms  off  my  heart,)  and  soon  our 
imagination  gets  to  work  and  we  wonder  if  he  dont  have  to 
practise  before  a  looking-glass  how  to  promenade  gracefully, 
in  his  aforementioned  Mazarin  blue  robe;  and  then  our  indig- 
nation gets  up,  our  honest  horror,  that  we  should  have  lost 
our  favorite  color;  and  do,  I  beg  of  you  tell  him  all  this,  and 
say  all  the  good  women  outside  his  own  dominions  request 
him  to  get  a  purple  one,  it  is  so  much  grander  a  color  anyhow, 
and  it  is  not  so  popular  with  us. — 

The  inde-  ^ct  US  hear  by  some  means  (if  the  story  is  true 

pendence  about  that  table,)  the  name  of  the  lady  who  would 

table.  j^Q^  jgj^^  yQ^  ^jjg  Jq^j^  q£  "The  old  Independence 

table'"  for  your  thunder  and  lightening  document  to  be  signed 
on. 

And  now  I  am  in  earnest,  and  I  want  to  tell  you  my  feelings 
on  the  state  of  the  country,  &  I  must  make  you  promise  not 
to  answer  me  on  the  subject,  either  by  paper  or  letter;  why? 
because  we,  or  I,  feel  too  deeply,  too  warmly,  and  we  might 
make  each  other  right  angry  and  you  know  that  would  really 
be  dreadful. 

After  the  war,  a  new  robe  was  purchased  and  used  for  a  time  by 
the  Speaker;  but  when  the  Hon.  James  Simons  was  elected  to 
that  office,  he  exchanged  robes  with  the  President  of  the  Senate, 
thus  securing  the  old  robe  his  father  had  worn  as  Speaker,  which 
he  then  had  carefully  repaired  at  his  own  expense,  and  used  until 
another  Speaker  took  his  place,  about  1890.  The  clerks  of  the 
houses  and  Senate  wore  black  silk  robes;  none  was  worn  by  any 
officer  of  the  Secession  Convention.  The  editor  is  indebted  for 
this  information  to  the  Hon.  James  Simons. — Ed. 

'The  "Independence  Table,"  an  heirloom  in  the  Laurens  family, 
is  now  owned  by  Henry  Laurens,  Esq.,  of  Charleston,  who  states 
that  after  the  signing  of  the  Declaration,  the  table  came  into  the 
possession  of  Henry  Laurens  of  Revolutionary  fame,  one  of  the 
signers.  President  of  Congress,  and,  in  1792,  Peace  Commissioner 
to  France.  The  table  is  of  oak,  about  six  feet  long  and  four  wide. 
In  i860  it  was  the  property  of  Miss  Roper,  a  member  of  the 
Laurens  family;  a  committee  from  the  Secession  Convention  was 
sent  to  her,  hoping  that  she  would  lend  the  relic  to  use  in  the 
ceremony  of  signing  the  Ordinance  of  Secession.  But  she,  though 
an  ardent  Southerner,  did  not  believe  in  secession;  and  thought 
that  ladies  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  politics. — Ed. 


582 

Mrs.  Faunt-  '^^^  ^^^^  ^  have  for  these  United  States  is  of 

leroy's  the  most  exalted  enthusiastic  nature;  every  inch 

patriotism.  q£  ^j^g  great  continent,,  territories,  and  all,  I  love ; 
the  Constitution  I  revere  next  only  to  the  Bible.  The  Amer- 
ican Flag*  comes  second  only  to  the  Cross  my  Saviour  died 
upon.  Of  all  human  emblems  it  is  to  me  the  grandest,  the 
dearest,  the  most  eloquent ;  every  star  is  as  precious  to  me  pver- 
sonally  as  my  right  eye.  I  never  see  it  without  a  thrill  of 
intense  delight.  We  have  it  in  every  room  of  our  humble 
home,  and  at  our  door,  it  is  our  glory — why?  because  it  rep- 
resents everything  that  is  worth  having  on  earth ;  freedom, 
just  think  what  an  amount  of  it;  prosperity,  intelligence,  social, 
moral,  mental  excellence ;  and  a  vitality  in  all  these  depart- 
ments that  makes  improvement  and  advance  a  necessary  con- 
sequence. You  never  can  imagine  my  deep  sorrow  to  see  my 
glorious  country  torn  and  distracted  by  intestine 
er    IS  1  e  o     f^^tions,  I  cousidcr  Disunion,  Secession,  Revolu- 

Secession.  _  '  '  _  ' 

tion,  or  whatever  you  may  call  it,  either  personally 
or  collectively,  TREASON,  of  the  BLACKEST  hue,  I  do 
not  know  but  what  it  is  the  unpardonable  sin.  If  my  country 
is  really  divided ;  torn  apart,  her  beloved  soil  stained  with 
blood,  her  progress  checked,  her  power  to  do  good  paralyzed — 
the  rising  generations,  among  them  my  boys,  robbed  of  their 
birthright,  their  claim  to  that  "proudest  of  all  human  titles, 

that  of  American  Citizen"  taken  away I  may,  after  long 

and  arduous  struggles  and  prayers  at  the  foot  of  that  "Won- 
drous Cross,"  forgive  the  perpetrators  of  the  monstrous  crime, 
but  I  cannot  say  so  now. —  My  Saviour  forgave  his  murderers, 
but  he  had  divine  compassion — I  have  only  hitman.  I  might, 
after  striving  hard,  be  able  to  say  and  feel,  "They  know  not 
what  they  do,"  again  imitating  Him ;  but  how  I  shrink  from 
the  trial,  how  I  pray,  I,  and  all  true  patriot  hearts,  that  these 
dark  days  may  not  come.  All  the  world  is  aghast  at  our 
madness  in  trying  to  tear  down  this  fair  temple,  all  the  world 
says  in  tones  of  thunder,  there  is  no  adequate  provocation,  or 

cause  for  disunion.  All  the  world  will  join  Dr. 
Dr.  Breckm-     Breckinrids^c  in  saying  "Oh!  everlasting  infamy, 

ridge  s   views.  "^  ,.  , 

that  the  children  of  Washington  know  not  how  to 
be  free !  oh  still  deeper  degradation,  that  the  children  of  God 
know  not  how  to  be  just  and  to  bear  with  each  other!" —  I 
believe  I  must  stop ;  again  saying  to  you  not  to  answer  me  on 
this  subject,  either  by  letter  or  paper.  I  have  loved  you  ever 
since  you  were  a  baby — and  I  have  loved  your  Father  ever 

^She  was  buried  with  it  wrapped  around  her  coffin. — Ed. 


583 

since  I  was  a  baby,  most  dearly  and  deeply — but  nothing  could 
convince  me  that  you  are  right  now. —  Give  my  love  to  your 
sweet  young  wife,  your  dear  Mother,  your  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, all. 

May  we  all  meet  in  a  better  world ;  there  our  love  can  never 
be  endangered  by  differences,  one  song  will  be  sung  there,  and 
for  ever. — 

Your  affectionate  Aunt, 

ISABELLA  FAUNTLEROY.' 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

Jan.  29,  1861. 
DEAR  FATHER, 

Student  life  ■""  ^"^  ^°^  hard  at  work  at  my  books,  have  just 

at  the  South  got  thro'  a  recitatiou  for  Joe  Le  Conte ;  &  as  I 
Carolina  have    a    fcw    minutcs    to    spare   before    his    hour 

^^^'  comes,  I  thought  I  would  just  drop  you  a  line  to 

let  you  know  how  I  was  getting  on.  I  have  been  called  up  by 
several,  tho'  not  all,  of  the  professors,  since  I  have  been  here, 
&  so  I  am  getting  into  the  way  of  reciting  to  them.  I  com- 
menced Paley  yesterday  under  Mr.  Barnwell.  We  have  his 
branch  only  once  a  week,  and  so  to  make  up  for  it  he  gives  us 
awful  long  lessons.  I  have  also  begun  Physiology  under  Dr. 
La  Borde  and  I  think  I  will  like  it  very  much  indeed.  Latin  & 
Greek  I  do  not  find  much  difficulty  with,  but  Mr.  Venable  on 
the  Mathematical  branch,  "makes  us  sweat,"  to  use  one  of 
Judge's  expressions.  The  two  Le  Contes  are,  I  think,  very 
able  men.^  They  lecture  to  us,  and  we  have  to  take  notes  on 
their  lectures  and  then  write  them  out  afterwards.  This  is 
very  troublesome  and  tiresome,  but  it  has  to  be  done  if  you 
wish  to  take  a  high  stand  in  your  class. 

I  saw  Dr.  Periodicity'^  last  night.     He  says  that  he  has  got 

^Dr.  Smyth's  daughter,  Mrs.  Flinn,  writes: 

"The  letter  from  Aunt  Isabella  I  remember  well — &  Father's 
righteous  indignation  over  it.  He  was  very  proud  of  his  sister 
Isabella,  &  very  fond;  &  extremely  glad  to  hear  from  her  again 
after  the  war.  He  thought  her  really  gifted —  Mother  was  more 
attracted  by  Aunt  Anna,  Mrs.  Plunket." — Ed. 

*A11  the  professors  of  the  South  Carolina  College  at  that  time 
were  "very  able  men,"  but  the  brothers  Le  Conte  became  famous 
among  the  scientific  men  of  America. — Ed. 

^Dr.  E.  T.  Buist,  so  called  because  of  his  constant  use  of  that 
expression.  Dr.  Smyth's  nickname  was  Mr.  Take-your-time,  and 
Dr.  Adger  was  said  to  have  been  St.  John  when  he  went  to 
Smyrna,  Pope  John  after  his  return. — Ed. 


584 

the  books  from  the  library  which  you  wanted,  and  that  he  will 
send  them  down  by  the  first  opportunity. 

Caricatures  ^Y  ^he  by,  I  heard  the  other  day  of  a  good 

of  the  Pro-  drawing  made  by  one  of  the  students  of  the  dif- 
fessors.  fereut  professors.     First  came  Dr.  Leland  truth- 

fully portrayed,  and  busily  talking  about  "the  vast  importance 
of  the  subject."  Next  Mr.  Cohen  was  seen  digging  in  the  dirt 
to  try  and  discover  some  new  Hebrew  Roots.  Dr.  Howe's 
branch  you  know,  is  the  Canon,  and  when  this  drawing  was 
executed,  the  students  were  pretty  well  tired  of  the  subject; 
so  he  was  represented  as  sitting  on  a  cannon  loaded  with  rolls 
of  parchment,  but  the  cannon  had  exploded  and  there  was  the 
Dr,  crutch,  parchments,  and  all,  flying  about  in  the  air.  Dr. 
Thornwell  had  Adam,  minus  clothes,  by  the  shoulder,  and  was 
giving  him  an  outrageous  scolding  for  committing  the  first 
sin  and  thereby  entailing  misery  on  us  all.  Uncle  John^  was 
represented  as  dragging  a  Ruling  Elder  along  into  the  pulpit 
by  the  collar,  explaining  "Come  along,  you  have  as  much  right 
here  as  I  have."    I  thought  this  very  good  when  I  heard  it. 

When  I  first  came  up,  I  gave  your  message  to  the  man  at 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  office  and  I  hope  you  now  get  your 
paper  regularly.  If  you  do  not,  if  you  will  just  tell  me  so  the 
next  time  you  write  to  me,  I  will  remind  him  again  that  you 
are  a  subscriber.     *     *     * 

Give  my  love  to  all.  Mother,  Ellen,"  Annie,*  Sue,  Sarah 
Ann,  Ellison,  Janie,  Adger,  and  all;  and  believe  me  ever 

Your  afifectionate  son, 

AUGUSTINE. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Jan.  30/61. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Dr   Black-  *     *     I  send  you  a  N.  Y.  Times,  but  it  is  prob- 

wood's  views  able  that  such  an  "abolition"  paper  may  not  be 
on  political  permitted  to  reach  you,  as  the  guardians  of  your 
situation.  interests  in  the  Post  Office  may  fear  its  contam- 

inating effects'  Should  you  get  it,  run  over  the  meeting  at 
New  York  &  see  what  such  men  as  Brady  &  the  Northern 
Democrats  think  of  the  position  of  the  Cotton  States.  I  am 
aware  that  at  present  there  is  no  use  in  saying  or  in  writing 

"Dr.  John  B.  Adger,  who  maintained  the  identity  of  the  ruling 
elder  with  the  presbyter.  See  Dr.  Smyth's  Theories  of  the  Elder- 
ship, vol.  IV,  especially  p.  172,  etc. — Ed. 

'Miss  Ellen  Crawford,  his  former  nurse. — Ed. 

*Adger  Smyth's  young  wife. — Ed. 

"See  note  p.  "158.— Ed. 


585 

anything  to  any  person  in  the  South.  Experience  however 
will  be  found  a  schoolmaster.  One  thing-  I  cannot  help  ex- 
pressing, viz :  rather  than  see  the  establishment  in  this  country 
of  a  precedent  warranting  minorities  to  rebel  &  seek  to  gain 
by  disloyal  assaults  on  the  government,  by  separation,  seces- 
sion, seizure  of  government  property,  perjury,  and  utter  re- 
pudiation of  solemn  oaths — rather  than  see  such  a  mode  of 
overcoming  majorities  &  bringing  them  round  to  surrender 
principle,  place,  &  power,  inaugurated,  I  think  every  far  sighted 
man  in  the  country  would  do  well  to  permit  the  establishment 
of  three,  FOUR,  FIVE,  or  any  number  of  separate  confed- 
eracies. I  do  not  speak  of  Slavery  at  all.  I  refer  merely  to 
the  broad  principle  on  which  the  Southern  movement  is  based ; 
which  must  if  carried  out  break  up  Alabama,  Georgia,  &c,  &c, 
as  well  as  the  Union  itself.  But  into  the  Maelstrom  of  poli- 
tics I  must  not  descend.     *     *     *         Very  truly, 

„       ^,  ^       .    _,    _,  WM.  BLACKWOOD.^ 

Rev.  1  nomas  i)myth  U.  V. 

Charleston,  S.  C. 

A    characteristic    incident,    occurring    probably    at 
■  Smyth         about    this    time,    was    Dr.    Smyth's    protection    of   a 

befriends  -■-.,  •  ■•  t-v^t^i  r     ^  -2 

Dr  Taylor  Presbyterian  mmister,  Dr.  Taylor  of  Connecticut. 
It  seems  that  Dr.  Taylor,  passing  through  Charles- 
ton at  this  most  eventful  period,  spoke  his  mind  too  freely  against 
South  Carolina  and  was  ordered  by  the  authorities  (tradition  says, 
the  Council  of  Safety,)  to  leave  the  city  at  once.  Dr.  Smyth, 
hearing  of  this,  and  knowing  that  the  steamer  by  which  Dr.  Taylor 
could  most  easily  reach  his  home  would  not  sail  for  several  days, 
ordered  his  buggy,  drove  to  the  hotel,  and  invited  Dr.  Taylor  to 
be  his  guest  until  the  vessel  sailed;  explaining  quite  definitely 
however,  that  although  he  was  not  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  his 
sympathies  were  entirely  with  her  action;  and  that  he  considered 
Dr.  Taylor  unwise,  both  in  his  sentiments  and  their  expression. 

^Dr.  Blackwood,  a  fellow  student  of  Dr.  Smyth  in  Belfast,  is 
described  by  the  latter  in  a  note  as,  "Pastor  of  one  of  our  largest 
churches  in  Philadelphia,  a  North-Irishman,  who  knows  Killen." 
Dr.  Blackwood  was  born  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  and  after 
service  in  the  Irish  Church  he  attained  to  the  highest  honours  in 
the  gift  of  the  English  Presbyterian  Church.  He  came  to  America, 
to  the  Ninth  Presbyterian  Church  of  Philadelphia,  in  1850.  He 
compiled  an  important  encyclopedia. — Ed. 

^The  son  of  Dr.  Taylor,  the  Hon.  Thomas  Taylor  of  Bridge- 
port, Conn.,  gave  this  account  of  this  incident  to  Dr.  Smyth's 
eldest  son,  when  the  two,  each  mayor  of  his  town,  met  at  a 
Mayor's  Convention  in  Detroit  in  1897.  Mr.  Taylor  was  most 
appreciative  of  Dr.  Smyth's  courtesy. — Ed. 


586 

It  appears  from  the  records  of  that  period  that  a 

The  Execu-  committee  of  five,  including  the  Lieutenant  Gover- 
tive    Council.  ,      ,         .  ,       ,  ,    .  ,  .     ,        _ 

nor,  had,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Conven- 
tion, been  appointed  by  the  Governor  on  December  2^,  i860,  to 
act  as  an  Executive  Council;  and  advise  with  the  Governor  "upon 
all  matters  which  may  be  submitted  to  their  consideration."  The 
duties  of  this  Council  were  after  a  time,  (how  long,  the  editor  has 
not  been  able  to  determine,)  organized  into  departments;  of  which 
one  was  the  Department  of  Justice  and  Police  with  "power  to 
arrest  and  detain  disloyal  and  disaffected  persons,  whose  being  at 
large  is  deemed  dangerous  to  the  public  safety."  The  Courier  of 
February  8,  1861,  has  an  account  of  such  a  precautionary  measure 
taken  by  the  Council. 

The  Council  is  spoken  of  in  tradition  by  many  names;  the 
official  name  is  as  given,  but  in  a  motion  offered  before  the  Con- 
vention by  the  Hon.  A.  G.  Magrath,  member  of  the  committee, 
he  uses  the  words  "or  Council  of  Safety."  No  definite  records 
have  been  found  of  this  committee  earlier  than  a  report  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  and  Police  of  1862.  Tradition  says  that  the 
duty  of  opening  the  letters  of  suspicious  persons  devolved  at  one 
time  upon  Mr.  Robert  N.  Gourdin,  an  honourable  and  patriotic 
citizen. — Editor. 

MEDIA,  DELEWARE  CO,  PA. 

„        „,  c      .7     n    n  February  4,    1861. 

Rev.  1  nomas  c>niyth,  D.  U. 

Charleston. 

REV.  &  DR.  SIR, 

Dr.  Dale's  As  requested  I  have  sent  to  your  address  to- 

warning  day,  five  copies  of  my  discourses, 

against  a  di-         What  may  be  God's  purposes  in  reference  to 

vision    of    the  -'         ^  . 

Presbyterian  our  country,  His  owu  onrolHng  providence  must 
Church.  declare.     The  portents   at  present  are   frightful. 

But  whatever  is  due  to  human  errors,  or  human  depravity, 
His  hand  is  in  the  cloud  which  overshadows  the  land. 

The  Republican  party  is  a  hastily  got  up  and  conglomerate 
party.  Multitudes  voted  that  ticket  who  had  no  regard  to  the 
Slavery  issue  and  who  do  not  feel  bound  to  that  issue.  If  the 
simple  slavery  issue  were  put  to  the  North,  today,  the  Repub- 
lican party  would  be  overwhelmed. 

It  is,  however,  true  that  the  subject  is  becoming  compli- 
cated by  the  question  of  Secession.  The  right  to  dissolve 
Nationality  by  Secession,  at  will,  is  not  admitted. 

A  disposition  to  fight  the  South,  however,  finds  lodgment, 
I  believe,  in  still  fewer  hearts.  The  universal  feeling  is  to 
maintain  our  Nationality  and,  with  the  vast  majority,  to  main- 
tain by  doing  justly! 


587 

The  Synod  Allow   no   church   alienations.      The   action   of 

of  South  your  Synod  was,  to  me,  marvellous  !^     May  God 

Carolina.  ^j^^  ^^^  q^j.  gjj^g  ^g  ^  Qiurch  and  as  a  Nation. 

Very  truly  yrs, 

JAMES  W.  DALE.* 

P.  S.  Please  accept  my  thanks  for  your  discourse  which 
I  have  read  with  much  interest. 

From  Dr.  Henry  J.  Van  Dyke.^ 

BROOKLYN,  Feb.  7,  1861. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Your  kind  letter  of  the  4th  ult.  is  this  morning 
Dyke's^'s'er-  received."  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  fraternal 
mon,  expressions  toward  me  and  my  efforts  in  behalf 

"Abolition        q£  ^]^g  cause  of  truth  and  our  country.     Amid  the 

Unscnptural.  -^  ,        ,1 

torrents  of  abuse  that  are  poured  upon  me  by  the 
fanatics  whose  nest  I  have  stirred  up,  it  is  very  grateful  to 
receive  messages  of  encouragement  and  approbation  from 
some  of  the  noblest  and  best  in  the  land.  The  conflict  of 
opinion  on  the  vexed  question  is  raging  more  fiercely  than 
ever  here  at  the  North,  and  our  Southern  friends  may  rest 
assured  that  abolitionism  is  now  receiving  such  a  blow  as  has 
never  before  been  inflicted  on  its  hydra  head.     There  are  far 

^See  article  by  Dr.  Smyth,  p — Ed. 

^Dr.  Dale  was  at  that  time  agent  of  the  Am.  Bible  Society.  He 
was  graduated  at  Princeton  Seminary  not  long  after  Dr.  Smyth. 
—Ed. 

"Pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  Brooklyn;  an  au- 
thority on  Doctrine  and  Discipline  in  the  Old  School  Church. — 
Ed. 

"Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  had  been  members  of  Dr.  Smyth's 
church,  but  had  left  Charleston  in  trouble  the  year  before. 

Extract  from  letter  of  Mrs.  Bancroft,  dated  Brooklyn,  April 
II,  1859: 

"I  am  grateful  for  your  kind  remembrance.  *  *  I  have 
missed  my  dear  old  church  sadly  the  last  year.     *     *     * 

"We  have  recently  settled  ourselves  in  Mr.  Van  Dyke's  church; 
who,  you  will  recollect,  was  in  Charleston  three  winters  ago  with 
Dr.  Adams,  and  Mr.  Peck,  then  lately  called  to  the  Huguenot 
church.  He  is  'sound,'  as  you  have  recent  evidence  in  his  de- 
nouncing Prof.  Hitchcock;  though  the  congregation  are  all 
strangers,  we  hope  we  have  made  a  judicious  choice." — Ed. 


588 

abler  combatants  in  the  field  that  I  am.     Have 

articie^^^""^^  ^   you  Seen  the  recent  work  of  Dr.   Seabury?'     I 

have  not  read  it — except  a  few  pages — but  it  is 

said  to  be  an  unanswerable  argument  on  the  providential  and 

natural  aspect  of  the  subject. 

In  regard  to  the  discourse  you  are  preparing,  it  strikes  me 
that  a  fresh,  clear,  and  calm  appeal  from  a  man  in  your  posi- 
tion would  do  great  good. 

Attitude  of  Whether  the  Herald  would  publish  it,  I  do  not 

Northern  know.     Our  ncwspapcrs  are  all  venal  and  trim 

papers.  ^^  ^.j^g   wind — uot  excepting  our  so-called   relig- 

ious journals.  The  source  from  which  it  comes,  aside  from 
its  intrinsic  merit,  would  secure  your  article  a  very  favourable 
consideration.  If  you  choose  to  send  it,  I  will  get  my  friend 
Lamar  to  take  it  to  the  Editor  and  secure  its  publication,  if 
possible. 

Mrs.  Bancroft  is  now  a  member  of  my  flock.  A  few  days 
since  she  spoke  to  me  of  you  and  your  church  in  terms  of 
affectionate  remembrance.     *     '^     * 

In  regard  to  the  state  of  things  in  our  country 
tate  o   t  e      j  g^j-j^g  ^q  |^g  hopcful — but  must  confess  that  it 

country.  /^ 

seems  to  be  hoping  against  hope — so  far  as  an 
immediate  settlement  is  concerned.  It  is  very  doubtful 
whether  Congress  will  do  anything  to  satisfy  the  border 
States,  let  alone  those  further  South.  If  the  question  could 
be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  Northern  States,  there  would 
be  an  overwhelming  majority  for  concession  and  compromise. 
But  as  we  are  for  the  present  in  the  hands  of  politicians  who 
are  flushed  with  victory,  and  hungry  for  the  spoils  of  office, 
and  as  the  Southern  States  cannot  or  will  not  wait  till  there 
can  be  an  appeal  to  the  country,  I  can  see  nothing  in  the 
future  but  dissolution.  There  are  three  things  that  I  still 
hope  and  pray  for; — •  a  reconstruction  of  the  Union  upon  a 
firmer    basis — the    prevention    of   our    Church    from    schism, 

notwithstanding  Dr.  Hodge's  onesided  and  par- 
r.     o  ges     ^i^an  article — and  above  all,  the  avoidance  of  civil 

article.  '  . 

war.  God  keep  us  from  shedding  each  other  s 
blood !  May  He  give  you  and  all  ministers  in  Charleston 
strength  and  grace  to  exert  an  influence  for  peace!  The  best 
friends  of  the  South  deprecate  any  attack  upon  federal  au- 
thority, and  especially  an  assault  on  fort  Sumter,  as  the  worst 
calamity  that  can  befal  you  or  us.     God  keep  your  gallant 

'A  prominent  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church  at  the  North. 
—Ed. 


589 

State  from  rashly  plunging  us  all  into  a  contest  whose  horrors 
no  imagination  can  paint,  and  whose  end  no  human  eye  can 
foresee.  Pardon  me  for  troubling  you  with  so  long  a  letter 
and  believe  me, 

Yours  truly  in  Xt. 

HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE. 

Letter  of  Dr.  Wm.  Blackwood,  discussing  Secession. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Feb.  ii,  1861. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D. 
Charleston. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Dr.  Smyth's  ^  writc  in  bed,  to  which,  by  sore  throat  I  have 

Fast-day  been  confined  for  some  time,  to  acknowledge  the 

sermon.  receipt  of  your  letter  and  sermon,  both  of  which 

I  greatly  prize  and  for  which  accept  my  thanks.  As  a  literary 
production  and  as  long  as  you  keep  to  spiritual  things,  your 
Southern  view  scrmon  is  Supereminently  fine,  but  if  your  new 
of  Constitu-  theory  of  the  Constitution  is  worth  a  cent,  then 
tion  new  to       ^11  your  laudations  of  the  Constitution  are  mis- 

™'  applied.     A  mere  partnership,  a  confederation  to 

be  broken  up  at  any  time  by  any  partner  to  the  compact,  for 
any  cause,  surely  such  a  bond  deserves  no  such  laudation. 
Nay  more,  it  is  as  remarkable  that  this  new  aspect  of  the 
Constitution  has  only  been  discovered  just  at  the  time  when 
conscience  demanded  on  the  part  of  Congressmen,  ofifice-holdr 
ers,  soldiers,  and  seamen  a  placebo  for  that  which  until  three 
months  ago — and  more  especially  when  the  oaths  were  taken 
by  all  such  parties — was  recognized  by  the  whole  community 
east,  west,  north,  and  south,  men  in  ofifice  and  out  of  office, 
men  swearing  on  entering  office,  to  be  downright  perjury.  I 
profess  to  know  but  little  of  the  history  of  the  formation  and 
adoption  of  the  Constitution ;  but  of  this  I  am  certain,  that 
until  the  outbreak  of  the  present  confusion,  the  whole  South 
as  well  as  the  North,  recognized  the  people  of  the  Country  as 
owing    allegiance    to    a    permanently    organized    government. 

Hamiiton'3        ^^  ^^   formation   of  the  government,   Hamilton 
position  on       on  behalf  of  New  York,  sought  to  have  the  prin- 
Secession.          ciple  rccoguizcd  that  a  State  might  recede,  or  se- 
cede, for  reasons.     You  and  all  educated  persons  know  how 
the  application  was  met,  and  the  reasons  that  were  assigned 
-for  rejecting  the  application.     So  also  when  in  the  late  war 
with    England   the    New   England    States    in   the 
art  or  Hartford   Convention  took   steps  that  leaned  to- 

Convention.  '^ 

wards  secession,  you  and  all  the  South  know  that 


590 

the  loudest  of  all  declaimers  in  the  Country  against  any 
toleration  of  secession  as  a  fact,  or  as  founded  or  in  anything 
in  the  Constitution,  or  in  the  federal  compact,  was  the  South. 
And  farther  still  any  southern  man  who  wishes  to  know  the 
truth,  has  only  to  get  the  resolutions  passed  by 
R^soMkins  ^^^^  people  of  Alabama  when  that  State  went  into 
the  Confederacy.  Words  could  not  be  clearer — 
murder  is  not  more  explicitly  forbidden  in  the  sixth  Com- 
mandment than  the  voluntary  declaration  that  the  Union  then 
formed  was  irrevocable.  This  is  the  term  used  deliberately, 
and  acknowledging  what  was  then  an  unquestioned  fact;  that 
all  disputes,  grievances,  and  complaints  were  to  be  arranged 
in  the  Union,  and  on  the  principles  of  the  Constitution  which 
were  thus  voluntarily  assented  to  and  adopted.  So  also  in 
the  case  of  Louisiana — but  it  is  needless  to  pur- 
sue the  subject  farther.  All  your  secessionists 
who  rest  on  any  ground  of  justification  for  their  conduct  in 
the  Constitution  or  the  principles  of  the  Union,  are  reposing 
on  a  quicksand  &  they  must  sink.  Do  not  however  misunder- 
stand me.  I  am  not  opposed  to  the  secession,  or  I  should  say, 
the  separation  of  the  Gulf  States.  I  think  if  I  resided  in 
Alabama  I  would  advocate  a  separation,  but  on  different 
Union  has  grouuds.  I  think  70  years  of  union  have  shown 
wrought  that  the   Union   has   wrought  badly.     No   Man- 

badiy.  chestcr   manufacturer   would    run   an   engine   for 

a  week  that  jarred  as  greatly  as  the  American  Union  has  dbne. 
He  would  take  it  down  and  secure  a  new  construction.  Obvi- 
ously the  North  and  South  cannot  and  will  not  work  together. 
I  think  they  should  separate,  but  they  cannot  get  asunder 
except  on  the  basis  of  revolution.  You  think  I  only  read 
northern  views.  You  are  astray.  I  read  and  am  familiar 
with  southern  papers,  reviews  and  in  fact  with  every  exposi- 
tion of  the  southern  question.  This  is  the  case  with  all  our 
intelligent  people  here,  and  had  the  South  permitted  northern 
journals  to  circulate  freely  among  the  people,  the  insanity, 
dread,  and  hatred  that  now  prevail  over  the  Cotton  States, 
never  would  have  had  an  existence.  I  know  the  South  as 
well  as  I  do  the  North.  I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  nine 
of  the  Slave  States,  Georgia  and  Alabama  included,  but  I 
know  more  of  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
of  course  Delaware.  I  have  never  heard  anything  from  a 
southerner  that  I  did  not  know  before,  and  I  never  saw  any- 
thing in  the  South  that  I  did  not  know  to  exist  before  I  saw 
it.  Having  the  knowledge  which  I  possess  on  this  subject,  I 
am  quite  satisfied  that  the  South  should  keep  apart  and  that 


591 

Southern  ^he  Xorth  should  agree  to  the  separation.     I  have 

forts  ceded  to   contended  here  for  giving  up  fort  Sumter,   fort 
South.  Pickens,  and  every  navy  yard  and  arsenal  in  the 

South,  rather  than  that  blood  should  be  shed.  Each  section 
has  territory  enough  and  population  enough  for  an  empire, 
and  I  hold  that  the  best  and  wisest  course  is  to  allow  each 
section  to  develope  its  own  favorite  system  of  civilization. 
Still  I  have  little  to  do  with  these  matters,  (as  I  have  never 
become  an  American  citizen,  and  in  Yankee  parlance,  I  dont 
intend  to.)  Your  last  letter  in  the  A\  C.  Pres- 
T,  ^Tij^  °t,-      bxferiaii,  overwhelms  Dr.  Dabnev'^  altogether.  As 

the    Eldership.  .  .  .  & 

against  his  theon,',  you  are  triumphantly  victo- 
rious. Still  there  are  those  who  see  weak  places  in  your  own. 
You  prove  that  the  Elder  is  not  a  minister,  not  a  Cleros;  that 
he  is  a  layman,  and  a  representative,  in  his  lay  estate,  of  lay- 
men. This  makes  three  d,istinct  ranks  or  grades  in  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  the  Presbyter  or  Bishop,  the  Elder,  and 
the  deacon;  and  then  comes  in  the  objection  noticed  in  my 
last,  that  the  Presbyter  of  the  Presbyterian  Ch.,  who  is  only 
the  successor  of  the  2nd  order  of  the  Ch.  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation  with  one  grade — the  Deacon — below  him,  is  now 
in  a  higher  rank  with  two  grades  below  him.  There  is  a 
difficulty  here  that  I  have  seen  long  headed  Scotch  D.  D.s 
unable  to  grapple  with." 

Should  the  Country  divide  it  will  be  impossible  to  keep  the 
Churches  together.  Of  this  there  need  be  no  question. —  I 
propose  reviewing  your  "Well  in  the  Valley"  in  the  Inquirer, 
a  large  daily,  which  has  the  most  extensive  circulation  of  our 
first  class  papers.  Your  other  works  published  by  our  Board 
and  by  the  Tract  Society,  I  am  familiar  with. 

^Robert  L.  Dabney,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.,  Dr.  Smyth's  opponent  in 
the  Eldership  discussion  of  this  date.  See  Theories  of  the  Elder- 
ship, vol:  IV,  pp.  279,  319  and  349,  Smyth's  Works,  also  letters  in 
section  "Authorship"  of  corresponding  date,  p.  292,  etc. — Ed. 

"Dr.  Smyth  did  not  hesitate  to  grapple  with  this  question,  lay- 
ing stress  on  the  elder's  position  as  a  representative  of  the  people; 
he  quoted  Bishops  and  Archbishops  in  support  of  his  presbyterian 
view;  which  was  in  short,  that  the  officer  known  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  as  a  Bishop,  was 
in  the  Apostolic  Church  a  Presiding  Presbyter,  of  no  higher 
order  than  the  other  Presbyters.  The  Bishop  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  considered  as  of  the  same  order  as  the  Presby- 
ter, only  occupying  a  higher  office.  See  Eldership,  vol.  IV,  pp.  45, 
48,  95,  301;  Apostolical  Succession,  vol.  I,  pp.  2,  4;  Presbytery  and 
Prelacy,  Index  under  word  Bishop,  vol.   II,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


592 

I  hope  that  you  may  not  lose  sight  of  the 
work,  "Our  Baptised  Children."  It  is  a  most 
important  subject,  and  I  hope  in  treating  it  you  have  not  over- 
looked the  point  which  requires  very  clear  and  decided  treat- 
ment ;  namely  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  baptizing  the  child  of 
a  moral  living  man,  who  is  a  church  goer,  who  has  himself 
been  baptized,  but  who  has  not  been  at  the  Lord's  Supper." 
Indeed  the  whole  subject  of  Baptism  needs  to  be  thoroughly 
discussed.  We  are  not  looking  on  the  ordinance  as  it  was 
viewed  by  Knox,  Melville,  Gillespie,  Flavel,  &c,  &c.  But  I 
must  have  done.  A  messenger  has  just  called  with  a  file  of 
London  papers,  asking  me  for  an  Editorial  which  I  must  give 
him. 

Most  truly  yours, 

WM.  BLACKWOOD. 


From   Mrs.   Smyth  to  her  son,  Augustine. 

Feb.  20,  1 86 1. 
Monday  Afternoon. 
MY  DEAR  "ABSENT  BOY," 

Dr.  Smyth's  ^  thought  much  of  you  yesterday,  when  I  was 
Fast-day  at  the  Communiou  table.  *  *  Your  Father  went 

sermon.  through  the  wholc  morning  service  himself.  *  * 

Your  Father  has  constant  applications  for  his  sermon  "The 
Sin  &c.,"  Hvo  today.  He  is  becoming  very  much  interested 
in  Politics ;  is  now  writing  several  articles  in  favour  of  Slav- 
ery !  He  expects  them  to  be  published  in  the  Jour,  of  Com- 
merce;  he  now  takes  the  "Junior"  of  that  paper,  a  daily,  and 
receives  almost  every  day,  papers  from  some  body  or  other. 
He  has  had  too  very  pleasant  letters.  I  think  Adger  wrote 
to  your  Nashville  Uncle  before  you  left.  Mr.  F.  did  not  reply, 
but  your  Aunt  Isabella  did.  She  was  much  excited,  &  wrote 
strongly,  very.  Today  I  had  a  letter  from  Anne  Smith  of 
Paterson,  very  warm  indeed.  She  speaks  of  the  blood-thirsty 
pamphlets  &  papers,  that  have  been  sent  to  her  from  the 
South,  &c.,  &c.,  of  the  dreadful  state  we  are  in  here,  fears  we 
are  quite  alienated  from  them,  &c.,  &c. ;  a  great  deal  more  of 
such  stuff.  2  pages,  very  well  written  &  composed.  *  * 
I  am  glad  you  reed  the  box,  but  don't  understand  about  the 


^See  note  to   Letter  on   Baptism,  from  Roswell  L.   Colt,   1846; 
p.  249. — Ed. 


593 

direction.    Adger  is  confident  he  did  not  spell  it  with  an  "i"" — ■ 
Was  it  not  carried  to  your  room? — 
I  am  my  dear  Augustine, 

ever  your  own  dear 
{Mr.  Augustine  T.  Smythe  MOTHER. 

No.  10  West  DeSaussure 

So.  Ca.  College,  x 

Columbia,  S.  C.) 

REV  AND  DEAR  SIR,        BROOKLYN,  Feb.  25.  1861. 
The  new  flag        Yours  of  the  20th  Under  the  Palmetto  Flag  is 
of  South  received.      I   trust   I   may   reply   without   offence 

Carolina.  under   the    Stars   and    Stripes."     The   manuscript 

is  also  received;  and  as  I  should  not  presume  to  make  any 
material  alteration  in  it,  I  did  not  stop  to  give  it  a  careful 
Dr.  Smyth's  reading,  but  handed  it  over  at  once  to  the  Editors 
article  on  of  the  J oumal  of  Commerce.     They  seemed  very 

slavery.  g.j^^  ^^  rcccivc  it,  and  will  print  it  in  a  few  days. 

Judging  from  the  glance  I  gave  it,  I  think  it  will  do  good. 
Your  position  as  a  Southern  man,  and  your  well  known  char- 
acter and  standing  in  the  church,  will  secure  it  a  careful  and 
interested  reading.  Now,  if  ever,  is  the  time  to  discuss  this 
slavery  question  in  its  roots.  Here  at  the  North  it  has  been 
too  much  tabooed  among  conservative  and  christian  men.  The 
pulpit,  especially,  has  been  afraid  to  touch  it,  on  the  con- 
servative side.  The  consequence  is  that  the  public  ear  has 
been  filled  and  abused  chiefly  with  the  effusions  of  infidel 
influence  of  radicalism.  But  a  change  is  going  on — and  when 
Abolitionists  there  is  another  appeal  to  the  ballot  box,  those 
waning.  AboHtiouists  who  now  claim  to  have  triumphed 

will  be  swept  out  of  office,  if  not  out  of  political  existence. 

"There  was  often  confusion  between  the  names  of  Smyth  and 
Smith;  during  the  war  Augustine  was  much  inconvenienced  by  a 
man  in  Charleston,  named  Aleck  Smith,  who  suddenly  adopted 
the  y  instead  of  i.  This  led  to  the  addition  by  Augustine  of  a  final 
e  to  his  Smyth,  which  he  and  his  family  have  always  used.  This 
merely  proves  the  name  to  be  consistent  in  its  inconsistencies. — 
Ed. 

'^Dr.  Van  Dyke's  letter  bears,  in  the  upper  left-hand  corner  of 
the  page,  a  sketch  of  the  United  States  flag  with  only  twelve  stars 
in  the  field.  Dr.  Smyth's  letter  must  have  been  written  on  paper 
with  a  blue  palmetto  flag  printed  in  the  corner  of  both  envelope 
and  sheet.  Such  a  letter  is  among  the  family  papers.  This  flag 
had  just  been  ofificially  adopted,  the  colonial  flag  having  been  blue 
with  a  white  crescent. — Ed. 

[38] 


594 

I  cannot  but  think  our  Southern  friends  have 
hasly.  °"  ^^^"  ^  ^^^^^^  ^°°  hasty  in  embarking  on  the  un- 

certain tide  of  revolution.  O  that  they  had 
waited  a  Httle  longer ! —  and  oh,  that  God  would  now  prevent 
everything  like  a  hostile  collision,  until  in  some  form  this 
question  can  be  fairly  submitted  to  the  people  again,  without 
any  of  the  complications  in  which  it  was  involved  at  the  last 
election !  I  have  no  word  or  thought  of  reproach  against  the 
South,  for  I  believe  and  feel  that  they  have  been  greatly 
wronged.  But  I  am  just  as  clear  in  the  conviction  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  Northern  people  do  not  mean  to  wrong 
them,  and  that  they  will  yet  do  them  justice  in  the  premises 
Republican  ^^  ^hcy  can  havc  the  opportunity.  The  Republi- 
party   a  can  party  is  a  minority,  and  their  dissolution  has 

minority.  bcguu  bcforc  they  are  fairly  installed  in  power. 

Multitudes  of  their  best  men  are  already  thoroughly  ashamed 
of  their  leaders,  and  especially  of  their  president- — all  this  of 
course  is  private  and  confidential. 

D,.   Van-  I   have  agreed  to   address  your  Bible   Society 

Dyke's  On  the  loth  of  March\     Please  accept  my  sincere 

address.  thauks  for  your  hospitable  invitation  to  stay  at 

your  house.     My  friend  Peck^  has  already  given  me  a  similar 

*The  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Charleston  Bible  Society  took 
place  on  March  lo,  1861,  at  the  Circular  Church.  The  Mercury 
gives  the  follow^ing  account  of  the  opening  words  of  the  Rev. 
Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. :  "Two  days  ago,  a  friend 
who  had  come  to  bid  him  good-bye,  had  jokingly  expressed  his 
regret  that  he  was  going  to  a  foreign  country.  And  when,  after 
being  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  the  deep  longer  than  he  had  any 
fancy  for,  he  entered  our  noble  harbour,  and  saw  a  strange  flag 
floating  on  either  side  instead  of  the  one  which,  they  would  excuse 
him  for  saying,  he  loved  and  should  always  love,  then  he  felt  for 
a  moment  how  much  there  was  of  sad  reality  in  the  remark. 
Soon,  however,  after  landing,  the  pressure  of  friendly  hands  and 
the  sounds  of  friendly  voices  had  told  him  he  was  not  far  from 
home,  and  he  felt  that  there  was  a  Union  higher  and  holier,  and 
more  imperishable,  than  any  of  the  earth.  In  opening  his  dis- 
course he  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was  revealed  to  us  in  a  three-fold 
office,  as  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King." 

March  18,  1861.  Monday;  Charleston  Courier:  "The  Rev.  Henry 
J.  Van  Dyke  on  Sunday  evening,  delivered  an  eloquent  address 
before  the  above  Association  [the  Y.  M.  C.  A.],  in  the  Second 
Presbyterian  Church.  The  Church  was  crowded.  The  Reverend 
gentleman  took  for  his  subject,  'Family  Government  as  the  true 
basis  of  all  Government.'  " — Ed. 

^The  pastor  of  the  Huguenot  Church  in  Charleston. — Ed. 


595 

invitation;  but  as  my  wife  and  little  boy,^  and  probably  some 

'SEAL  HARBOR,  ME. 

July  20,  1912. 

*  *  Returning  from  mission  work  in  Newfoundland,  I  find 
here  your  favor  of  July  6  with  enclosures.  They  are  extremely 
interesting  and  recall  vividly  the  scenes  of  my  visit  to  Charleston 
when  I  was  a  little  boy  eight  years  old. 

The  hospitality  of  my  father's  friends  made  a  distinct  impres- 
sion upon  me  at  the  time.  I  think  that  I  remember  his  firm  stand 
for  the  Union  more  clearly  than  his  opposition  to  "Abolitionism." 
But  that  would  be  natural  for  a  boy  of  that  age.  My  father  began 
his  address  before  the  Bible  Society  by  alluding  to  the  new  flag 
which  he  saw  flying  when  he  came  up  the  harbor.  "But,"  said  he: 
"you  must  understand  that  I  stand  here  today  under  the  old  flag, 
— the  flag  of  the  stars  and  stripes." 

My  father's  friendships  in  the  South,  except  in  the  case  of  a 
very  few  extremists,  were  never  broken.  Shortly  after  the  close 
of  the  civil  war  we  spent  a  summer  coaching  among  the  Virginia 
Springs,  and  renewed  many  of  the  old  associations  and  ties.  Gen. 
Lee  was  a  hero  of  my  boyish  admiration.  He  won  my  heart 
completely  by  letting  me  ride  his  grey  horse  "Traveller." 

In  regard  to  the  New  York  Society  to  which  you  allude,  I 
do  not  think  that  it  could  be  quite  an  "Anti-Abolition"  society. 
My  impression  is  that  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the 
Union  if  possible.  My  father  did  not  believe  that  slavery  was  a 
sin,  but  thought  it  a  great  blunder  and  in  many  cases  an  evil. 
Theoretically  he  believed  in  the  constitutional  right  of  secession, 
but  practically  he  thought  it  was  wrong  to  exercise  it.  It  was  a 
hard  position  to  hold,  situated  as  he  was  in  Brooklyn,  but  he  held 
it  firmly  without  flinching  and  in  the  end  everybody  respected 
him  for  it.  Faithfully  yours, 

HENRY  VAN  DYKE. 

SEAL  HARBOR,  MAINE, 
^     ^     ^  August  31,  1912. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  interesting  enclosures  in 
your  letter.  I  do  remember  that  visit  to  Charleston  very  well,  and 
among  my  recollections  are  those  of  a  tall  old  gentleman  who  use^d 
two  canes  to  walk  with.  I  remember  that  for  some  childish 
reason  or  other  I  thought  that  he  looked  like  an  eagle.  *  *  * 
[Dr.  Smyth's  long  cape,  which  fell  below  his  knees,  may  have 
caused  this  impression. — Ed.] 

Unfortunately,  all  of  my  father's  correspondence  was  destroyed 
by  a  conflagration  in  a  warehouse  where  his  effects  were  stored 
after  his  death,  and  so  it  will  be  impossible,  I  am  sure,  to  find  any 
letter  from   Dr.   Smyth   to   him. 

Faithfully  yours, 

HENRY  VAN   DYKE. 


596 

friends  from  Brooklyn,  will  accompany  me,  it  will   [be]  most- 
convenient  to  stay  at  the  Hotel.  As  we  will  remain  some  days, 
I  will  have  ample  opportunity  to  visit  you.     As  to  preaching- 
we  will  settle  that  when  I  arrive. 

The  Journal  ^'^  ^'^^^  afford  me  pleasure  to  give  the  proof  of 

of  Commerce  your  article  a  careful  correction.  The  Journal 
and  the  New     gj  Commerce  is  the  best  paper  to  put  it  in.     The 

York    Herald.  ,  f     ,.  ^^         77-  1  •  .  . 

odor   01   the   tier  aid   m   this   region   is   not   very 
sweet  in  the  nostrils  of  the  pious. 

May  God  in  his  mercy  heal  our  breaches  and  give  us  peace. 
Yours  Truly  in  Christ, 

HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER,         COLUMBIA,  Feb.  23,  1861. 

Dr  J.  B.  *     *     Augustine  comes  occasionally  to  see  us. 

Adger  to  Dr.  Wc  would  like  to  scc  him  often.  He  has  a  good 
Smyth.  room  mate,  I  hope  he  is  also  getting  along  well 

in  every  way.  It  has  been  a  broken  year  however  for  study, 
both  in  College  and  in  Seminary.^  So  much  anxiety  about 
public  affairs — and  then  the  small-pox — and  then  Mrs.  Thorn- 
well's  illness.     *     *     * 

From  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce. 

THE  REV.  MR.  VAN  DYKE. 

Letter  from  From  waiit  of  argument  against  his  sermon  on 

Dr.  Smyth  to    the    uuscriptural    and   infidel    tendency    of   aboli- 
journa]  of        tionism,'  the  person   of   Mr.   Van   Dyke   is  now 
the  butt  for  all  manner  of  evil  speaking. 
Even  the  Philadelphia  Inquirer  publishes  the  following  in 
an  alleged  letter  from  Charleston : 

"The  other  is  a  still  harder  case.     The  Rev. 

from  Charles-   -^r-  ^^^  Dyke,  of  Brooklyn,  went  yesterday  to 

ton  to  Phiia-    Morris'    Island,   with   Mr.    Peck — the   gentleman 

deiphia  w\\o    entertains    him — and    sundry    white    neck- 

»         '  clothed  fire-eaters,  amongst  them  that  queer  in- 

'Within  two  or  three  months  after  this  the  Seminary  closed, 
and  Dr.  Adger  moved  his  family  to  Pendleton.  See  "Life  and 
Times,"  p.  333.— Ed. 

*Dr.  Van  Dyke  had  recently  preached  a  sermon  entitled  "Ab- 
olitionism Unscriptural,"  which  Rudd  and  Carleton,  Publishers, 
proposed  to  print  in  the  same  volume  with  a  sermon  preached  in 
New  York,  on  Jan,  4,  1861 — the  Fast  Day  appointed  by  PreSp 
Buchanan — by  Rabbi  Raphall,  on  "Patriarchal  Slavery;"  and  which 
had  been  repeated  by  request  before  the  Historical  Society.  See 
Charleston  Courier,  Jan.  22,  1861. — Ed. 


597 

dividual  'Parson  Yates,'  better  known  as  the  'Fighting  Par- 
son.'" Mr.  Van  Dyke  is  said  to  have  watched  the  preparations 
for  slaughtering  Major  Anderson  without  a  word  of  protest. 
His  only  expressions  were  satisfaction  at  their  complete  and 
invincible  character.  Will  you  kindly  ask  your  neighbors  at 
Brooklyn  whether  or  not  they  want  this  gentleman  back?" 
Dr    Sm  th's  ^'^^-  ^^^^  Dyke  visited  Charleston  by  invitation 

account  of  Dr.  of  the  Charleston  Bible  Society,  which  he  ad- 
VanDyke's  drcsscd,  in  presence  of  an  immense  audience,  and 
in  a  most  acceptable  manner.  He  also  preached 
to  an  over-flowing  congregation,  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth's 
Church  on  last  Sabbath  evening,  to  the  delight  of  every  one 
present.  On  both  occasions,  he  most  honorably  delivered  his 
views,  with  kindness  and  fidelity  to  the  South;  and  with  a 
manly  assertion  of  the  high  character,  patriotism,  and  piety 
of  multitudes  at  the  North ;  and  failed  not  to  express  his 
loyalty  to  the  Union,  his  love  for  her  star  spangled  banner, 
his  hopes  of  a  happy  re-union,  and  his  earnest  protest  against 
any  division  in  our  National  churches  and  benevolent  socie- 
ties. 

By  special  permission,  he  was  allowed  to  visit  the  fortifica- 
tions ;  and  would  have  been  worse  than  foolish  to  have  acted' 
in  a  way  that  would  have  betrayed  the  uncourteous  and  ill- 
bred  manners  prescribed  to  him. 

As  Mr.  V.  declined  the  hospitalities  of  Dr.  Smyth,  as  well 
as  of  Mr.  Peck,  and  staid  with  his  party  at  the  most  prominent 
hotel,  it  is  evident  the  pretended  correspondent  knew  just 
nothing  about  the  matter. 

Let  the  favored  people  of  Brooklyn  hold  ver}^  tightly  to 
Mr.  Van  Dyke,  or  they  will  find  all  the  cords  of  a  man  em- 
ployed to  pull  him  away. 

It  was  a  most  touching  proof  of  the  warm  and  grateful 
spirit  of  Carolina,  which  might  so  easily  have  been  bound  to 
the  Union  in  inseparable  bonds,  to  see  how  they  thronged  to 
see  and  hear  and  show  respect  to  one  but  little  known  to  most 
of  them,  because  he  had,  in  his  place,  so  nobly  unfurled  the 
banner  given  him  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

Oh  yes,  the  Union-loving,  patriotic  heart  of  Carolina  never 
better  manifested  its  deep  devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the 
Union,  and  the  sacred  pledge  of  mutual  compromise  and  lov- 
ing fidelity  of  each  State  to  every  other,  than  when  she  rescued 
them  from  the  wreck  of  hastening  destruction,  and  in  prospect 

"The  Rev.  W.  B.  Yates,  the  Chaplain  of  the  Seaman's  Bethel.— 
Ed. 


598 

of  imminent  war,  again  pledged  to  the  maintenance  of  an 
inviolate  Constitutional  compact,  her  life,  fortune,  and  sacred 
honor. 

CHARLESTON,  March,  1861.  CHARLESTON. 

NEW  YORK,  27  Irving  Place. 

Mar.  13,  1861. 
REV  THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D. 

MY  DEAR  BRO. 
Dr.  Smyth's  When   I  parted  with  you  on  the  2nd   Sab.   in 

Fast-day  Jauy,  1 859,  I  had  no  thought  of  leaving  Charles- 

sermon.  ^^^   without   Seeing  you   again,   but   letters   from 

my  family  required  my  leaving  suddenly.  *  =i^  j  received 
and  read  with  pleasure  your  Fast  Sermon,  &  thank  you  for 
remembering  me. 

Since  my  return  from  the  South  I  have  read  and  thought 
much  on  Slavery  or  the  great  topic  of  the  day  and  the  nation. 
Articles  fa-  O^i  reading  Dr.  Thornwell's  admirable  &  invul- 
vouring  the  ncrablc  article  I  persuaded  the  Appletons  to  pub- 
South.  jjgi^  -^ .  ^  ggj^^  many  copies  to  New  England,  and 

5000  were  published  by  an  association  in  New  Haven  for 
circulation  in  Connecticut.  Dr.  Seabury's  Book  is  very 
learned  and  able,  as  you  doubtless  already  know.  A  2nd  Edi- 
tion is  in  press. —  Dr.  Spring'  told  me  that  he  regarded  Dr. 
Seabury  as  the  most  able  and  most  learned  writer  in  the 
Episcopal  Ch.  in  this  City.  I  have  frequent  interviews  with 
him.  He  regrets,  that  he  did  not  know  of  some  authors, 
Prof.  Bled-  which  I  named  to  him,  before  he  published,  as  he 
soe's  reply  to  could  havc  added  to  the  strength  of  his  argu- 
Dr.  Hodge.  nicut.  I  liave  read  Prof.  Bledsoe's'  two  articles 
reviewing  Dr.  Hodge.  Has  he  not  knocked  away  the  Dr's 
underpinning  and  in  vulgar  phrase  smashed  him? 
js^^  ant;.  A  very  perceptible  change  is  going  on  respect- 

abolition  ing  views  of  Slavery,  among  candid,  conservative, 

organization.  Auti-S.  men,  Many  whom  I  know  have,  almost 
unconsciously  to  themselves,  advanced  much  nearer  to  the 
views  which  you  and  I  now  entertain,  in  fact  I  see  the  matter 
in  a  clearer  light  myself  now  than  when  I  saw  you.  For 
some  months  I  have  done  little  else,  in  company  with  two  of 

'Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  of  the  Brick  Church,  N.  Y.,  author  of 
the  resolutions  offered  in  the  Assembly  of  1861,  which  brought 
about  the  division  of  the  Presbyterian   Church. — Ed. 

^Professor  of  Mathematics  at  the  University  of  Virginia,  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  and  afterwards  a  Colonel  in  the  Confederate  Army. — Ed. 


599 

the  Morses  and  Dr.  Winslow,  but  to  agitate  for  an  anti- 
abolition  organization  in  tliis  City.  Now  I  have  the  satisfac- 
tion to  tell  you  that  on  the  6th  inst  Our  Society  was  organized 
Prof  s  F  B  ^^  ^^'  5  West  22nd  Street,  in  the  splendid 
Morse.'  '  Library  of  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse/  whom  we 
elected  our  President.  "American  Society  for 
Societrfor  promoting  National  Unity" —  too  long  and  not 
promoting  .  significant  enough,  but  the  best  we  could  do.  In 
National  Q^r  preliminary  meeting  we  had  the  presence  and 

^^  ^'  S3^mpathy  of  many  of  our  leading  Pastors,   &  a 

pretty  wide  discussion.  Bro.  Van  Dyke,  whom  I  suppose  you 
have  seen  in  your  City,  can  or  has  told  you  of  these  meetings. 
For  prudential  reasons  &  in  accordance  with  their  judgment 
we  did  not  place  any  pastors  in  our  Executive  Officers,  think- 
ing it  wise  to  elect  lay  gentlemen.  Dr.  Winslow,  formerly  of 
Boston,  with  myself,  are  'the  Secretaries ;  Dr.  Waterbury, 
formerly  of  Boston,  is  one  of  our  Ex.  Com.  Both  these  have 
aided  us  in  the  matter.  We  three  are  the  only  Clergymen  on 
our  Board.  Winslow  is  a  good  ethical  and  Biblical  scholar, 
as  his  two  Books  on  Philosophy  shew.  He  is  also  a  ready 
and  vigorous  writer  &  a  man  of  enterprise  and  energy.  He 
resides  here  and  has  no  engagements,  &  can  give,  with  me, 
his  whole  time  and  energy  to  the  Society.  Our  Ex.  Com. 
consists  of  20  members  (besides  Prest.  Sees.  &  Treas.),  15  of 
the  Board  are  permanent,  or  fill  their  own  vacancies,  &  five 
are  elected  by  the  Soc'y.  This  precaution  is  to  save  us  from 
a  coup  d'etat.  Our  Prest.  is  the  man  for  the  place,  highly 
respected  here  and  as  widely  known  as  his  Electro  Telegraph. 
Our  Com. — are  men  of  character,  reputation  and  means — & 
all  are  in  strong  sympathy  with  Southern  views  &  claims,  and 
zealous  to  zvork.  In  a  day  or  two  I  send  you  a  copy  of  our 
Constitution,  &c.  We  have  hardly  yet  completed  our  working 
arrangements,  but  have  launched  the  Ship  &  put  on  Board 
Able  officers,  &  soon  hope  to  spread,  at  least,  our  jib  and  top 
gallant  sails.  We  have  a  great  work  to  do.  The  conscience 
of  the  North  is  extensively  perverted  &  infidel,  as  to  the  true 
teachings  of  the  Bible  on  Slavery,  this  we  must  re-educate 
&  rectify.  We  intend  to  attack  &  expose  abolitionism  vigor- 
ously, but  kindly,  with  the  living  word  of  God — 


^The   Artist-Inventor,  who   is   known   both   for   his   remarkably 
fine  portraits  and  for  his  invention  of  the  telegraph. — Ed. 


600 
The  morning  after  we  organized,  our  Prest. 
O'Conor  ^^  P"^  ^"^°  ^y  ^^"^  $500,  &  a  member  of  our  Com. 
$250,  &  on  the  nth  inst.  Mr.  O'Connor^  gave  us 
$250 — so  we  had  in  our  Treas.  $1000  before  we  had  asked 
any  man  [for]  $1 —  We  expect  Hberal  aid  from  all  our 
friends. — 

Dr.  Smyth's ^         ^    ^ave    just    read   your    Xo.    2    in   Journal    of 
article  Commerce,  Mar.  g.     Can    you    not    revise    &    if 

wanted.  practicable,  without  loss,   [put]   these  in  form  for 

our  Soc. — &  this  at  once?  We  must  have  the  aid  of  the  ablest 
writers  in  the  South,  stating  their  own  views  of  their  just 
claim,  grievances,  &  remedy.  I  have  written  to  Dr.  Thorn- 
well,  &  also  to  Prof  Bledsoe  to  revise  his  reply  to  Dr.  Hodge 
for  us.  Dr.  Stringfellow's'  pamphlet,  "Origin, 
Nature,  &  History  of  Slavery,"  is  already  pub- 
lished here  by  one  of  our  Committee,  F.  Hopkins,  and 
circulated  to  some  extent — this  we  may  also  adopt. 

The  subject  has  a  wide  reach,  embracing  Ethnology,  His- 
tory, Scripture,  Government,  political  Economy,  &c.,  &c.  Now 
from  your  large  resources  can  you  not  aid  us,  &  suggest  topics, 
Books,  Authors,  &c.  ?  I  send  you  per  this  mail  a  copy  of 
"National  Convention,  or  Voice  of  the  Fathers"  by  Dr.  Jos. 
C.  Stiles,*"  just  issued,  which  you  will  read  with  interest.  I  find 
many  able,  conservative  union  men  at  the  North  are  writing. 
I  have  in  my  hand  a  Ms.  for  a  Book  by  an  ex.  pastor,  retired, 
in  Connecticut,  for  publication;  the  Title  is,  "Portway  Bon- 
right,  or  Pastoral  Life  among  the  Philanthropists  &  Reform- 
ers," a  kind  of  novel  on  fact  in  his  pastoral  experience  in 
Massachusetts.  He  throws  point  blank  shot  against  the  Ab- 
olitionists, &  side  shots  at  all  the  kindred  isims. 

I  must  close,  and  omit  much  I  would  add  viva  voce  were 

I  by  you.  Respectfully  and  Fraternally  yours, 

SETH  BLISS.' 

P.  S.  We  expect  our  new  Society  to  have  Rooms  in  the 
Bible  House.     Address  me  at  27  Irving  Place.  

^Charles  O'Conor,  a  prominent  lawyer  and  Southern  sympa- 
thizer, was  afterwards  senior  counsel  for  Ex-President  Jefiferson 
Davis,  and  appeared  on  his  bond,  when  he  was  admitted  to  bail. — 
Ed. 

'Probably  Dr.  Horace  '-Stringfellow,  a  Virginian  prominent  in 
the  Episcopal  Church,  at  that  time  in  Alabama.— Ed. 

'Of  the  Synod  of  Georgia.— Ed. 

'Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Tract  Society.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  class  that  was  graduated  at  the  Yale  Divinity 
School  in  1825.— Ed. 


601 

NEW  YORK,  27  Irving  Place. 

Mar.  15,  1861. 
REV  THOS  SMYTH  D.  D., 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

Althoug-h  my  letter  of  the  14th  was  too  long;, 

Articles   for  «-»  ^  i  o  ? 

Soc.  for  Pro-  ^  ^"^  Constrained  to  intrude  myself  on  your  at- 
motion  of  tention  in  supplementing  what  I  wished  to  say, 
National  ]-,^^  omited.     I  designed  to  have  said  a  little  more 

about  your  Appeal  to  Northern  Christians.  I 
have  not  yet  read  No  i.  &  did  not  hear  of  it,  till  I  met  No  2 
in  Journal  of  Co-minerce  of  the  9th  inst.  I  write  unofficially 
as  our  Committee  have  not  yet  been  ready  to  act  on,  or  con- 
sider, any  particular  publication,  Books,  or  documents.  But 
I  trust  that,  next  week  we  shall  be  ready  to  take  up  this  mat- 
ter in  earnest.  It  occurs  to  me  that  your  appeal  will  attract 
our  earliest  attention,  &  be  among  our  first  issues,  provided 
you  consent.  Let  me  suggest  that  you  give  early  attention  to 
such  revision,  as  your  deliberate  judgment  may  think  wise,  in 
order  to  its  highest  efficiency. 

We  intend  to  avoid  all  provoking,  irritating,  &  obnoxious 
words,  &  imputing  bad  motives,  while  we  speak  the  truth 
fearlessly,  calmly,  hut  earnestly  &  in  love.  Permit  me  to  say 
that  I  believe  every  member  of  our  Committee  will  unhesitat- 
ingly subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  your  able  appeal,  historically, 
scripturally,  philosophically,  &  morally. 

By  our  Constitution,  every  publication  must  have  the  ap- 
proval of  %  of  the  Committee.  The  Com —  will  divide  itself 
into  four  sub  Committees,  one  of  which  will  be  On  Publica- 
tions. This  will  probably  consist  of  the  more  literary  mem- 
bers ;  &  those  who  have  most  leisure,  carefully  to  read 
proposed  publications — ^probably  the  two  Morses, —  the  two 
Sec'ys,  Dr.  Waterbury,  Prof.  Agnew^  (who  has  reviewed 
Tayler  Lewis'  for  the  "World,"  but  which  review  it  has  de- 
clined to  publish)  Mr.  B.  Douglas,'  &  Mr.  J.  W.  Mitchell,'  a 
Lawyer  &  So.  Carolinian. 

What  this  Committee  approve,  it  is  pretty  certain,  that  ^ 
of  the  whole  twenty  will  sanction. 

I  am  impressed  with  the  comprehensiveness  &  truthfulness 
of  your  argument  from  the  Scriptures  &  with  the  logical  force 

^Medical  Director  of  the  N.  Y.  State  Volunteer  Hospital. — Ed. 

^Prof.  of  Biblical  and  Oriental  Literature,  Greek  and  Oriental 
tongues,  Union  College. — Ed. 

^Possibly  Benjamin  Douglas,  Lieutenant  Gov.  of  Connecticut 
for  61-62. — Ed. 

*A  prominent  Charleston  lawyer. — Ed. 


603 

of  your  inferences  It  accords  more  fully  than  any  I  have 
read,  with  Dr  Stringfellow's  Scriptural  argument.  We  need 
many  terse,  brief,  pungent  tracts  for  the  millions.  Divine 
Providence,  by  our  present  troubles,  is  arousing  the  northern 
mind  to  hear  truth  &  to  reflection,  &  we  must  now  liberally  & 
widely  scatter  the  good  seed.  No  mind  can  estimate  the  per- 
nicious &  destructive  influence  of  the  Tribune, 
York  Tribune.  ^^^^  ^^^  cnormous  circulation,  especially  in  our 
rural  Districts.  We  greatly  need  a  conservative 
Daily  &  Weekly  like  the  Tribune  to  counteract  it,  &  if  our 
Millionares  in  N.  Y.  wisely  judged  of  their  pecuniary  interest, 
they  would  furnish  the  $125,000  needed  as  a  Capital  for  such 
a  Journal  This  is  S.  E.  Morse's'  favorite  idea,  &  I  hope  our 
new  Society  may  prove  the  nucleus  of  such  an  enterprise. 
Mr.  Morse  &  myself  have  often  considered  this  subject  of 
late.  &  if  he  were  a  younger  man,  would  embark  in  it.  I 
interpret  the  providential  design  of  our  present  troubles  to 
Chastisement  ^^  ^  chastiscmcnt  of  the  North  for  their  infidel 
of  North  and  abolitiouism,  &  wicked  &  unlawful  treatment  of 
discipline  of  ^hg  South  respecting  slavery,  &c. — &  a  discipline 
of  the  South  to  correct  their  religious  neglect  of 
the  Slave,  &  of  the  whole  nation  for  our  boastful,  self  confi- 
lent  tone  &  spirit,  &  for  our  irreverence  of  God  &  His  word, 
government,  &  providence. 

As  every  man  who  makes  his  mark  for  good  in  the  world 
has  to  be  first  almost  killed  by  trouble,  &  disappointed,  so  God 
disciplines  those  nations  whom  He  would  employ  to  largely  & 
permanently  bless  the  World.  I  regard  the  Republican  party 
as  a  curse  to  the  Country,  &  permited  to  triumph  as  a  judg- 
ment upon  us.  The  vital  principle  of  that  party  is  not  only  an 
overthrow  of  our  Constitution  &  a  civil  revolution,  but  rebel- 
lion against  the  word  &  providence  of  God.  To  what  a  brief 
history  &  speedy  end  it  is  doomed ! — Killed  by  its  own  tri- 
umph. Already  we  have,  in  this  City,  many  of  the  more 
reasonable  &  conservative  men  in  that  party  who  are  convinced 
of  its  inability  to  carry  out  its  destructive  Dogma,  &  of  its 
incompetence  so  to  administer  the  Government  as  to  benefit 
the  Country.  These  men,  are  even  now,  agitating  for  a  great 
union  party,  hoping  to  save  themselves  in  this  only  ark,  which 
can  rise  &  float  above  the  deluge  which  will  ere  long  sweep 
ofif  the  party.  The  irresistible  logic  of  events  necessitates 
this. 

Things  are  taking  the  course  I  predicted  3  months  since  to 
my  republican  friends.     I  desire  that  the  seceded  states  hold 

'Brother  of  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse.— Ed. 


603 

fast  &  firmly  their  present  position,  avoiding  as  far  as  possible 
hostile  &  aggressive  action,  till  the  Border  States  have  time 
fully  to  comprehend  their  own  important  position,  &  that  of 
the  Seceded  States.  You  may  depend  upon  it  that  the  North- 
ern States  will  not  permit  the  Gov't  to  assail  the  South. 

The  moment  the  Gov't  undertakes,  by  force  of  arms,  to 
subdue  the  South,  or  force  the  South  into  war,  tens  [of]  thous- 
ands in  this  City  will  rise  &  say  to  Mr.  Lincoln,  "Hands  off !" 
"We,  the  people,  will  take  this  matter  into  our  own  hands."  In 
such  an  event  a  revolution  in  the  North  is  inevitable. 

Be  patient  with  us  &  aid  us  all  you  can,  &  God 
Patience  ^jn  ^rowu  our  cfforts   with  success.     Whatever 

required. 

differences  of  opinion,  we  at  the  north  may  en- 
tertain, in  respect  to  the  apparent  haste  in  your  State  action, 
when  they  had  such  power  in  Congress,  it  is  too  late  now  to 
criticize  what  she  judged  wise  then  to  do.  I  have  a  good  deal 
of  confidence,  &  daily  increasing,  that  in  due  time  peace  & 
unity  will  return,  &  the  nation  take  a  new  start  in  prosperity, 
with  the  old  leaven  of  bitterness  &  prejudice  removed;  &  the 
Union  be  restored  &  cemented  in  fraternal  Christian  bonds. 
For  this  we  will  pray  &  look. 

When  you  meet  my  highly  esteemed  friend,  Mr.  Mem- 
minger,  I  thank  you  to  give  him  my  most  respectful  &  fra- 
ternal regards. 

If  you  desire,  I  have  no  objections  to  your  shewing  him  my 
letters  to  you. 

I  hope  to  send  by  this  day  mail,  a  copy  of  our  Constitution 
&  programme. 

Most  respectfully  &  cordially. 

Your  friend  &  Christian  Brother, 

SETH  BLISS. 

MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH,-         P^^^^^'  ^'''^  ""Z^^" 

I  have  seen  Mr.  Martin  this  P.  M.  He  says  he  has  not 
received  your  second  article  as  corrected,  &  has  been  waiting 
for  it.     But  he  will  write  you  by  to-night's  mail. 

I   think   you   brethren   are   altogether   too    fast 
Dr.  Hodge's      ^bout  Dr.  Hodgc's  article.     It  is  in  no  sense  an 

articles.  °  .   .      .        ,  , 

official  document.  The  publication  of  it  is  deeply 
regretted  by  very  many  of  our  ministers  and  people.  And  to 
make  it  the  occasion  for  rending  our  Church  asunder,  would 
The  friendi        ^^   doing  a   great   wrong   on   a   very   inadequate 

feeling  of  the      prCtCXt. 

North  to  the         jj-i  gQ  f^r  as  I  know,  the  same  friendly  feeling 
towards    our    Church    South,    prevails    here    & 


604 

throughout  our  Northern  Synods,  wh.  has  existed  for  years 
past.  Nor  will  there  be  any  disposition  to  interfere  with  your 
Institution.  In  these  circumstances,  it  will  require  some  skill 
to  show  that  our  Church  ought  to  divide — a  measure  which 
could  only  be  regarded  as  a  great  public  calamity.  The  polit- 
ical dismemberment  is  only  a  reason  why  the  Church  should 
hold  together.  It  will  be  time  enough  to  talk  of  division, 
when  the  compact  which  unites  us  has  been  violated  by  one 
party  or  another.  As  yet,  I  am  not  aware  that  this  is  alleged 
from  any  quarter. —  The  South  has,  as  one  man  insisted  for 
sixteen  years,  that  the  G.  Assembly  should  let  the  subject  of 
Slavery  alone.  They  surely  will  not  introduce  the  subject 
there,  &  I  am  satisfied  the  North  will  not.  How  are  we  going 
to  get  up  a  quarrel? 

I  do  not  see  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  but  I  will  send  for 
the  Nos.  containing  your  articles. 

It  gratifies  me  much  to  hear  that  you  like  the  Hymn  Book. 
It  is  very  well  received — &  it  finds  much  favor  with  private 
Christians. 

Present  my  kind  regards  to  your  family,  &  to  the  Gilchrists 
when  you  see  them. 

Sincerely  &  fratl.  yours, 

HENRY  A.  BOARDMAN." 


fort  Sumter 
to  be  aban 


P.    S.     We    are    all   delighted   here   that    Fort 
Sumter    is    to    be    abandoned.      The    whole    city 
doned  by  the   scems  to  have  but  one  voice  on  the  subject.     We 
u.  s.  Govern-   j^^vc   no    idea   of   going   to   war   with    our   own 

ment. 

countrymen. 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

SHALL  OUR  CHURCH  DIVIDE?' 
MR.  EDITOR :  I  very  cordially  agree  with  you  in  saying : — 

"While  such  are  our  views,  we  are  not  disposed  to 
■  Dr.  Smyth         advocate  any  immediate  action  towards  effecting  the 
deprecates  division  which  we  expect  and  believe  to  be  desirable. 

thr^Church  Certainly  we  do  not  wish  to  lead  in  any  such  action. 
We  think  it  beter  to  quietly  await  the  course  of 
events.  For  the  present  we  would  be  glad  to  see  all  our  ministers, 
churches,  and  Presbyteries  in  the  Confederate  States,  remaining 
quiet  and  undisturbed  on  this  question,  waiting  and  praying  for  the 
guidance  of  Providence,  and  trusting  to  the  conduct  of  Him  who 

^Pastor  of  the  Tenth   Presbyterian   Church  in   Philadelphia,  to 
whom  reference  is  made  several  times  by  Dr.  Smyth. — Ed. 
'From  the  Southern  Presbyterian. — Ed. 


605 

has  promised  to  lead  them  by  a  sure  path  and  to  make  it  plain. 
We  will  rejoice  if  there  is  no  hasty  action  one  way  or  another;  if 
no  one  commits  himself  irrevocably,  before  there  is  time  to  con- 
sider what  is  best,  in  favor  of  one  course  or  another.  Let  us  take 
time  for  reflection  and  consultation.  And  above  all,  let  us  have  no 
strife  and  division  here  at  home.  Let  the  calmness  and  modera- 
tion o,f  a  Christian  spirit  control  our  thoughts,  words,  and  actions. 
And  if  our  Presbyteries  send  commissioners  to  the  next  General 
Assembly,  we  trust  they  will  have  the  wisdom  and  prudence  not 
to  take  any  position  which  will  interfere  with  the  course  which 
the  future  may  require.     In  a  word,  it  strikes  us  that 

mastery  ^j^^  duty  enjoined  on  us  now  in  our  ecclesiastical 
inactivity.  ,      .  .  ,       .  .    .       ,  ,, 

relations  is    a  masterly  inactivity. 

Allow  me  to  add  some  further  reasons : — 

I.  Consistency  and  self-respect  forbid  that  this  should  be 
done  hastily  and  without  cause.  In  November 
Synod  of  ^^^t,  in  Charleston,  in  presence  of  our  Convention 
South  Caro-  and  Legislature — in  the  face  of  very  great  ex- 
h"^'  sfi°^^^'  citement  and  universal  determination  to  secede 
from  the  Union — the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
unanimously  resolved  to  remain  in  the  Presbyterian  Church 
of  the  United  States,  and  not  at  present  agitate  division. 

And  it  assigned  a  pregnant  reason,  which  has  been  been 
very  gratefully  and  happily  presented  to  the  Church  and 
country  at  large  by  the  Rev.  James  W.  Dale,  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  his  most  effective  discourse  entitled  "Northern  Hearts  and 
Southern  Homes,"  as  follows : — 

"Through    the    grace    of    God,    the    Presbyterian 
Statement  of      Church  has  been  able  to  resist  the  folly  of  Europe 

Dr.    James  ,         .  ,  .   ^^^  _       ,        ,        _ 

W    Dale  ^^^  reject  the  error  of  New  England.     In  opposition 

to  the  cry,  'Anti-slaveryize  your  pulpit,  or  disunion; 
anti-slavery ize  your  colonization,  or  disunion;  anti-slaveryize  your 
temperance,  or  disunion;  anti-slaveryize  your  missions,  or  disunion; 
anti-slaveryize  your  tract  society  or  disunion;  anti-slaveryize  your 
national  churches,  or  disunion.'  In  opposition  to  all  such  narrow, 
false,  one-idea  ploughshares  of  destruction,  the  Presbyterian 
Church  stands,  in  all  her  national  breadth,  for  union,  under  the 
equal  breadth  of  constitutional  law,  and  the  yet  broader  law  and 
Gospel  of  the  ever-blessed  God!  And  now  let  me  ask  your  atten- 
tion to  a  fact  which  has  come  under  my  notice  since  the  preceding 
was  written.  On  the  28th  of  November,  last  month,  the  SYNOD 
OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  met  in  Charleston.  That  Synod  is 
composed  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers  in  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  and  a  lay  delegate  from  each  church;  and  they  resolved 
unanimously  to  remain  in  union  with  the  National  Presbyterian  Church. 


606 

Why?  Listen  to  the  first  two  sentences  of  the  adopted  report; 
'This  Synod  is  one  of  thirty-three  which  compose  the  Old  School 
Presbyterian  Church  in  this  country.  From  our  brethren  of  the 
whole  Church,  annually  assembled,  we  have  received  nothing  but 
justice  and  courtesy.'  Nothing  btit  JUSTICE  AND  COURTESY! 
And  is  that  all  that  brethren  of  the  South  ask.  Millions  of  the 
North  look  to  that  little  ensign  that  floats  in  solemn  solitariness 
far,  far  southward,  rising  above  the  dark  clouds  of  contention  and 
division;  what  other  sign  is  there  in  all  the  Southern  sky  so 
bright,  so  beautiful,  so  full  of  instruction— may  I  not  add,  of  hope! 
Read  its  golden  lettering  again:  We  have  received  nothing  but 
justice  and  courtesy! 

"What!  Is  there  any  body  of  men  in  South  Caro- 
A  sober  Una  who  can  use  such  language  of  any  Northern  men? 

"f"ri  J    Is  there  sober-mindedness  enough  in  a  large  body  of 

laymen.  clergy  and  laymen  met  in  Charleston,  to  discriminate 

between  justice  and  injustice,  courtesy  and  discour- 
tesy? How  should  this  remarkable  fact  underscore,  as  with  a 
diamond's  point,  the  cause  and  the  remedy  for  our  national  peril, 
which  I  have  been  urging  upon  you!  The  cause  of  all  our  trouble 
is  unjust  interference  with  slavery  by  some,  and  discourteous 
interference  by  tenfold  more;  yet,  altogether,  a  very  small  number, 
compared  with  the  still  masses  of  the  North,  [which]  would  be 
neither  unjust  nor  discourteous.  Let  the  North  know  that  all  the 
South — all  that  the  South — wants  is  'justice  and  courtesy.' 

"Thank  God  for  the  action  of  South  Carolina.  The  anchor  still 
holds." 

2.  Now  the  Church,  as  a  body,  has  not  by  any 
yet  given  by  ecclesiastical  action  given  any  occasion  since  then 
Church  to  to  alter  our  determination,  and  on  what  ground, 
change             ^g^  then  before  us,  could  we  now  act  otherwise? 

3.  The  course  of  Dr.  Hodge,  Dr.  Rice,  Dr. 
Lord,  Dr.  Breckinridge,  and  Dr.  Engles,^  however  unexpected, 
is  not  that  of  the  Church :  nor,  so  far  as  I  know,  likely  to  be 
approved  by  the  Church.  They  have  acted  as  individuals. 
They  are  every  one  with  us,  and  against  abolitionists,  on  the 
„  H  d  '  slavery  question.  The  articles  of  Dr.  Hodge,  and 
opinion  of  sermons  of  Dr.  Lord,  embody  and  reaffirm  their 
slavery  ac-  vicws  ou  slavcry,  which  have  been  most  accept- 
ceptabie.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  South.  Dr.  Ricc  has  been  a  champion 
in  our  cause,  and  still  stands  upon  (his  own  words,  I  believe) 
the  platform  of  1845;  and  as  to  Dr.  Engles,  he  has  not  said 
anything  in  contrariety  to  his  long-known  and  nobly  defended 
conservative  position  on  slavery;  and,  I  am  sure,  did  not  in- 

*Editor  of  the  Presbyterian.  Of  the  others,  Dr.  Hodge  and  Dr. 
R.  J.  Breckinridge  need  no  further  comment;  Dr.  Rice,  Mr. 
Mathews  and  Dr.  Lord  cannot  be  positively  identified. — Ed. 


607 

tend  to  offend  us  in  his  short  article  on  our  pohtical  course, 
which  has  never  been  repeated,  though  severely  criticized. 
Let  us,  then,  allow  these  brethren  to  express  their  views  on 
other  points,  on  which  they  have  heard  our  protestations  and 
rebukes ;  and,  on  our  Saviour's  rule,  say  that,  as  they  are  not 
against  us  on  the  only  point  which  affects  our  Church  rela- 
tions, but  are  with  us,  they  are  still  for  us,  and  our  friends  to 
love  and  labor  with  us. 

The  Acts  of  4-  '^^6  difference  of  opinion  on  the  interpre- 
i8i8  and  tation  of  the  act  of  i8i8  does  not  constitute  any 

^^'^^-  ground   of   offence   on   the   part   of   the   Church. 

This  point,  lying  beyond  the  sustem  of  doctrine  taught  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  as  embodied  in  our  standards,  is,  with  all 
similar  questions,  left  free  to  liberty  of  opinion.  I  differ  from 
Mr.  Mathews,  and  agree  with  Dr.  Rice,  (i,)  as  to  the  nature 
of  such  deliverances  as  those  of  i8i8  and  1845;  ^^d>  (2.)  in 
not  believing  that  the  act  of  1818  was,  or  was  intended  to  be, 
abolition,  though  its  language  now  would  be  so  understood. 

As  to  the  opinion  or  recommendations  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, Dr.  Rice  says  : — 

"You  know  that  no  General  Assembly  can  add  to, 
Dr.  Rice  s  ^^  ^^j^^  from  our  Confession  of  Faith  and  Book  of 
statement.  _...,.  ,  , .  ... 

Discipline;    or    even    make    a    standing    rule,    without 

sending  it  down  to  the  Presbyteries.  For  example,  the  Assembly 
of  1845  expressed  the  opinion  that  Romish  baptism  is  not  valid; 
and  immediately  afterwards  Dr.  Hodge  made  a  labored  argument 
in  the  Repertory  to  prove  its  A^alidity.  Did  any  one  imagine  that 
he  was  doing  anything  more  than  exercising  a  right?  The  As- 
sembly of  1818  gave  their  views  of  slavery,  and  made  certain 
recommendations.  Those  views  and  recommendations  any  one  in 
the  Church  has  ever  been,  and  is,  free  to  controvert.  No  church 
can  exist  by  possibility  if  the  principle  for  which  I  understand  you 
contend  is  admitted,  viz:  that  every  important  difference  of  opinion 
justifies  or  requires  division.  There  are,  and  ever  have  been', 
differences  of  opinion  amongst  our  ministers  on  very  important 
subjects,  and  yet  we  have  continued  together." 

And  as  to  the  opinion  of  1818 —  i.  It  had  reference  to  slav- 
ery in  its  recent  barbarous  and  imperfectly  comprehended 
nature,  and  in  all  its  accessories.  2.  It  does  not  refer  to  it.  in 
itself  considered.  3.  It  does  not  declare  it  to  be  a  sin.  4.  It 
does  not  hint  at  such  a  thing  as  making  it  a  barrier  to  com- 
munion, or  a  ground  of  discipline.  5.  It  was  adopted  as  the 
opinion  of  ALL  present,  South  and  North.  6.  It  continued 
until  1845  to  be  so  understood  and  acted  upon.  7.  When 
abolitionism  first  commenced   its   evil   work,   and   ever   since. 


our  Church  opposed  and  condemned  it.  8.  Abolitionists  for 
some  time  so  understood  the  act  of  1818.     For  in  1845  • — 

"Abolitionists  petitioned  the  Assembly  to  depart  from  the  ground 
on  which  the  Church  had  always  stood,  and  to  exclude  all  slave- 
holders from  the  Church.  This  the  Assembly  refused  to  do,  and 
assigned  the  reasons  for  refusing.  This  is  perfectly  apparent,  not 
only  from  the  whole  face  of  the  paper,  but  from  the  resolutions 
at  its  close,  which  read  thus: — 

"  'i.  That  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  was  originally  organized,  and  has  since  con- 
tinued the  bond  of  union  in  the  Church,  upon  the  conceded  prin- 
ciple that  the  existence  of  domestic  slavery,  under  the  circumstances 
in  which  it  is  found  in  the  Southern  portion  of  the  country,  is  no 
bar  to  Christian  communion.  2.  That  the  petitions  that  ask  the 
Assembly  to  make  the  holding  of  slaves  in  itself  a  matter  of 
discipline,  do  virtually  require  the  judicatory  to  dissolve  itself 
and  abandon  the  organization  under  which,  by  the  Divine  blessing, 
it  has  so  long  prospered.'  Could  language  declare  more  plainly 
that  the  Assembly  simply  refused,  at  the  desire  of  abolitionists,  to 
abandon  the  ground  the  Church  has  ever  occupied?" 

Such  acts  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^t  ^^^  mean  what  it  will,  it  was  but 

only  advice,  an  Opinion  or  advice,  and  no  law  of  the  Church ; 
not  law.  g^j^^  ^g  j^  g^j^y  object  to  the  South  to  prove  that 

her  own  fathers  and  the  Church  of  their  fathers,  until  1845, 
were  abolition?  Surely  not.  And  as  the  South  united  in 
1846  in  the  unanimous  declaration  of  this  interpretation,  there- 
fore : —  "They  will  not  think  of  withdrawing  from  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  because  she  still  believes  the  truth  of  the 
solemn  statement  made  by  her  representatives  in  the  Assembly 
of  1846,  and  made  unanimously  by  all  the  representatives 
from  the  South.  This  would  be  seceding  from  themselves." 
*     *     *^  T.  S. 

For  The  Southern  Presbyterian. 

SHALL  OUR  CHURCH  DIVIDE? 

Mr.  Editor:  Our  views  on  this  question  may 
by^Dr!^  Smyth,  "ot  be  far  apart,  as  I  do  not  speak  of  our  future, 
but  only  of  our  present  course,  and  if  I  had  not 
been  led  to  fear  rash  and  precipitate  action  I  would  have  held 
my  peace.  It  has  been  my  advice  for  years  to  have  our  for- 
eign   and    domestic    missionary    schemes,    and    also    those    of 

^Dr.  Smyth  continues  by  quoting  the  example  of  the  Episcopal 
Church,  stating  the  unpreparedness  of  the  Pres.  Church,  and  that 
public  opinion  was  against  division. — Ed. 


609 

education  and  publication,  in  a  condition  of  self-existing 
activity,  so  as  to  be  ready  in  any  emergency  to  loose  the  cables, 
and  put  to  sea  and  move  forward.  Allow  me  to  make  two 
explanatory  remarks. 

I.  As  to  the  act  of  i8i8,^  I  agree  with  you: — 
^g^^g    ^*  °  ist.  That  much   of  its   language  could  not  be 

now  understood,  except  in  an  Abolition  sense. 

2d.  That  it  could  not  now  be  adopted,  or  authoritatively 
delivered  by  our  Church  united. 

But  in  all  that  constitutes  the  anti-Christian  heresy,  and 
"blasphemy,"  and  spiritual  despotism  of  abolitionism,  that  act 
is  opposed  to  it,  and  was  always  so  interpreted  until  that 
heresy  perverted  it.  Our  fathers  were  not,  and  never  meant 
to  make  our  Church,  abolition.  This  is  proved  by  the  act  of 
1845,  which  expresses  the  views  of  the  great  majority  of  our 
Church  at  that  time,  and  since. 

Dr.  Hodge's  ^-  ^^  ^o  Dr.  Hodgc's  vicws  ou  slavery  per  se, 
views  on  in  its  csscutial  nature  and  relations,  as  defined,  for 

slavery.  instance  by  Dr.   Thornwell  in  his  recent  article, 

Dr.  Hodge  holds,  and  has  always  maintained,  precisely  the 
same  view.  This  is  found  in  his  Review,  in  his  commentaries, 
and  in  his  articles. 

His  opinion  as  to  the  ultimate  end  contemplated  by  God  in 
the  institution,  and  the  consequent  prospective  duty  of  the 
South,  that  is  an  opinion,  entirely  distinct  from  his  doctrine 
of  slavery ;  and  an  opinion  which  he  and  all  others  have  been 
freely  allowed  to  entertain.  Dr.  Hodge  never  was  an  im- 
mediate emancipationist,  nor  for  any  action  in  the  premises 
beyond  that  of  the  slave  States- themselves.  The  same  is  true 
of  Dr.  Rice.  All  I  wish  is,  not  to  apologize  for  this  opinion,  but 
to  justify  my  remark,  that  on  the  fundamental  question,  "is 
slavery  per  se,  and  in  its  very  nature,  sinful  ?"  Dr.  Hodge  is  with 
us  and  for  us.  "Slave-holding,"  he  says,  "is  not  a  crime."  (State 
of  the  Country,  p.  11.)  And  on  page  12,  he  repudiates  any  sym- 
pathy, "with  those  who  regard  slaveholding  as  a  crime,  and 
immediate  emancipation  as  a  duty ;  and  who  denounce  slave 
holders  as  unworthy  of  Christian  fellowship."  Abuse  of 
slaveholders  he  declares  to  involve,  "injustice  and  violence." 

The   view    we   take   is    precisely    that   affirmed 
°'-  "^^P™"       bv  Dr.  Thornwell,  in  his  paper  on 'the  State  of  the 

well  s  view.  '  j  r-    i- 

Country : — 

"In  the  third  place,  let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  we  have 
-no   complaint  to  make   of  the   opinions   of  the   North,   considered 

^See  note,  p.  234. — Ed. 
[39] 


610 

simply  as  their  opinions.  They  have  a  right,  so  far  as  human 
authority  is  concerned,  to  think  as  they  please.  The  South  has 
never  asked  them  to  approve  of  slavery,  or  to  change  their  own 
institutions  and  to  introduce  it  among  themselves.  The  South  has 
been  willing  to  accord  to  them  the  most  perfect  and  unrestricted 
right  of  private*  judgment." 

BROOKLYN,  April  8,  1861. 
REV  AND  DEAR  BROTHER, 

j3j_  Van-  Yo^^  ^^'^^  your  family  were  so  kind  to  us  during 

Dyke's  jour-  our  sojoum  in  Charleston,  that  we  have  no 
ney  home.  reasou  to  doubt  you  will  be  glad  to  hear  of  our 
safe  arrival  at  home.  *  *  On  our  way  to  Richmond  we 
stopped  in  Charlotte  a  few  hours — long  enough  for  me  to  be 
kindly  received  by  the  pastor  of  our  church  there,  and  to 
address  quite  a  large  congregation,  which  to  my  great  sur- 
prise were  assembled  to  hear  me.  In  Richmond  we  stayed 
about  ten  days — including  two  Sabbaths — the  latter  of  which 
I  exchanged  with  Dr.  Hoge.^  I  should  be 
ashamed  to  tell  of  all  the  kindness  and  attention 
we  received  there,  and  how  eagerly  the  people  seemed  to 
crowd  to  hear  such  preaching  as  I  could  give  them.  Human 
nature  is  a  weak  thing,  and  I  am  sure  I  have  my  full  share 
of  it.  If  I  am  not  spoiled  by  this  Southern  tour  it  will  prove 
that  I  have  some  little  grace,  for  I  am  very  sure  my  natural 
ability  never  could  endure  such  flattering  attentions  without 
being  utterly  puffed  up.  You,  I  trust,  will  keep  me  down 
in  my  proper  place.  The  thorn  in  the  flesh  is  not  wanting 
in  my  case.  My  wife  is  benefitted  verv  much  bv  otir  Southern 
visit,  but  I  cannot  conceal  the  fact  from  my.  elf,  tli^t  she  is 
not  Avell.     *     *     * 

Dr.  VanDyke  The  Abolitionists  and  their  allies  seem  to  be 
and  the  little   Conciliated  towards  me  by  my  visit  to  the 

Abohtionists.  South.  They  are  doing  everything  in  their  power 
to  make  trouble  for  me  in  my  own  Church.  How  far  they 
will  succeed  remains  to  be  seen.  God  will  take  care  of  his  own 
truth,  and  of  those  who  honestly  try  to  expound  and  defend 
it.  I  only  introduce  this,  to  thank  you  for  a  little  article  in  the 
Journal  of  Commerce  signed  CHARLESTON  which,  I  sup- 
pose, came  from  your  friendly  pen. — I  begin  to  be  painfully 
convinced  by  what  I  see  and  hear  around  me  that  the  time  for 
crgumeut  has  gone  by:  and  that  the  most  we  can  hope  for 
r"  w  in  our  distracted  Country,  is  a  peaceful  separation  of  the 

'The  celebrated  Dr.  Moses  D.  Hoge. — Ed. 


611 

two    hostile    sections.     The    false    philosophy    and    religious 

fanaticism  that  have  been  growing  stronger  for  a  half-century 

cannot  be  rooted  out  in  a  year.     The  revolution 

•    ''^J'J' "*'°"     which   is   the  first   fruits  cannot  be  turned   back, 

inevitable.  ^  ' 

I  fear.  The  most  we  can  reasonably  hope  for  is 
that  it  may  run  a  peaceful  course.  Please  present  our  kind 
regards  to  your  wife  and  children,  and  to  all  the  good  friends 
of  yours  who  used  their  kind  attentions  to  make  our  stay  with 
you  pleasant  in  the  enjoyment  and  precious  in  the  recollection. 
My  wife  and  boy  join  me  heartih^  in  these  salutations. 

May  God  bless  and  keep  you,  and  make  your  last  days 
your  best.  Yours  truly  in  Xt, 

HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE. 

P.  S.  I  wrote  Appletons  according  to  promise  and  pre- 
sume you  have  heard  from  them. 

Room  sS,  Bible  House,  Astor  Place,  N.  Y. 
REV  &  DEAR  SIR,  ^^"^"^  9-  1861. 

Yours  of  the  4th  instant  came  to  hand  last 
the  Soc.  for  Evcuiug ;  also  several  pamphlets,  some  of  which 
the  Promotion  had  prcviously  been  sent  to  Mr.  Mitchell,  one  of 
of  National  q^^j.  Exccutive  Committee — but  not  making  du- 
plicates less  valuable. —  Accept  our  thanks  for 
these ;  and  for  me,  separately,  for  the  reply  to  Dr.  Hodge. 
Your  favor  of  March  16  was  duly  received,  and  gratified  our 
Committee,- — I  think  I  have  replied  to  that,  but  am  not  cer- 
tain.—  We  have  not  as  yet  done  anything  about  your  appeal — 
We  have  had  much  to  do  to  get  in  order  for  action. — 

Our  Committee  have  adopted  Bishop  Hopkins'  (of  Ver- 
mont,) 'A'iew^  of  Slavery,"  omitting  2  pp.  on  secession — 
Also  Dr.  String-fellow's  "Origin.  Nature,  History,  Etc,"  and 
the  Chapter  in  his  former  F>ook,  "Statistical  Mew  of  Slavery," 
and  "National  Controversy,  or  \'oice  of  the  Fathers,"  bv  Dr. 
Stiles.— 

No  I  will  be  Dr.  Hopkins'  Bible  \'iew,  as  better  to  begin 
with,  besides  being  from  a  Northern  man. 

No  2  The  Statistical  \"iews. 

No  3  Probably  Dr  Stiles. 

No  4  Probably  Dr  Stringfellow. 

2  &  3  had  better  follow  No  i,  as  they  are  very  important  to 
break,  at  least,  the  ]:)rejudice  of  the  Northern  mind  in  regard 
to  the  historical,  social,  and  commercial  bearings  of  slavery. 

Now   if   in    the   meantime   the   Appletons   will   publish   vour 


612 

appeal — We  might  take  it  up  after  they  have  done  and  give  it, 
as  it  deserves,  a  w^ider  circulation. — They  are  now  getting  out 
Professor  Agnew's  reply  to  Professor  Lewis — Our  Soc :  take 
2000  Copies  to  encourage  them  to  do  this. — If  we  can  get  funds 
we  might  encourage  them  to  undertake  your  appeal. — 

We  are  now  about  to  rally  our  friends  in  the  City  for 
funds. — 

In  your  last  you  say,  "my  4th  and  last  article  appeared  last 
Thursday,  and  No  3  on  last  Saturday  two  weeks." — 

I  find  in  Journal  of  Commerce,  March  i,  No 
Dr^'tmyA.  I— March  9,  No  2— March  26,  No  3,  which  I 
suppose  from  its  closing  sentences,  to  be  the  last. 
— We  have  a  file  of  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  and  I  have  ex- 
amined each  No.  from  March  26  but  find  no  No  4. — Where  is 
No  4  published,  if  not  in  Journal  of  Commerce?  I  fear  this 
will  reach  you  amid  war  and  bloodshed. — 

God  save  our  Country ! 
Yours  in  bonds  of  Peace, 

SETH  BLISS. 
Sec  Am  Soc.  Prom.  Nat'l  Unity 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth. 

* 
DEAR  FATHER  Thursday — COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

On  the  eve  ^  havc   got  thro'  my   examination   at   last  and 

of  the  battle  have  just  Certainly  heard  the  result,  which  is  that 
of  Fort  I   am   ahead   of   the    whole    class,    tho'    one   man 

pushed  me  prett}^  tight.  If  we  go  on  however  I 
will  have  to  be  very  careful,  or  he  will  get  above  me  next  time, 
for  he  is  a  very  smart  fellow  and  he  will  study  very  hard  now. 
You  say  that  you  hear  that  I  am  not  a  hard  student.  I  do  not 
study  as  hard  as  many  of  the  men  here  do,  but  still  I  do  my 
duty  to  my  books  and  as  my  marks  show,  I  have  made  very 
good  recitations  and  examinations.  Still  I  try  to  go  out  as 
much  as  I  can. — 

There  is  great  excitement  here  now  and  I  am  afraid  that 
the  college  will  be  broken  up.^  A  number  of  the  students  have 
left  and  will  leave,  and  many  are  only  kept  from  going  by  the 
hope  of  our  company  being  called  into  service.  Our  Capt. 
went  to  Charleston  the  other  day  to  see  the  Gov.  and  try  and 
get  us  into  service.  He  returned  this  morning  with  the  mes- 
sage, that  if  with  the  leave  and  permission  of  our  parents  we 
should  go  to  Charleston,  he  would  give  us  an  honorable  place 

"See  "Autobiography  of  Joseph  Le  Conte,"  p.  182.  This  letter 
was  probably  written  on  April  9. — Ed. 


613 

in  the  field.  So  we  had  a  company  meeting  this  morning  and 
it  was  moved  that  every  man  should  write  home  immediately 
and  see  if  he  could  get  permission.  Uncle  John  says  that  tho' 
he  does  not  like  the  company  going  off,  still  he  thinks  that  as 
it  is  going  every  man  ought  to  go  with  it.  I  do  not  think  that 
there  will  be  much  study  the  rest  of  this  week  and  next  week. 
I  expect  the  company  will  start  for  Charleston  and  college  will 
be  disbanded. 

I  have  been  speaking  only  a  little  to  Mother  about  the  mat- 
ter, as  I  heard  the  news  only  last  night.  Please  write  to  me 
immediately  and  tell  me  what  }'ou  think  about  the  matter.  I 
ana  very  anxious  to  go,  as  there  will  be  hardly  a  single  one 
who  will  not  go.—  Please  answer  by  next  mail. — 
In  haste, 

Your  affectionate  son, 

AUGUSTINE. 

P.  S.  If  I  do  not  go  with  the  company  I  will  have  to  go 
home  in  about  a  week,  I  expect,  as  the  college  seems  likely  to 
disband. 

CHARLESTON,  SO.  CA. 

MY  DEAR  SON,  ^^"'^  '^'    '^^'- 

You  ask  permission  to  join  your  College  com- 

Dr.    Smyth's  .  /     .  .  .''  ^     .  r    .^         c.     .      ■ 

dedication  of  pa^iy  HI  entcrmg  the  active  service  of  the  State 
his  son  to  the  and  Confederacy  in  the  present  war  of  patriotic 
service  of  his   (jefg^ce  of  her  rights  and  her  homes — and  this  is 

country.  .    ,  ,^  %      i  i 

right.  Next  to  God  come  parents,  and  next  to 
parents,  country.  With  parents  however,  country  comes  next 
to  God,  and  where  the  honor  and  protection  and  independence 
of  the  former  demand  the  sacrifice  of  sons,  heaven  sanctifies 
the  tear  with  which  they  are  bound  upon  the  altar  of  liberty, 
and  the  anguish  with  which  the  uplifted  arm  dooms  them  to 
possible  and  even  probable  destruction.  To  die  for  God  is 
martyrdom,  and  to  die  for  country  is  heroism,  and  it  is  both 
dulce  et  decorum  pro  patria  mori,  and  to  fill  a  patriot's  grave, 
by  all  our  country's  fondest  wishes  blest. 

The  only  question  therefore  with  me  is,  does  any  emergent 
exigency  require  your  services ;  and  of  that  I  think  the  Gov- 
ernor is  the  proper  judge,  especially  as  he  gave  you  previously 
such  judicious  advice  and  patriotic  reasons  for  refusing  under 
any  circumstances,  to  accept  the  services  of  students,  during 
their  college  course.     To  his  views  as  then  expressed  I  still 

^This  date  must  be  an  error  for  the   loth  or  nth. — Ed. 


614 

adhere  as  best  for  you  and  the  State.  But  if  he  has  reasons  for 
now  approving  a  different  course,  I  not  only  approve,  but 
commend,  your  desired  course. 

Go  then  on  one  conditional  promise,  and  that  is,  that  if  you 
do  not  fall  in  battle,  you  will  return  to  College ;  and  if  neces- 
sary, re-enter  and  take  the  full  course. 

On  this  condition  go ;  and  remember  that  your  blood  is  of 
that  richest  patriotic  character — Scotch-Irish — combining  the 
mingled  elements  of  English,  Scotch,  and  North  Irish — the 
Smyths,  the  chiefs  of  the  first  colony  under  James, — the 
Magees — and  the  Stuarts  of  noble  pedigree.  Your  grand- 
father Smyth  was  in  early  life  a  soldier ;  and  in  middle  life  a 
captain  of  the  Irish  rebels  in  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1798,  and  a 
prisoner  of  war  who  narrowly  escaped  the  same  gallows  upon 
which  was  executed  the  noble  patriot,  William  Orr,  whose 
execution  he  witnessed  at  the  hazard  of  life ;  and  the  treason- 
inspiring  card,  about  whose  sacrifice  on  the  altar  of  tyranny 
by  the  hands  of  perjured  witnesses  and  the  connivance  of 
partial  justice,  was  in  itself  a  death  warrant  to  its  possessor — 
he  cherished  as  a  sacred  memento.  Your  uncle  William  died 
as  a  volunteer  upon  the  plains  of  Mexico.  And  love  of  lib- 
erty and  no  necessity  brought  our  family  to  this  country. 
Your  aunt  Magee's  brothers  were  General  and  Col  Stuart  of 
the  British  army  and  my  cousins  Stuart^  both  died  in  service 
in  the  British  army. — 

Go  then ;  and  may  the  G.od  of  battles  be  with  you  as  the  God 
of  peace  and  salvation,  to  preserve  and  inspirit,  and  make  you 
an  honor  to  your  native  land,  and  afterwards  to  his  church 
^"^  cause.  ^Q,^^  y^^j.  f^^her, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

On  Friday,  January  25,  1861,  the  students  had  formed  them- 
selves into  a  company,  under  the  name  of  the  South  Carolina 
College  Cadets.  They  did  nothing  more  by  the  advice  of  the 
Governor,  until  South  Carolina  received  notice  from  Washington 
that  Fort  Sumter  was  to  be  provisioned,  "peaceably  if  they  could, 
forcibly  if  they  must,"  but  that  if  no  resistance  was  made,  the 
garrison  would  receive  no  reinforcements,  "until  further  notice." 

As  however,  the  ships  bearing  supplies  were  also  filled  with 
armed  troops,  no  time  was  lost.  Major  Anderson  was  called  on 
by  General  Beauregard,  on  the  night  of  April  11,  to  surrender.  In 
the    meantime    additional    troops    had    been    hastily    summoned; 

*This  is  an  error  in  name.  They  were  Magee — their  mother, 
Stuart.  William  Smyth's  death  in  Mexico  is  only  a  surmise, 
but  his  brother  Samuel  saw  service  at  one  time. — Ed. 


615 

among  them  the  S.  C.  College  Cadets,  who  were  stationed  at 
Mount  Pleasant  during  the  firing  on  April  12  and  13,  when,  owing 
to  rough  weather,  the  relieving  ships  were  unable  to  enter  the 
harbour,  and  Major  Anderson  was  forced  to  surrender. 

After  this,  the  S.  C.  College  Cadets  were  held  in  reserve  in 
camp  on  Sullivan's  Island  for  a  time.  After  which,  they  were 
brought  to  the  city,  marched  up  Meeting  Street  to  Governor  Pick- 
ens' headquarters,  from  which  he  addressed  them,  commending 
them  for  their  soldierly  behaviour,  and  promising  that  if  they 
would  return  quietly  to  their  studies,  he  would  send  for  them  when 
their  services  were  needed.  They  returned  to  College,  but  were 
recalled  to  active  service  in  the  Autumn  of  1861.  For  with 
the  bombardment  of  Sumter  the  War  between  the  States  became 
a  fearful  fact. — Editor. 


616 


Chapter  III.     From  Sumter  to  the  Bombardment 
OF  Charleston, 

War  had  begun.  The  Confederate  States  of  America,  though 
still  lacking  four  States,  which  seceded  from  the  Union  immedi- 
ately after  this,  were  already  an  organized  republic. — Editor. 

LEXINGTON,   KY. 

April  i6,  1861. 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

Your  welcomed  favor  of  the  nth  came  to  hand 
r.  i  a    ews    ^^  yesterday.     I  was  reioiced  to  learn  that  your- 

opinions.  -^  f  -'  -      , 

self  &  family  were  well  and  in  cheerful  spirits, 
under  the  fearful  surroundings  of  your  city.  Since  your  let- 
ter was  written,  you  have  witnessed  a  grand  &  terrible  tragedy. 
But  your  arms  are  victorious.  Intense  excitement  fires  every 
heart,  some  with  sympathy — some  with  rage.  Virginia  has 
Seceded —  my  dear  old  Mother,  where  sleep  the  ashes  of  my 
Mother  and  Brother,  &  Son  &  daughter  How  can  I  restrain 
my  attachment  for  the  land  of  my  birth,  &  the  graves  of  my 
cherished  dead  ?  Kentucky  will  follow  rapidly ! — I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  a  protracted  and  malignant  warfare  has  com- 
menced ;  God  alone  can  guide  and  decide  its  issues.  Many 
humble,  pious  hearts  are  prostrated  in  the  dust  before  a 
righteous  God — supplicating  his  mercy  and  forbearance  to  our 
riven  nation. 

Our  church,  I  have  no  doubt,  will  be  divided. 
Church  Q^^  people  will  demand,  all  of  us,  to  abjure  the 

division.  x-        jr  7  >  J 

relations  of  the  North,  and  to  cut  loose  from  all 
religious,  as  well  as  civil  and  political  intercourse.  This 
state  of  things  is  overwhelming.  How  heart-sickening  is  the 
reality,  and  how  oppressive  is  the  prospect ! 

Dr.  Breckinridge  will  go  to  the  Gen'l  Assembly 
Dr.  Breck-        ^^^^  ^^^^  Prcsby.     I  shall  vote  for  Dr.  Bullock, 

inridge.  -^  ,  .       .  , 

Brother-in-Law  of  Vice  Prest.  Breckmndge. — 
Perhaps  we  may  send  four  instead  of  two  Commissioners. 

My  sons  are  eager  to  go,  &  share  in  the  fearful  struggle, 
but  I  dissuade  them,  as  they  may  be  needed  at  home.  They 
are  both  members  of  a  fine,  well  drilled  company  of  this  city. 
The  resignation  of  Gen'l  Scott  will  produce  a  great  sensation. 
The  greatest  Captain  of  the  day,  can't  be  a  neutral  in  influence. 
I  suppose  from  your  residence,  you  could  witness  the  entire 
scene  of  the  terrible  conflict. 

Do  give  me  a  long  reply,  if  you  can  find  the  leisure  or  the 
heart.     Much  love  to  vour  dear  wife  &  family  from  myself  & 


617 

family.     I  never  had  the  least  idea  of  removing  from  Lexing- 
ton, as  you  intimate.     I  should  like  to  have  been  farther  South 
and  have  so  expressed  myself  to  you,  but  never  took  any  steps 
towards  it.     Now,  it  would  be  impracticable. 
Dr.  Nevin's  Have  you  seen  Nevin's  paper,  under  the  aus- 

papef.  pices  of  Musgrave  &  Edwards  ?     It  is  intended  to 

advocate  Black  Republican  principles  in  our  church !  So  Dr. 
Happerset  informed  me,  a  few  weeks  since.  They  are  to  en- 
dorse Dr.  Hodge!  Heaven  defend  the  right — and  give  us  all 
sufficient  grace  for  our  trial.     Write  me  soon — Love  to  all. 

Yours  truly  &  fraternally, 
Dr.  Smyth,  JOHN  D.  MATTHEWS. 

Charleston. 

Concerning  my  Article  in  Joiirnal  of  Commerce.  From  the 
nephezv  of  Dr.  Skinner^  of  N.  Y. 

RALEIGH,  N.  C.  April  i6,  1861. 
DR.  THOS  SMYTH,  CHARLESTON  S.  C. 

MY  DEAR  BROTHER  IN  XT., 
Secession    in         *     *     ^^  vittd  such  a  presentation  of  the  sub- 
North   Caro-     ject  in  some  part  of  N.  C.     The  Union  party  is 
1'"^-  dead  in  the  Old  North  State,  The  Raleigh  Reg- 

ister, the  leading  Whig  organ,  is  out  today  in  the  right  type. 
The  Standard,  vile  sheet,  will  turn  soon,  it  is  thought.  Only 
30  Secession  votes  at  our  late  election  were  cast  in  this  City, 
and  now  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying  that  the  City  is  in  a 
majority  for  Southern  rights.  The  Union  men  say,  that  they 
have  been  vilely  deceived  by  the  Administration  at  Washing- 
ton, now  that  Lincoln's  policy  is  declared  by  words  and  acts. 

The  North  will  be  united  in  the  war  spirit  against  us,  & 
even  such  true  conservative  sheets  as  the  Journal  of  Com- 
merce will,  I  fear,  be  unable  to  withstand  the  popular  torrent 
of  injustice  &  wrong  against  the  South.  The  stoppage  of  the 
mails  will  cut  them  off  from  us. 

My  heart's  sympathy  has  been  with  noble  chivalrous  South 
Carolina,  &  I  rejoiced  &  praised  the  God  of  Battle,  &  of  right, 
when  the  news  reached  us  of  the  surrender  of  Sumter,  &  that 
without  a  life  lost  by  the  Confederate  troops — Notice  in  con- 
nexion with  this  fact,  the  self  destruction  of  some  of  the  U.  S. 
Troops —  Call  these  accidents?  These  are  no  accidents  to  the 
intelligent  Christian. 

"ReA^  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  New  School, 
in  the  controversy  of  1837. — Ed. 


6]8 

We  are  expecting  news  of  a  bloody  conflict  on  Morris 
Island,  if  the  mercenary  troops  of  the  mendacious  Adminis- 
tration at  Washington,  dare  to  land. 

Our  Governor  has  called  his  council  and  will  convene  the 
Legislature  soon.  The  forts  of  N.  C.  are  in  the  hands  of  her 
Sons,  &  the  Arsenal  at  Fayetteville  will  be  called  on  to  sur- 
render in  a  few  days.  A  company  of  loo  men  from  our  City, 
are  secretly  planning  the  movement  in  conjunction  with  others. 
A  home  guard  also  is  forming,  in  whose  list  are  the  names  of 
our  U.  S.  Senator,  our  Alember  of  Congress,  our  former 
Foreign  Minister  to  Spain  &  your  humble  servant —  Out  of 
lo  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  8  in  our  City  are  Secessionists. 
One  chided  me  thus —  "Oh !  sir  we  should  pray  for  our 
Enemies,"  "Yes,"  said  I,  "that  is  so,  &  I  do,  I  pray  fervently 
that  they  may  be  defeated  ;  Sir,  how  do  you  pray  ?"  said  I, 
"If  not  as  I  pray,  then  you  pray  for  their  success.  Do  vou?" 
His  logic  led  him  near  to  treason !     *     *     * 

THOS.  E.  SKINNER. 

When  the  General  Assembly  of  1861  met  in  Phila- 

The    General      delphia   in   May,   Dr.   Smyth  was  not  able  to  attend; 

Assembly    of     j^j^   presence   in    Charleston   was   too   greatly   needed. 

1861  :     Church     t-,  ,  ,  ,  .    ,      ,  ,         ,  ^ 

Division  ^^''^    ^"^    catastrophe    which    he    and   other   far-seemg 

men    had    feared,    came    about,    instigated    from    the 

North     and     not     from     the     South.       Dr.     Gardiner 

Spring.  spring^   of  the    Brick   Church   of   New   York,   a   New 

Englander   by  birth   and  very   extreme  in   his  views, 

'Dr.  Spring  says:  "The  Rev.  Dr.  Palmer  of  New  Orleans,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Thornwell,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Adger  and  Dr.  Leland,  of  Colum- 
bia, S.  C,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth  of  Charleston,  men  of  dis- 
tinguished ability,  and  with  talents  fitted  to  control  the  popular 
will,  gave  utterance  to  views  which  not  only  justified  and  coun- 
selled the  rebellion,  but  instigated  and  urged  it  with  all  the 
enthusiasm  and  vehemence  of  the  pulpit,  and  all  the  weight  of 
their  personal  and  official  character."  Life  and  Times  of  Dr. 
Spring,   vol.  2,   p.    180. 

Dr.  Lindley  Spring,  the  son  of  Dr.  Spring,  and  a  resident  of 
New  Orleans,  made  an  address  in  New  York  at  Cooper  Institute, 
on  Fast  Day,  August  4,  1864,  on  the  subject  of  Peace;  picturing 
the  atrocities  that  were  being  committed  at  the  South  under  the 
name  of  War,  and  expostulating  with  the  ministers  who  continued 
to  urge  the  North  to  violence.  This  was  published  in  pamphlet 
form.  Dr.  Wm.  J.  Hoge,  brother  of  Dr.  Moses  D.  Hoge  of  Rich- 
mond, who  was  in  1861  co-pastor  with  Dr.  Spring,  (see  Smyth's 
Works,  vol.  VII,  p.  663,  etc.)  resigned  his  office  shortly  after  the 
meeting  of  the  Assembly,  and  went  as  a  Chaplain  into  the  Con- 
federate Army,  dying  in  the  seige  of  Petersburg.     The  resolutions 


619 

admitting  no  fellowship  with  unbelievers,  as  he  considered  all 
slave-holders  and  secessionists,  introduced  a  resolution  so  con- 
demnatory of  the  South  that  its  adoption  presupposed  disunion,  as 
he  called  on  the  Church  to  "promote  and  perpetuate  the  integrity 
of  these  United  States,  and  to  strength,  uphold,  and  encourage 
the   Federal  Government." 

The   venerable    Dr.    Charles    Hodge    of    Princeton 

Dr.  Charles  offered  a  substitute  resolution,  stating  in  brief*  that 
Hodge. 

the    General    Assembly    was    neither    a    Northern    or 

Southern  body;  that  owing  to  Providential  hindrances  the  South 
was  not  represented  at  this  meeting;  (only  twenty-four  were  able 
to  come  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  appointed,)  and  that  the 
Old  School  Presbyterian  Church  was  the  last  Evangelical  body 
uniting  the  North  and  South.^ 

Dr.  Hodge  acted  as  leader  of  a  body  of  fifty-eight 
Members  of  commissioners,  the  Southerners,  and  those  conserva- 
i'res  Lm-  ^j^^  Northerners  who  stood  with  them.^  They  fur- 
coin  s  cabinet  ,  .  ,  i  a  i  i  i  ,  r 
quoted               ^"^'"    impressed    on    the    Assembly    that    members    of 

Lincoln's  Cabinet  urged  that  the  unity  of  the  Church 
be  preserved.  The  ultra  members  quoted  Secretary  Chase,  who 
"perceived  no  valid  objection  to  unequivocal  expressions  in  favor 
of  the  Constitution  and  freedom." 

.  Dr.  Hodge's'^  resolution  was,  after  days  of  discus- 

sion, defeated,  and  Dr.  Spring's,  in  modified  form, 
adopted  by  a  vote  of  135  to  70.     The  Church  was  divided — Editor. 

as  finally  adopted  can  be  found  in  part  in  vol.  VII,  Smyth's  Works, 
pp.  565  and  582.  See  also  Life  and  Times  of  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring, 
vol.  2,  p.  190.  Dr.  Spring  is  quoted  by  a  relative  as  saying,  after 
an  antebellum  visit  to  Jehossie  Plantation,  that  if  one  prayer  of 
his  could  free  all  the  slaves  in  the  South,  he  would  not  utter  that 
prayer.  It  was  secession,  not  slavery,  that  he  opposed  so  vio- 
lently.— Ed. 

*For  the  resolution  as  a  whole  see  Smyth's  Works,  vol.  VII,  pp. 
567-8.— Ed. 

'^The  different  Southern  dioceses  decided  at  once  that  "the 
Church  must  follow  nationality."  In  1861  conventions  were  held, 
and  a  constitution  drafted  and  approved,  which  was  adopted  by 
the  dioceses  in  1862,  with  the  exception  of  Tennessee,  which  held 
no  Diocesan  Convention,  and  Louisiana, .  whose  Bishop,  Leonidas 
Polk,  became  a  General  in  the  Confederate  service,  and  called  no 
convention.  The  F*.  E.  Church  of  the  Confederate  States  was 
dissolved  in  Augusta,  Ga.,  November,  1865,  and  the  dioceses  re- 
united with  the  main  body  in  1866.  See  Cheshire's  History  of  the 
Church  in  the  Confederate  States,  also  Smyth's  Works,  vol.  VII, 
p.  580. — Ed. 

^Neither  Dr.  Hodge,  nor  a  majority  of  this  element,  approved 
of  the  Secession  of  the  South.  Most  of  the  Southerners  present 
sympathized  with  the  Union. — Ed. 

'Dr.  Smyth  was  unable  to  pardon  some  of  Dr.  Hodge's  views, 
as  stated  at  the  Assembly,  and  in  various  publications,  and  their 


620 

Extract  from  letter  of  Mrs.  Bancroft,  dated  Pierrepont  House, 
Brooklyn,   May  21,   1861. 

"The  political  agitation  rending  our  Country 
citemenT  ^'^'    ^"   suuder,   secms   to   preclude  the   possibility   of 

any  intercourse  between  North  and  South,  at 
present  at  least —  I  expect  you  are  aware  of  the  persecution 
Mr.  Van  Dyke  has  suffered  since  his  return,  on  account  of 
his  Union  sentiments —  He  seems  to  endure  it  with  wonder- 

ful  Grace —  Rev.  Mr.  Carroll  was  compelled  to 

leave  Brooklyn  for  the  sympathy  he  expressed 
for  the  South.  His  life  was  threatened  and  his  friends  urged 
him  to  leave,  and  not  submit  to  the  indignities  of  a   Mob. 

That  night  they  called   on   Mr.  Van  Dyke,   but 

Dr.   VanDyke.     •     ri  .  •    1  r    ^  ■  •  ,  • 

mnuential  men  of  his  congregation  came  to  his 
rescue.  Mr.  Carroll  was  highly  indignant ;  *  *  he  be- 
haved with  great  bravery  and  would  have  remained,  abiding 
the  consequences — but  for  his  wife,  and  old  friends  of  his 
fathers — they  were  at  this  hotel.     *     *     *" 

Wednesday,  Jitne  5,  '61. 
DEAR  AUG. 

I  write  a  word  just  to  say  that  my  letter  was  detained  by 
Adger's  misunderstanding,  and  2nd,  that  if  you  can  go  to  Va. 
without  expense,  or  any  of  consequence,  and  can  by  positive 
arrangement  honorably  and  certainly  return  to  College,  I  can 
see  how  you  might  gain  much  knowledge  and  experience,  and 
yet  be  ready  at  short  warning,  to  meet  any  possible  emergency 
here  if  needed. 

Affly,  and  in  regard  to  Mr.  Warren,* 

Yrs, 
THOMAS  SMYTH. 

In  much  haste. 

intercourse  was  undoubtedly  checked  at  this  time;  Dr.  Hodge 
doubtless  feeling,  as  well  as  his  Southern  friend,  the  stress  and 
excitement  of  the  tremendous  struggle.  As  Dr.  Smyth's  later 
papers  were  destroyed  by  a  fire  in  1870,  we»  have  few  letters  to 
show  what  relg.tions  he  bore  to  his  Northern  friends  at  that  period. 
Those  divided  by  the  War,  had  in  every  case  need  of  much 
sympathetic  understanding,  before  they  could  meet  on  the  common 
ground  of  hope  for  the  future. — Ed. 

^Augustine's  intimate  friend  at  College,  W.  Dalton  Warren, 
who  married  Sarah,  daughter  of  Robert  Adger.  The  two  friends 
were  called  by  negro  servants,  "Mr.  Wurrum  and  Mr.  Snipe." — 
Ed. 


621 

COLUMBIA,  June  lo,  1861. 
DEAR  BRO.  SMYTH, 

The   accompanying   rough   draught   of   an    ad- 
mi'ssions  drcss  wc  proposc  to  pubHsh,  will  explain  itself. 

It  will  be  issued  by  the  local  clergy  here,  but  they 
desire  to  have  your  name  among  them,  on  account  of  your 
long  &  well  known  leadership  in  the  great  Cause  of  For. 
Missions,  &  will  do  so  unless  you  telegraph  us  to  the  contrary 
tomorrow.  I  hope  you  will  consent  to  let'  your  name  be  on 
the  call.  The  article  will  appear  in  Mr.  Porter's  paper  this 
week.  We  would  like  to  have  had  your  counsel  in  relation  to 
the  paper,  but  the  case  required  immediate  attention,  &  we 
thought  it  doubtful  whether  you  could  get  here  in  time.  You 
will  perceive  we  have  taken  no  more  authority  than  what 
seemed  necessary. 

Kind  regards  to  Mrs.  S.     Please  to  let  me  hear  from  you  & 
make  any  suggestions  you  may  think  important. 
Yours  in  fraternal  bonds, 

J.  LEIGHTON  WILSON.^ 

COLUMBIA,  June  25,  1861. 
REV  &  DEAR  BRO  : 

In  reply  to  your  note  inclosed  to  Augustine  offering  your 
Fast  Sermon  for  the  Review^  I  can  only  say  that  for  the  July 
Number,  the  pages  are  filled.  All  is  printed  but  the  last  Arti- 
cle, and  a  part  of  this  is  in  the  printer's  hands. 

Another  Fast  Sermon  has  been  offered  from  the  South 
West,  and  we  are  obliged  to  make  the  same  statement  in  reply 
to  the  Author. 

Dr.   Wilson   has   again  been   with  me.      He  left   yesterday 
morning  for  Louisville,  where  he  expects  to  meet  his  wife, 
if  she  shall  be  able  to  reach  that  point.     Missionary  Contri- 
butions are  coming  in  very  well,  some  7  or  800  $  since  the 
Circular  went  out.     You  see  the  various  proposi- 

Convention  , .  ,  ^  ....  „  , 

to  form  a  tious  for  SL  Convcntiou  for  tormmg  a  General 
General  As-  Asscmbly  of  the  South.  The  folly  of  our  North- 
sembiy  of  the  ^^^  brethren  is  forcing  tHis  measure  upon  us 
sooner  than  we  thought.  There  ought  to  be  some 
common  understanding  about  the  matter,  and  I  presume  will 
be  as  soon  as  the  subject  has  been  sufficiently  ventilated,  and 

^The  celebrated  missionary,  (see  p.  79,)  who  after  nineteen 
years  of  service  in  Africa,  had  been  obliged  by  his  weakened 
health,  to  return  to  America.  He  had  been  since  then  at  work 
with  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  but  returned  to  his  native 
State  at  the  out-break  of  war. — Ed. 


622 

consultation  among  prominent  brethren  can  be  had.  Hoping 
that  you  are  getting  through  the  intense  heats  of  summer  with 
no  more  than  the  usual  suffering,  I  remain 

Very  truly  Yours, 

GEO.  HOWE. 

MY  DEAR  DOCTOR, 

^jecession  ex-  With  an  Overwhelming  congregation  and  good 
citement  in  health,  I  am  nevertheless  constrained  to  resign 
the  West.  ^^^  leave  this  country,  for  many  reasons  which 
I  would  give  in  full,  if  I  thought  you  would  receive  this  di- 
rect. My  object  in  writing  is  to  let  you  know  I  desire  a  field 
of  labor  in  the  South.  I  know  not  at  present  how  to  get  away, 
but  will  try.  Through  New  York,  Mess.  DeWitt,  Kittle  & 
Co,  94  Wall  Street,  perhaps  a  line  from  you  could  reach  me ; 
or  by  the  British  mails.     Pray  for  us,  &  God  bless  you. 

Yours  affectionately 
San  Francisco,  W.  A.  SCOTT.' 

2  July,  1 86 1. 

From  Mrs.  Smyth  to  her  daughter  Sarah  Ann  at  Woodburn. 
—Ed. 

l86l 
One  of  Dr.  Papa  wcut  out  as  usual  on  Thursday  Morning 

Smyth's  ad-  to  ridc,  but  got  out  at  the  Battery,  &  was  sitting 
ventures.  there.     The  horse  "Tom"  got  tired,  felt  hungry, 

.&  concluded  to  come  home.  So  he  walked  up  along  East 
Battery  to  Atlantic  St.  through  that,  &  Lightwood  Alley, 
until  he  got  to  the  corner  of  Meeting  St.  when  he  turned  too 
short,  &  the  old  Buggy  separated ;  some  one  attempted  here  to 
catch  the  horse,  &  he  ran  with  the  shafts  &c — down  Meeting 
St. — '  Ellen  was  with  me  in  my  room,  she  heard  the  crash  & 
ran.  Augustine  from  his  window  saw  the  horse,  knew  him, 
&  he  ran.  Bro.  Adger  had  just  gone  to  the  back  to  see  the 
workmen.  I  called  to  him  to  "run  &  look  for  his  Father," 
not  knowing  but  he  might  be  killed.  So  Mom  Betsy  ran  from 
the  kitchen,  Caesar  from  the  pantry,  &  all  the  workmen ;  & 

^Dr.  Smyth's  old  friend  and  travelling  companion.  He  was  a 
Southerner  by  birth,  and  until  his  pastorate  in  San  Francisco,  had 
always  remained  at  the  South;  his  principal  charge  having  been 
the  New  Orleans  Church,  in  which  Dr.  Palmer  succeeded  him. 
As  his  son  was  an  ofificer  in  the  Union  Army,  he  did  not  return  to 
tile  South,  but  went  to  Birmingham,  England,  where  he  preached 
for  two  years;  returning  in  1863  to  New  York,  and  afterwards  to 
San  Francisco,  where  he  died  in  1885. — Ed. 


623 

soon  all  the  neiglibours  with  their  servants  were  in  the  street. 
The  horse  turned  at  the  Battery  &  ran  up  to  Trade!  St.  where 
he  was  stopped,  &  Augustine  took  him  into  the  yard  there — 
he  was  a  Httle  cut  on  the  leg  by  the  broken  shaft  &  the  skin 
rubbed  on  his  flank.  But  still  there  was  no  word  of  the 
Buggy,  nor  your  Father,  no  one  know  where  he  was.  At 
last  some  one  went  to  the  Alley,  &  there  lay  the  buggy ;  &  oh 
such  a  smash !  Your  Father  then  came  from  the  Battery, 
quite  unconcerned,  &  untroubled  !^ —  We  were  quite  alarmed 
for  a  while. —  He  would  not  agree  to  give  up  his  old  friend, 
but  had  it  take  up  to  the  Coach  Maker's  to  have  it  thoroughly 
mended.  Mr.  Gale,  has  however  persuaded  him  to  order  a 
new  one. — 

Afternoon. — 


We  have  delightful  music  on  the  Battery  three 

the    Battery 


Music  on  times  a   week,   &  it   draws   such   a  concourse  of 


little  children  there — big  children  too,  &  ladies  & 
gentlemen  in  crowds.  While  I  write  in  my  own  room  with 
the  windows  opened  to  the  floor,  I  hear  it  very  delightfully. 

The  following  letters  were  written  from   Charleston  during  the 
Summer  after  the  first  battle  of  Manassas,  July  21,   1861. — Ed. 

To    Miss    Susan    Adger    at    Woodburn    Plantation,    Pendleton, 

s.  c.         • 

Tuesday  Evening;. 
MY  DEAR  SISTER, 

*     *     Janey  tells  me  you  wish  me  to  lay  in  for 
ot  mg    or  clothing    for    the    men    servants,    that    the 

negroes.  -'  <^  _  "  , 

women  can  do  without.  \A^hat  do  }-ou  wish  me 
to  get?  Shirting?  flannel  or  cotton  goods?  *  *  The 
sooner  we  get  these  the  better.  I  have  not  been  very  lately 
at  the  Big  Store,'  but  I  know  their  stock  of  these  things  is 
small.  Thanks  for  your  enquiries  about  the  Rail  Road  for 
Ellison.  I  expect  him  to  leave  on  Friday  night,  and  have 
two  weeks'  vacation.  A/fr.  Sachtleben  only  gives  one,  but  he 
allows  me  to  give  another,  but  not  to  exceed  that ;  please  keep 
him  up  to  the  mark,  help  him  to  get  off  at  the  appointed  time. 


Wednesday   afternoon — raining. — 

This  morning  I  reed,  yotu"  note  in  one  to  Ellison,  in  which 
you  speak  more  definitely  about  the  negroes'  pants.     I  will  go 

^Robert    Adger    &    Co.    had    a    large    department    store    in    the 
building  now  occupied  by  the  Academy  of  Music. — Ed. 


624 

tomorrow  &  see  what  I  can  get —  You  have  4  men ;  2  pr.  pants 
each  w'd  be  6  yds — 24  yds.  is  what  you  require.  This  in- 
cludes old  Daniel.  I  have  three  including-  Philip.  I  will  try 
what  I  can  do.  Suppose  I  get  a  piece  of  fine  Graniteville 
homespun  for  the  women — it  is  brown,  but  that  will  be  better 
than  none  ?  However  that  we  can  buy  at  any  time,  unless  it  is 
all  taken  up  for  the  soldiers.     *     *     * 

News  after  I  read  Jancy's  letter,  in  which  she  is  very  com- 

Manassas.  placent  about  the  doings  of  So.  Ca.  ladies,  think- 
ings or  only  saying,  we  "were  ahead  of  the  ladies  of  the  other 
States,"  for  she  concluded  by,  "perhaps  we  sound  our  own 
praise  more" — I  say  I  read  it  all,  agreeing  with  her ;  &  then 
proceeded  to  obey  a  summons  from  Mrs.  Conner,^  who  fre- 
quently sends  for  me,  when  she  wants  to  make  any  sugges- 
South  tions.     I  found  her  much  excited ;  she  had  seen 

Carolina  Rcv.  Dr.  Porter  (Toomer)  who  has  just  returned 

troops.  from  Manassas."    He  tells  her  the  So.  Ca.  Troops 

are  the  very  worst  clad  in  the  Confederate  Army;  they  are 
many  of  them  without  shoes  &  in  rags.  The  material  of 
which  their  uniforms  were  made  was  not  good,  &  has  shrunk 
so  much  that  the  men  look  pitiful,  &  often  they  are  burst  out. 
I  can't  write  all,  this  was  the  substance.  The  old  lady  was  in 
tears,  willing  to  sell  her  horses  &  carriages  if  necessary,  that 
the  men  who  were  fighting  for  us  should  be 
^°l    '",         clothed.      He   told   her   the    ladies   of   Richmond 

Richmond. 

worked  from  morning  until  night,  meeting  in  the 
lecture  rooms  of  the  different  churches — no  one  thought  of 
visiting  or  riding,  or  any  amusement,  all  they  did  was  for  the 
Soldiers.     Mr.   Porter  had,  as  agent  for  Hamp- 
lina  and  ton's  Lcgiou,  who  are  in  great  need,  visited  all  the 

Georgia  factories  in  N.  Ca.  to  get  material,  in  vain.     The 

make   provis-    Qq^_  ^f  ^^   Q^  ^^^  forbidden  a  yd  to  be  sold  out 

ion  for  troops.         .       ,  „  tt  •  •  n      i-  i  • 

of  the  State.  He  requires  it  all  tor  his  pwn 
troops;  so  with  Geo:  indeed  it  is  said  the -Gov.  of  Geo.  has 
supplied  himself  from  our  So.  Ca.  factories,  &  has  had  much 
work  done  in  our  City.  Some  one  in  Cheraw  offered  our 
Gov.  some  time  ago,  to  make  shoes  in  large  numbers  at  a  fair 
price.  He  declined ;  the  offer  was  made  to  Va.  &  accepted ; 
now  they  cant  be  had.  Mr.  Porter  went  up  last 
night  to  see  Gov.  Pickens  &  try  &  stir  him  up ;  so 

^The  mother  o,!  Gen.  James  Conner,  and  Mrs.  Smyth's  opposite 
neighbour. — Ed. 

"The  first  battle  of  Manassas  took  place  on  July  21,  1861.  For 
an  account  of  Dr.  Porter's  movements  at  the  time  see  his  auto- 
biography "Led  on  Step  by  Step,"  p.  131. — Ed. 


625 

have  a  committee  of  gentlemen  from  the  City."  So  our  as- 
sociation' determined  yesterday,  that  having  for  the  present 
suppHed  the  w^ants  at  the  Hospitals,  we  w'd  reserve  what 
stores  we  had  for  their  use,  until  they  were  again  called  for ; 
&  w'd  now  devote  ourselves  as  far  as  we  could,  to  the  supply 
Plans  of  of  the  soldiers  in  active  service,  or  preparing  for 

Charleston  it.  So  our  Secretary  has  written  to  each  of  the 
women.  Coloncls    of    OH)'   ten    regiments,   to   give   us   the 

number  of  their  most  needy  men,  &  we  will  endeavour  as  far 
as  possible  to  supply  them  with  wider  clothing.  We  have 
now  in  the  depository  2500  new  articles,  shirts  &  drawers. 
I  laughed  &  asked  them  how  far  that  w'd  go ;  we  have  a  great 
quantity  of  work  out  &  it  is  continually  coming  in,  &  they 
believe  that  if  the  demand  increases,  our  supplies  will  be  in- 
creased. We  had  yesterday  a  donation  of  $500— from  a 
Southern  lady  at  Newport  R.  I.  So  tell  Janey  she  must  lower 
her  colours.  The  So.  Ca.  ladies  are  not  foremost  in  provid- 
ing for  their  troops.  Some  of  the  men  on  our  sea-board  are 
said  to  be  very  destitute. 

I  talked  with  several  ladies  to  day  about  the 
en.  eaure-  gg^uregard  testimonial.  They  all  approve  of  it, 
are  all  opposed  to  this  silver  plan,  which  is  to 
cost  $500 — a  case  of  forks,  spoons,  ladles,  &c.  &c. — very  use- 
ful &  very  good ;  but  not  the  thing  at  all.  I  am  sorry  "Lizzie"* 
was  mislaid,  wont  she  rewrite,  or  write  another?  Tell  Janey 
to  try  it  again,  stir  the  waters  once  more.  Propose  some  more 
definite  plan,  besides  sending  to  a  Newspaper  office — get  some 
gentlemen,  or  some  ladies  to  collect.  Get  some  body  to  take 
hold,  &  then  to  hold  on.     Keep  at  it. — 

Caesar**  is  still  unable  to  work.     I  enclose  you  a  note ;  Adger 

*Dr.  Porter  failed  in  making  any  impression  on  Gov.  Pickens. 
See  account  "Led  on  Step  by  Step,"  p.  132. — Ed. 

'The  Soldiers'  Relief  Association.  See  South  Carolina  Women 
in  the  Confederacy,  pp.   11,  etc. — Ed. 

'Elizabeth  Ellison,  wife  of  Robert  Clark,  living  in  Summerville, 
was  earnestly  working  with  her  cousins  in  their  patriotic  efforts. 
It  has  been  impossible  to  find  anything  definite  about  the  Beaure- 
gard testimonial,  but  Dr.  J.  B.  Adger,  in  his  "Life  and  Times," 
p.  341,  speaks  of  a  handsome  saddle,  sent  out  from  England  for 
Gen.  Beauregard,  by  Mr.  Prioleau,  which  was  waiting  at  Rivoli 
Plantation  to  be  sent  to  the  General,  and  which  was  stolen  by  the 
Northern  raiders  in  1865.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  this 
the  testimonial. — Ed. 

"A  man  servant  who  was  devoted  to  the  Misses  Adger  all  his 
life.  He  was  rjiuch  loved  by  the  younger  generation,  who  espec- 
ially admired   him  because   he   had   fallen   out   of   the   second   story 

[40] 


626 

has  attended  to  it. —  When  able,  he  opens  your  house,  sweeps, 
&  dusts  it,  but  he  can  not  wait  at  table.  Dan  does  very  well, 
markets,  &c.  &c.  His  Mother  is  feeble,  but  still  about. —  I 
allow  Caesar  now,  since  he  has  beeen  sick,  $1.50  pr.  week. 
Thanks  for  what  you  gave  John,  if  convenient  I  wish  you  w'd 
give  25  cts.  pr.  week.  The  children  have  a  little  money,  but 
not  enough  to  give  him. —  They  have  written  to  me  about  it, 
&  I  had  intended  to  tell  them  to  do  it,  but  if  you  can,  please 
do  so  for  me.     *     * 

I  have  written  to  propose  that  Sister  Eliza  accepts  of  Au- 
gustine as  an  escort  to  town,  &  thus  save  Bro.  Robert  coming 
down. —  Augustine  can  return,  if  he  wishes,  to  Pendleton. 
Bro.  R.  perhaps  cant  well  leave,  &  Sister  E.  is  desirous  to  get 
down,  &  they  are  very  anxious  here  to  have  her  come.  In 
much  love  to  Janey,  ever  your  STSTFR 


Wednesday  Night. 
{August  7th  1 861) 
MY  DEAR  SISTER, 

Supplies  *     *     Caesar  is  still  an  invalid.     He  was  here 

growing  one  day,  but  moved  about  so  slowly,  &  with  such 

scarce.  ^^  effort,  it  was  not  pleasant  to  have  him,  &  as 

Dan  was  unemployed,  I  told  him  to  stay  at  home  until  he  was 
better.  *  *  Do  you  want  any  Castile  Soap?  I  got  some 
extra  good,  I  think,  at  Porter's  by  taking  a  whole  bar ;  it  was 
25  cts — a  bar  weighs  about  3  lbs;  he  retails  it  at  31  [  ?]  per 
lb.  He  has  not  much  left.  Every  thing  of  that  kind  is  being 
bought  up  for  the  soldiers.  Indeed  you  can  with  difficulty  get 
flannel,  I  mean  of  course  the  lower  price — or  red.  All  is  laid 
up.  We  have  secured  some  5  bales,  containing  abt.  600  yds. 
each — in  our  Society.  This  we  do  not  intend  to  send  away. 
Indeed  we  will  not  send  any  more,  only  as  we  are  asked  for 
it,  unless  it  be  perishable  articles,  or  those  sent  with  instruc- 
tions to  forward.  It  is  astonishing  the  interest  manifested, 
Wome  o  ^'^^  ^^^y  ^y  °^^  community,  but  the  country 
the  pianta-  rouud ;  &  the  amt  of  the  donations  sent,  &  the 
tions  also  quantity  of  articles  of  all  kinds,  nourishment  & 
wor  mg.  delicacies.     There  has  been,  I  suppose,  at  least  20 


tierces  of  rice  given  us.  This  has  not  all  been  sent,  the  freight 
is  high.  Then  the  zeal  of  the  ladies  to  get  work,  the  anxiety 
lest  they  can't  get  as  much  as  they  wish,  surprises  me.    I  have 

window  and  broken  a  paving  stone  without  materiaJ  injury  to 
himself.  His  favourite  complaint  of  two  generations  was  "Dem 
Smyth  chillen  drink  too  much  water!" — Ed. 


627 

not  brought  any  home,  I  give  my  own  time  at  the  depository 
to  systematize,  &  arrange  there,  this  is  more  valuable.  It  w'd 
amuse  you  to  see  Mrs.  Forrest  &  me.'  I  often  laugh  to  my- 
self, &  think  wonders  will  never  cease.  I  bring  her  home  very 
often  in  the  carriage,  &  the  two  Mrs.  Snowdens — or  Miss 
Eliza  Hayne.  Oh  how  often  I  wish  you  &  Janey  were  at 
home!  You  could  be  so  useful,  &  it  w'd  just  suit  you.  I  as- 
sisted in  repacking  a  box  today  sent  from  Summerville.  We 
do  not  in  general  open  boxes  that  are  sent  to  us  already  packed 
up.  but  this  one  contained  a  bag  of  grist  with  clothing  &c.,  & 
Mr.  R.  Caldwell,"  who  is  our  man  of  business,  thinks  they 
ought  not  to  go  together,  so  the  grist  was  taken  out,  &  we 
filled  the  box  up  with  pillozvs,  &  Handkrchfs.  made  of  old 
material  &  tied  up  in  ^  doz.  It  was  neatly  packed,  &  I  won- 
dered if  E.  Clark  had  done  it.  The  Brass  Band  offered  thro 
Gen.  Martin  to  give  us  a  Concert,  or  rather  to  divide  the  pro- 
ceeds between  us  &  the  Miss  Draytons.'^  We 
°"^'*  °"  agreed  to  accept,  but  not  to  pa}^  any  expenses. 
It  came  off  this  afternoon,  weather  favourable,  & 
many  there.  Two  gentlemen  with  large  rosettes  stood  at  each 
corner  of  all  the  streets  leading  to  the  Battery,  with  boxes  in 
their  hands  wh.  they  presented  to  the  ladies  in  carriages,  as 
well  as  those  on  foot.  I  hope  they  got  some  money.  The 
music  was  not  worth  it,  but  the  crowd,  &  the  children.  &c.  &c. 
were. 

Thursday  A  ft  em  oon. 

*  *  Mr.  Girardeau  addresses  our  Ladies  this  afternoon. 
I  expect  a  pleasant  meeting ;  several  letters,  &  reports  will  be 
read.  The  amt.  at  the  Concert  was  $260 — making  $130  each. 
— Tell  little  Janey  the  little  girls  of  her  school  sent  us  this 
morning  $41. —  I  refer  you  to  this  morning's  papers  for  all 
particulars. —  *  *  We  received  a  Telegram  today  from  Mr. 
Barnwell,  so  we  packed  up  this  morning  a  box  of  clothing  & 
sent  to  him  at  Charlottesville. 

^Mrs.  Smyth  was  chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Relief  Association,  the  other  two  members  being  Mrs.  Forrest, 
wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church,  and  Miss 
Cromwell. — Ed. 

"See  "So.   Ca.   Women  in  the   Confederacy,"  p.  76. — Ed. 

^The  Misses  Drayton  had  formed  the  "Ladies  Association  in 
Aid  of  their  Volunteer  Soldiers."  See  So.  Ca.  Women  in  the 
Confederacy.  The  concert  mentioned  was  given  by  the  Charleston 
Brass  Band,  F.  Mueller,  leader.  The  Zouave  Cadets  under  Capt. 
Chichester  marched  to  the  Battery  in  a  body,  and  made  a  hand- 
some contribution.     See  Charleston  Courier. — Ed. 


628 

Caesar  came  to  day,  &  I  sent  him  to  open  up  your  house, 
&  wipe  the  furniture ;  these  heavy  rains  I  know  will  cause 
mould  &  damp.     *     *     * 

Janey  will  have  to  come  down  &  stir  the  waters  herself 
about  Beauregard.  All  think  well  of  it,  but  every  body  is 
busy  &  no  one  takes  hold  of  it — Miss  Hayne*  tells  me  she  has 
written  to  you.  I  told  her  you  did  not  wish  any  public  men- 
tion of  your  donation. —  With  love  to  all, 

YOUR  SISTER  M. 

MY  DEAR  SISTERS— 

I  hope  you  received  by  Ellison,  all  your  commissions  safely. 
I  wrote  Janey  a  few  hurried  lines  before  I  had  collected  them 
together,  &  then  wrote  afterwards  on  the  bundles  themselves. 
I  think  however  you  will  understand  it  all. —  I  don't  wish  to 
damp  the  ardour  of  the  young  people  with  you,°  who  are 
working  to  send  down ;  but  if  you  can  use  the  needle  books  up 
there,  pray  keep  them,  we  have  so  many  sent  us  here,  they  are 
like  Miss  Catherine  Robinson's  cockades ;"  she  has  another 
box  full,  she  wants  sent  up.  I  expect  you  have  as  many  as 
you  can  dispose  of ;  don't  tell  this,  &  don't  say  any  thing  to 
discourage  any  body  willing  to  work. 

Rev.  Toomer  Porter  addressed  an  overflowingly 
rmy  nee  s.  cj-q^(J£(^  rooui  ou  Monday  afternoon.  He  is  just 
from  the  seat  of  war,  &  told  some  very  thrilling  incidents 
coming  under  his  own  observation.  He  thinks  the  ladies  ought 
to  give  up  every  other  employment,  let  the  clothing  of  their 
own  families  alone,  &  spend  the  next  six  weeks  in  working 
for  the  men  in  the  field.  He  will  go  with  his  elbows  &  knees 
all  out  &  feel  he  honours  his  wife  in  so  doing,  that  she  may 
give  her  time  to  the  work.  Our  soldiers  are  dying  as  much 
from  disease  brought  on  by  insufficient  clothing  &  bad  food,  as 
from  the  bullets  of  the  enemy.  He  is  there  acting  as  the  agent 
for  Hampton's  Legion,  trying,  to  procure  clothing  &  have  it 
made  for  them. — The  ladies  at  the  Depository  are  not  willing 

*Miss  Hayne  was  treasurer  of  the  Association. — Ed. 

^The  women  of  Pendleton,  old  and  young,  were  like  their  sisters 
all  through  the  State,  working  for  the  soldiers.  See  So.  Ca. 
Women  in  the  Confederacy,  pp.  31,  etc. — Ed. 

^Miss  Catherine  Robertson  was  a  great  worker  and  a  friend  of 
all  the  family.  By  irreverent  youth  she  is  remembered  as  saying, 
in  melancholy  tones,  "No  man  has  ever  said  to  me,  'Catherine,  I 
love  you!'"  It  was  generally  thought  that  her  countenance  was 
so  unattractive  that  no  man  had  the  courage.  She  was  making 
small  palmetto  badges. — Ed. 


629 

to  confine  themselves  to  the  Hampton  Legion ;  for  some  cause 
it  is  not  a  favourite.  He  tells  them,  then  work  for  the  Quarter 
Master,  do  all  through  the  Department.  The  department 
however  is  not  yet  sufficiently  aroused.  A¥hen  they  have  work 
Work  at  the  ^o  givc  out  wc  wiU  do  as  much  as  possible.  In 
Depository  the  mean  time  we  have  3000  nezv  garments,  shirts, 
Building.  ^  drawers  now  on  our  shelves.     I  wish  you  could 

see  the  Rooms  at  the  Depository.'  We  have  the  use  of  the 
large  Room  up  stairs  for  Meetings,  &  the  two  rooms  on  the 
right  hand  down  stairs.  R.  C.  Gilchrist  has  the  one  on  the 
left,  for  his  office. —  The  first  of  our  two  rooms  zve  use  as  a 
reception  room  for  donations.  Here  is  Mr.  R.  Caldwell,  who 
is  our  man  of  business ;  here  are  our  stores,  wines — Jellys,  &c. 
&c.  room  sometimes  quite  full.  The  back  room  is  where  the 
finished  work  is  kept,  piled  up  on  the  book  shelves,  all  around 
the  room.  It  is  now  quite  full ;  besides  these  new  garments 
we  have  quantities  of  old  shirts,  pocket  Hdkrchfs.  towels — 
bundles  of  neatly  folded  &  assorted  rags — bandages  &c — made 
out  of  our  sheets,  or  those  that  have  been  sent  in,  &  were  too 
much  worn  to  be  sent  away.  These  are  all  folded  in  bundles 
of  six,  &  labelled.  The  whole  room  looks  very  business  like. 
— Well,  the  ladies  are  not  willing  to  turn  these  3000  garments 
now  on  hand,  with  some  3000  yet  in  hands  being  made,  over 
to  the  quarter  Master,  as  Mr.  Porter  suggests.  They  want  to 
give  to  the  soldiers — so  today  several  boxes  are  to  be  packed 
with  medicines,  stores,  old  clothes,  &c  &c.  for  the  Hospital  of 
Mr.  Barnwell,^  (see  his  report  in  yesterday's  papers,)  &  they 
think  they  will  pack  up  a  box  of  these  nezv  clothes,  &  send 
also  to  him  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  the  convalescent,  or 

'This  old  Depository  Building  is  of  great  historic  interest,  and 
has  been  constantl}^  referred  to  in  these  papers.  Built  in  1828  by 
trustees  as  a  depository  for  the  Bible  Society  of  South  Carolina, 
the  Tract  Society  of  Charleston,  and  the  Sabbath  School  Union  of 
South  Carolina,  it  was  used  for  the  meetings  of  the  Juvenile 
Missionary  Society;  an  address  was  inade  there  by  Dr.  John  B. 
Adger  just  before  he  sailed  for  Smyrna;  there  was  held  in  1843, 
the  mass  meeting  in  behalf  of  the  Free  Kirk  of  Scotland;  now,  in 
the  sixties,  the  women  were  using  it  in  their  patriotic  work. 
And  many  recollect  entertainments  given  by  gentlemen  who  told 
anecdotes  to  children,  and  others  who  trained  singing  classes  in 
the  old  building.  In  later  years  it  has  been  used  as  an  art-school 
and  studios;  and  now  forms  part  of  the  building  of  the  Confeder- 
ate College. — Ed. 

'The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Barnwell,  at  Charlottesville,  Virginia. 
See  "So.  Ca.  Women  in  the  Confederacy,"  p.  21;  "Led  on  Step  by 
Step,"  p.  131. — Ed. 


6S0 

to  the  needy,  well  soldiers.  It  is  proposed  also  to  send  looo 
of  these  articles  to  Genl.  Bonham,  whose  men  are  said  to  be 
sick,  &  needy,  &  suffering. —  They  also  offer  to  give  Mr.  Por- 
ter, 200  garments  for  the  Hampton  Legion.  The  other  So- 
ciety, (the  Christian)  it  is  said  have  offered  to  make  for  him. 
he  finding  all  materials,  500  garments.  We  make  the  offer  to 
the  Department  to  work  for  them,  they  finding  materials. — 
This  let  me  tell  you  is  now  hard  to  be  done. — 

Friday  afternoon.  Well,  our  200  Flannel 
to"'RidimoTd  Shirts,  300  Cotton  Shirts,  250  pr  Canton  flannel 
Drawers,  250  twilled  homespun  drawers,  &  100 
pr.  woollen  socks  were  packed  today  in  4  Rice  tierces,  as  being 
more  convenient  for  transportation  than  boxes,  &  tomorrow 
will  be  shipped  to"  Richmond.  Arrangements  have  been  & 
will  be  made  for  them  to  be  immediately  forwarded  to  the 
regiment  under  Bonham,  who,  we  are  informed,  are  in  great 
need.  The  100  shirts  &  100  pr  drawers  have  been  sent  to  Mr. 
Porter  for  the  Hampton  Legion,  for  which  he  is  very  grateful. 
This  morning  6  boxes,  packed  yesterday,  were  forwarded  to 
Mr.  Barnwell  filled  with  pickles  &  preserves,  honey,  &c.  &c. 
besides  a  quantity  of  tin  cans  of  a  portable  soup,  made  by  a 
French  cook  here ;  one  tea  spoonful  of  which  in  a  bowl  of  hot 
water,  makes  a  very  nice  &  pleasant  soup  for  the  sick. — ■  A 
large  box  of  assorted  clothing  sent  by  the  ladies  at  Eutawville 
was  also  forwarded  to  Mr.  Barnwell,  &  two  boxes  of  clothing 
from  our  own  shelves.  I  wish  you  could  see  the  carpet  slip- 
pers some  ladies  have  made  for  the  sick,  how  very  nice  they 
are.  They  are  also  using  up  all  scraps  of  worsted,  in  knitting 
scarfs  for  the  men  to  tie  over  their  ears,  or  around  their  necks ; 
some  ladies  are  ripping  up  their  "clouds"'  to  get  the  wool  for 
this  purpose.  Many  are  anxious  to  knit  stockings  but  the 
yarn  cannot  be  had — some  have  given  wool,  but  as  yet  we  have 

not  been  able  to  get  it  spun  into  thread.     To  day  Capt 

called  to  ask  assistance  for  his  company  of  70  men  ;  he  has 
them  at  Richmond,  but  they  are  without  proper  clothing.  He 
asked  for  flannel  shirts,  but  we  declined;  but  promised,  if  upon 
inquiry  zve  found  it  right,  to  give  cotton  shirts  &  drawers.  He 
has  the  money  to  pay  in  part,  but  it  is  the  pay  of  the  soldiers ; 
&  the  more  we  give,  that  is,  the  less  he  has  to  pay  for  these 
things,  the  more  he  has  left  to  purchase  other  comforts  for 
them.  We  had  an  application  also  for  blankets  for  a  com- 
pany, just  now  forming  under  a  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bachman — 
So  much  for  the  sick  &  wounded  soldiers — *     *     * 

^Large   scarves  knitted  on  large  needles,  of  fine  wool. — Ed. 


63t 

Mr.  S.,  I  do  not  think,  will  leave  home.     The 

Jmyth's      ^^ 
plans. 


™y*   ^     owners  of  Joe  are  not  willing  for  him  to  go  to 


Virginia,  &  Mr.  S.  cannot  go  without  him.  At 
any  rate,  it  w'd  hardly  do  for  him  to  be  travelling  about  in 
these  crowded  cars.  He  seems  to  be  getting  on  very  well,  & 
I  think  does  not  himself  desire  to  leave  home. — 

Our  Ed.  So.^  is  pretty  nearly  given  up.  I  go  every  Tuesday, 
seldom  meet  m.ore  than  2  or  3. — I  send  the  basket  about;  Miss 
Whittaker  had  it  last  week  but  sold  nothing.  I  have  more 
than  $200  now  in  hands,  230  or  40 — Did  I  send  you  young 
[W.  P.]  Jacobs'  letter?  Keep  it  to  read  to  the  ladies  on  your 
return.  Have  you  read  the  letter  of  Dr.  Dabney  &  Dr.  Mc- 
Guffy  of  Va.  against  the  young  men  of  our  Colleges  &  Semi- 
naries going  to  the  Camp?  It  was  published  in  the  Central 
Pres.  They  express  just  what  I  think  is  right.  I  hope  Elli- 
son is  enjoying  himself  &  will  be  ready  to  start  for  home  on 
next  Friday  Night. —  With  love  to  all,  ever  your  Sister 

M. 

Monday  Evening. 
MY  DEAR  SISTER, 

*     *     Preparing  for  the  comfort  of  the  troops 
troo  s  ^'^  ^  "^    ^^  ^^^  ^^^  absorbing  topic,   go  where  you  will, 

you  find  the  ladies  thus  occupied.  You  see  ladies, 
young  &  fashionable  ladies  too,  carrying  bundles  of  red  flan- 
nel shirts  through  the  streets ;  you  see  them  sewing  in  all 
places  at  red  flannel,  in  their  parlours,  at  their  windows,  &c. 
&c.  It  is  the  fashionable  employment.  Just  now,  there  is  a 
demand  for  yarn  to  kfiit  stockings,  but  it  can't  be  bought ; 
wool  can  be  had,  for  many  are  giving  their  mattrasses,  but 
how  to  get  it  converted  into  yarn  is  the  difficulty —  we  have 

ordered  two  wheels  to  be  made  and  sent  us — 
whed""^"^       Miss  Carrie  Conner  came  to  me  just  now  to  ask 

me  to  tell  her  where  or  how  she  could  get  a  spin- 
ning wheel;  "For  whose  use?"  "My  own,"  "You  can't  spin!" 
— "No,  but  I  can  learn,  &  I  ivill  do  so!"  We  received  today 
work  from  the  quarter  master,  200  garments,  with  the  promise 
of  more  tomorrow  &  next  day,  so  our  Ward  Managers  are  to 
hurry  in  all  their  own  work,  so  as  to  take  hold  of  this  for  the 
Quarter  Master.  We  have  sent  off,  &  given  away  this  week 
many  packages.  You  will  see  the  report  in  paper.  We  had 
our  public  meeting  this  afternoon.     *     *     * 

^The   Society  for  the   Education   of  Young   Men   for   the   Minis- 
try.—Ed. 


632 

Our  three  ladies  Societies  deserve  credit  for 
Sodeties.^  '"  moving  first  in  this  matter  of  providing  for  the 
soldiers.  At  the  time  they  commenced  their  op- 
erations nothing  was  being  done  by  any  body  for  them.  They 
stirred  the  waters.  Then  the  Gentlemen's  Aid  Society  was 
formed.  A  committee  went  from  them  to  the  Gov.  &  got  him 
stirred  up  to  take  some  action,  now  the  Quarter  Master  has 
got  orders,  &  has  got  material  &c.  We  are  advised  to  do  all 
through  him.  So  we  have  concluded  (for  the  present,  at 
least,)  that  we  will  purchase  no  more,  but  we  will  do  all  the 
work  we  can  for  the  Department.  We  have  not  yet  however 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  we  will  turn  over  all  our  stock 
on  hand  to  the  Quarter  Master's  department,  as  we  are  asked 
to  do.     *     *     * 

Hope  you  reed  the  Palmetto  on  Monday  night.  Miss 
Catherine  thought  you  were  supplied,  so  she  sent  a  large  box 
of  beautiful  ones  to  General  Kershaw,  with  a  special  "Tree"t  to 
himself.  He  is  a  personal  friend  of  hers.  Yesterday  she  sent 
another  box,  with  a  special  "Tree,"  to  Beauregard.  She  gave 
me  yesterday  two  boxes  filled  with  common  ones  made  by 
children.  I  don't  know  that  you  will  care  for  them,  but  I  will 
send  them  by  Robt.  I  thought  you  had  enough,  &  that  they 
were  a  drug  on  the  market.  Perhaps  I  am  wrong  too,  about 
the  needle  books.  Let  the  children  work  away,  but  if  you  can 
use  them  up  there,  do  so.  I  hope  you  will  send  me  some 
woollen  yarn,  so  many  here  apply  for  knitting.  I  would  be 
glad  too  if  you  could  get  stockings,  woollen  if  possible,  if  not 
heavy  cotton  ones.  I  have  not  yet  given  any  of  my  blankets, 
I  thought  as  I  had  them  all  packed  away,  I  would  hold  on  & 
The  Dixie  ^ait  Until  greater  need.  *  *  The  Dixie  came 
and  the  into  port  to  day,  there  was  great  rejoicing  &  firing 

Alliance.  q£    caunon.      She    is    a    privateer    schooner,    you 

know,  &  has  run  the  blockade.  The  Ship  Alliance,  one  of 
those  the  Trenholms'  are  expecting,  has  got  into  Beaufort 
N.  C.  &  one  of  their  schooners  has  got  into  Fernandina. — 
So  much  for  the  blockade. — 

I  was  at  the  Depository  this  morning  awhile.  Ladies  very 
busy  giving  out  the  work  from  the  Quarter  Master.  We 
agreed  however  in  our  Executive  Session  to  send  looo  gar- 
ments to  Genl.  Jones,  one  of  our  own  S.  C.  brigades.— We  had 
a  very  kind  letter  to  day  from  Rev.  Mr.  Barnwell,  &  a  T.  D.^ 
of  later  date,  announcing  the  "ix^ceipt  of  25  boxes — with  25,- 

t  Some    palmetto   badges    are    simple    rosettes;    the    more    elab- 
orate are  in  the  shape  of  palmetto  trees. — Ed. 
■"A  telegraphic  despatch. — Ed 


633 

000  thanks  to  the  ladies." —  I  told  Miss  Hayne  of  the  Query 

1  had  proposed  on  Monday,  she  was  not  present  at  the  time. 
It  was  very  amusing  to  see  &  hear  her,  I  would  not  be  sur- 
prised if  you  have  another  letter  from  her.  She  had  two  dona- 
tions to  day  of  $50  each,  &  reed  $53  yesterday,  in  small  sums, 
at  the  public  meeting.  Our  bills  for  transportation  are  very 
heavy. 

I  got  at  the  big  store,  3  pieces  of  calico  at 
J  "pp^es  or  \2.y2 — the  same  as  that  we  had  last  year.  2  pieces 
brown  homespun,  some  cassimere,  kerseys — 
hdkrchfs,  &  stockings — with  some  canton  flannel.—  I  bought 
pretty  much  at  random,  the  bill  is  all  charged  to  me,  but  I  got 
for  us  both,  hope  it  will  be  reasonable. —  I  did  not  get. any 
flannel,  I  was  not  certain  that  you  gave  it,  I  did  not  care  to 
buy  at  a  venture  when  it  was  so  very  high.  Bro.  R.  was  here 
this  morning  to  see  Adger,  does  not  know  when  he  will  go  up, 
certainly  not  to  night. —  It  is  raining. — 

Much  love  to  vou  all  from  your  affectionate 

SISTER. 

COLUMBIA,  Aug.  14,  1861. 
MY  DEAR  BRO : 

You  offered  your  sermon  on  the  Victory  of  Fort  Sumter, 
as  illustration  of  the  Providence  of  God  and  an  augury  of  our 
future  success,  for  the  last  No.  of  the  Reviezv."  Can  you  not 
add  to  it  the  still  stronger  illustration  and  proof  afforded  by 
the  recent  battles  of  Manassas ;  and  furnish  it  with  out  much 
del^y  for  our  forth  coming  number?  Dr.  Adger  was  here 
last  night  on  his  way  to  Atlanta. f  I  hope  you  are  all  in  com- 
fortable health  this  summer.  Very  truly  Yrs 

GEO.  HOWE. 

ROSEWELL  GA.  Aug  19.  1861. 
Rcz'  Thos.  Smyth,  D.  D. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Separated  from  the  North  as  we  now  happily  are — it  is  a 
question  of  importance  with  all  who  have  any  fraternity  in 
books,  or  who  expect  to  have  any,  Where  shall  we  look  for 
publishing  houses? 

^Perhaps  this  was  the  Sermon  published  as  "The  War  of  the 
South,"  in  vol.  VII,  p.  563,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 

t  Probably  to  attend  the  Conference  of  the  Southern  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  on  August  15. — Ed. 


634 

The  Harpers,  Appletons,  &  others,  have  such  extensive  busi- 
ness relations  in  various  parts  of  the  old  Union,  that  they  could 
publish  any  book  they  pleased  with  the  certainty  of  being  no 
losers  by  the  transaction.  So  far  as  I  know  we  have  no  pub- 
lishing house  at  the  South  having  extensive  relations ;  but  we 
soon  must  have.  Can  you  inform  me  of  any  in  prospect?  An 
author  of  course  wishes  to  have  his  work  remunerative  to 
himself,  as  well  as  to  the  publisher.  Has  Charleston  taken 
any  steps  in  this  direction?  I  should  like  to  correspond  with 
some  house  in  view  of  prospective  publication,  but  know  not 
where  to  turn. 

What  glorious  victory  the  Lord  is  giving  to  our  arms ! 
Every  pious  heart  must  swell  with  gratitude  to  Him,  as  well 
as  with  pride  for  the  valor  of  our  troops.  O  that  we  may  be 
saved  from  that  presumptuous  pride  that  goeth  -before  de- 
struction ! 

Very  truly  yours, 

F.  R.  GOULDING.' 

P.  S.     Please  address  me  at 

Roswell,   (Cobb  Co.)   Georgia. 

My  eldest  son  Charlie,  was  in  the  8th  Ga.  Regiment,  Bar- 
tow's, that  was  so  dreadfully  cut  up,  yet  escaped  unhurt.  Mr. 
Howard's  son,  Seth,  was  wounded  painfully,  but  not  danger- 
ously. Charlie  writes  me  that  every  man  in  the  regiment  was 
marked,  in  his  person  or  his  clothing,  with  balls,  &  that  it 
seems  almost  miraculous  that  any  of  them  lived ;  539  men  were 
exposed  to  the  concentrated  fire  of  eight  regiments,  &  every 
tree  and  sapling  was  riddled  with  balls. 

I  am  sorry  we  have  no  Confederate  stamps ; — please  credit 
me  till  we  have. 

The    Session    Book    of    the    Second    Presbyterian 
Notes  from        Church  records  meetings  of  the  Session  in  May  and 

the      Session  ,  _^  ~t^^,^^  11  r 

-Q^^]^  August,   1861.     May,   1801,  shows  the  last  entry  of  a 

marriage  in  the  congregation,  until  September,  1866. 
At  the  session  meeting  in  August,  Adger  Smyth's  wife,  Anne,  was 
received  into  the  membership  of  Second  Church,  being  transferred 
from  the  Methodist  Church. 

For  November  10,  the  day  on  which  his  two  daughters,  Sarah 
Ann    and    Janey,    were    admitted    to    the    Church,    Dr.    Smyth    has 

"Dr.  Goulding  is  known  to  the  children  of  the  whole  United 
States,  but  especially  to  those  of  the  South,  as  the  author  of  "The 
Young  Marooners,"  and  "Marooner's  Island."  He  was  able  to 
have  the  former  republished  about  January,  1864,  by  Burke,  Boy- 
kin  and  Co.,  of  Macon,  Georgia. — Ed. 


685 

written  in  the  session  book:  "On  this  day  the  North- 

y*  „  °^,  ern  Armada  entered  Port  Royal,  having  silenced  our 
and    Beaufort  .  .  _  .  ^,        . 

taken.  batteries,  and  were  threatening  Beautort  and  Charles- 

ton. But  though  many  were  ordered  away,  and  very 
general  excitement  and  alarm  prevailed,  there  was  quite  a  good 
attendance  &  earnest  attention. 

The  Communion  took  place,  although  our  city  was  full  of 
trouble;  Port  Royal  and  Beaufort  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy;  many  families  in  bereavement  &  mourning;  multitudes 
more  being,  engaged  in  sending  off  sons,  brothers,  &  fathers  ordered 
away;  and  the  city  crowded  with  soldiers  &  encircled  with  camps. 
My  son,  his  cousin,  and  college  chum'  joined  the  camp  with  the 
South  Carolina  College  Cadets.  I  took  leave  of  some  at  the 
church.  But  still  we  had  an  unusually  large  number  of  white 
communicants,  including  my  son  &  several  from  camp;  and  a 
very  solemn  service." 

On  December  4,  1861,  a  Constituting  Assembly' 
Constituting  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  met  in  Augusta, 
Assem    y  o        Georgia,  in  response  to  a  call  issued  by  a  conference 

the     Southern  ...  ,        ,  ,  ,1,1  , 

Pres  Church  °^  ministers  and  elders  that  had  taken  place  m 
Atlanta,  August  15-17,  1861.  At  this  Assembly  in 
Augusta,  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  Confederate  States,  com- 
monly known  as  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  was  formed. 
All  the  Presbyteries  to  which  the  call  had  been  addressed  were 
represented,  and  all  the  regular  forms  were  observed. — Editor. 

Reverend  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D. 

Pastor  of  the  Second  Presb.  Church. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

The  session  of  our  Church  held  a  meeting  on 
The  great  j^^^  Lord's  day — Inter  alia.   It  was  resolved  that, 

in  view  of  the  distressful  circumstances  in  which 
our  citizens  are  placed  by  the  late  fire'  a  united  meeting"  of 
our  ministers  and  congregations — for  prayer  and  exhortation 
be  held  next  Lord's  day,  in  the  evening,  in  our  Church. 

'Augustine  and  his  friend,  W.  D.  Warren,  were  with  the  cadets. 
The  cousin,  James  Adger,  joined  another  command.  Adger  Smyth 
was  serving  at  this  time  with  one  of  the  volunteer  fire  companies, 
the  Phoenix,  as  his  presence  was  urgently  needed  at  home.  Au- 
gustine was  also  with  the  Phoenix  Company  during  the  great  fire 
in   December  of  this  j^ear. — Ed. 

"See  account  by  Dr.  Moses  D.  Hoge  in  "Presbyterians"  by 
Hays,  p.  485,  etc.  Also  Life  of  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  by  Harris, 
p.  246. — Ed. 

'The  great  fire  of  Dec.  11,  1861,  which  swept  diagonally  through 
the  city  from  river  to  river. — Ed. 

"Union  prayer  meetings  were  constantly  held  during  the  War, 
the  papers  give  almost  daily  notices  of  such  services. — Ed. 


636 

I  was  requested  by  the  session  to  invite  yourself  and  other 
ministers  to  take  part  in  the  exercises  on  that  occasion. 

If  agreable  to  you  I  should  be  pleased  that  you  give  your 
assistance,  and  either  make  a  short  address,  or  conduct  some 
other  part  of  the  exercises. 

I  should  be  glad  of  an  early  reply,  and  should  you  see  fit, 
that  you  would  state  what  part  you  would  engage  to  take  on 
the  occasion. 

Trusting  yourself  and  congregation  will  join  us  in  this 
duty,  I  am 

Yours  Faithfullv, 
Charleston,  JOHN  FORREST. 

Dec.  17,  1861. 

RICEBORO,  Dec  20,  1861. 
REV  &  DEAR  FRIEND, 

I  read  with  pain  and  grief  the  accounts  of  the 
J^°,T^  J'         recent  fire  in  Charleston,  which  has  laid  so  much 

Buttolph.  _         _  ' 

of  that  noble  city  in  ashes. 

A  deep  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  sufferers  pervades  this 
whole  State.  Almost  all  of  our  male  population  are  enlisted 
and  are  bearing  arms  for  the  defense  of  the  State. 

No  contribution  therefore  has  been  taken  up,  but  a  few 
ladies  have  handed  me  the  enclosed  sum  of  Thirty  Dollars, 
with  the  request  that  I  would  sent  if  to  you  to  be  distributed 

as  you  see  best  in  behalf  of  any  suffering  from  the  late  fire. 

*     *     * 

I  have  moved  my  family  from  the  seaboard,  which  was  open 
to  attack  from  any  marauding  vessel,  to  the  interior,  about 
eighteen  miles  distant  from  our  residence. 

Your  weekly  contributions  to  the  Southern 
contributions  Presbyterian  are  very  interesting  and  instructive, 
to  the  I  hope  you  will  continue  them. 

Southern  They  havc  set  me  to  studying  the  Greek  Tes- 

Presbyterian.  -^        .  .  ^     .  o 

tament  with  renewed  vigour. 
Our  youngest    (William   Smyth,)    is  as  fine  a  babe  as  the 
sun  ever  shone  on.    When  you  see  him  you  will  not  be  ashamed 
that  he  bears  a  part  of  your  name. 

I  would  like  to  have  had  him  bear  the  whole,  but  he  had 
an  uncle  who  had  to  come  in  for  a  slice. 

Give  my  best  love  to  Mrs.  Smyth  and  your  family,  in  which 
also  Mrs.  Gumming  and  Mrs.  Buttolph  unite. 

Yours  affectionatelv, 

D.  L.  BUTTOLPH. 
Revd  Thos  Smyth  D.  D. 
Charleston,  So.  Ca. 


637 

HAMPSTEAD, 

15  Jan.  1862. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

I  received  your  note,  the  delivery  of  which  you  entrusted 
to  Mr.  Sass :  &  thank  you  much  for  the  kind  terms  in  which 
you  refer  to  me.  The  articles  on  Slavery  referred  to  in  it,  I 
did  not  receive:  but  suppose  you  did  not  leave  them.  With 
your  pleasure,  I  will  do  myself  the  honor  of  calling  on  you, 
as  soon  as  I  return  to  the  City,  which  I  leave  this  morning 
for  a  few  days. 
^     ^      ,  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  have  collected  the 

Dr.   Smyth  ^  .  ,  .   ,       ,  .  ^ 

urged  to  stray  leaves  upon  which  those  notes  of  our  Rev- 

write  history     olutiou^  are  to  be  found ;  from  which  a  sufficient 

of  Secession        ^^^^      j    ^^^^^      ^^^^        -f  ^jjj    ^^    ^^^    j^      ^^^^_ 

period.  .  - 

after  may  write  out  the  narrative  in  full.  I  once 
conceived  that  purpose  &  proposed  its  execution  to  myself, 
but  "nor  time,  nor  circumstance,"  would  make  for  me  a  truce 
with  other  pressing  engagements,  and  I  yielded  to  what  I  could 
not  control.  But  even  within  the  narrow  limits  of  our  own 
State,  the  hitherto  secret  history  of  a  year  since,  is  not  with- 
out an  interest  somewhat  like  romance. 

Very  truly  &  Respectfully 
My  dear  Sir, 

Yr.  Obd.  Ser. 
Rcvd  Dr.  Smyth.  A.  G.  MAGRATH.' 

After  an  entry  telling  of  a  session  meeting,  Dr. 
Notes  from  Smyth  writes  in  the  Session  Book  in  1862:  "Although 
the  Session  o    1  ,       1      t-   1        ^  i-i         1  ,•  .        ,  .  , 

]3qqJj  Sabbath,  f  eb.  16,  was,  hke  the  preceding,  in  the  mid- 

dle of  a  spell  of  N.  E.  cold,  rainy  weather,  a  goodly 
number  ventured  out,  and  the  communion  was  administered  by  the 
Pastor  alone,  assisted  by  Elders  Dukes,  Banks,  &  Gilchrist.     The 
occasion  was  one  perhaps  of  unusual  solemnity  and 
o    lers  at        enjoyment.      Several    military    gentlemen     communi- 

the    Commu-  ,        •   ,  ,  ,-  •  .       .        ,         , 

nion  table  cated  With  US  on  the  eve  of  meeting  again  for  battle. 

Recent  disasters  in  New  Orleans  and  Tennessee,  and 
the  general  forward  movement  of  the  enemy;  the  threatened  at- 
tack on  our  city  &  Savannah,  make  the  ladies  and  all  more 
anxious  to  enjoy  the  communion  &  deepened  our  intense  desire  to 
meet  the  Lord  at  His  table  and  find  favour  in  His  sight,  and  im- 
plore Him  to  go  with  us  and  our  armies  in  the  crisis  of  the  war." 

^"Twenty-two  volumes  made  up  of  cotemporary  accounts  *  * 
culled  from  our  periodicals,"  which  were  presented  by  Dr.  Smyth 
to  the  Smyth  Library  before  May,   1863. — Ed. 

^Former  U.  S.  Judge;  member  of  the  Executive  Council;  Gov- 
ernor of  So.  Ca.  in  the  last  years  of  the  Confederacy. — Ed. 


638 

Mrs.  Smyth  to  her  daughter,  who  was  with  her  uncle,  Robert 
Adger,  at  Rivoli  Plantation,   Pendleton,  S.   C— Ed. 

Feb. — 1862. 
Tuesday  Afternoon. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANNIE, 

This  morning  I  reccl  Sue's  letter,  &  Ellen  had 
fangements.  Jancy's.  I  was  glacl  to  hear  you  had  safely 
reached  Rivoli.  Uncle  Robert  had  his  hands  full. 
I  have  this  moment  received  a  Telegraph  from  your  Brother 
Adger  at  Kingsville;  he  will  stay  to  night  at  Columbia,  &  go 
on  tomorrow  with  Betsy,  who  takes  you  this.  To  her  I  refer 
you  for  all  the  news.  Bro.  Adger  goes  to  Woodburn."  You 
may  not  see  him,  as  he  returns  next  day.  See  your  Sister  Anne 
as  soon  as  you  can,  but  do  not  give  any  trouble  that  you  can 
help,  especially  as  the  roads  are  so  very  bad.  Do  not  trouble 
your  Uncle  about  his  horses  too  much. — 

You  will  be  glad  to  have  Betsy  &  Mary.''  Betsy  can  attend 
to  your  chamber,  &  mend  any  thing  that  you  can't  do  your- 
self— hut  do  all  that  you  can  for  yourselves.  I  have  given 
her  Janey's  underclothes  to  make.  She  has  thread,  needles, 
cord,  &c.  &c.  &  I  have  given  her  some  money,  so  that  she 
need  not  ask  you  for  any  thing.  I  have  given  her  some  tea ; 
also  soap,  so  that  she  can  wash  your  collars  &  sleeves  f  for  you. 
Give  them  to  her  all  at  once.  Say  every  Saturday. —  I  have 
told  her  to  take  her  work  &  sit  in  your  room,  or  if  that  is  not 
convenient,  at  the  door  in  the  entry,  so  that  she  will  be  at 
hand  if  you  want  her.  If  that  is  not  agreeable  to  your  Cous- 
ins, or  Aunt,  let  her  take  her  work  whereever  it  is  most 
convenient.  I  have  told  her  also  that  if  the  servants  rooms 
are  all  filled,  she  can  lie  at  your  door,  or  on  the  floor  in  your 
room  ;  of  course  just  where  Uncle  &  Aunt  please,  leave  all 
to  them.  Be  kind  to  her,  for  she  is  very  sad — do  not  spoil 
Mary,  or  bring  her  into  the  house  ;  let  her  stay  in  the  yard, 
but  speak  to  her  &  notice  her  often.  Your  Aunts  will  go  up 
in  a  few  days  to  Columbia.  Caesar  will  go  with  them,  so  I 
will  be  very  short  handed  in  the  way  of  servants. —  I  will  miss 
my  little  nimble  daughters,  but  I  have  Ellen  who  is  a  great 
help  to  me.     I  hope  you  will  keep  well,  &  soon  we  may  be 

°Woodburn  was  four  miles  from  Rivoli.  Adger  Smyth's  wife, 
Annie,  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  early  years  of  the  war  there, 
as  did  his  three  sisters.  The  aunts  were  usually  at  Rivoli;  while 
Boscobel,  Dr.  John  B.  Adger's  home,  was  also  visited. — Ed. 

""Young  Betsy"  and  her  child. — Ed. 

fThe  full  white  sleeves,  worn  inside  of  the  loose  sleeves  of 
the   dress  of  the  period. — Ed. 


639 

Dr.  Smyth  permitted  to  see  each  other  again.  Your  Father 
packing  his  is  packing  up  his  books  but  does  not  know,  what 
books.  Y\e  will  do,  or  where  he  will  go.'     Your  Brother 

Adger  will  help  when  he  returns —  I  have  packed  up  your 
work  boxes,  &  some  of  your  books,  &c.  My  love  to  Ellison — 
&  to  each  one  of  you.  Write  often  to  your  very  anxious  & 
affectionate  MOTHER. 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

Feb.  22,  1862. 
Tlie  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth, 

Charleston, 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR ; 

*  *  Allow  me  to  thank  you  most  heartily  for 
cience  an  your  approbation,  and  for  the  encouragement  you 
give  me  to  go  on  in  the  direction  I  attempted  to 
mark  out  in  my  address.  I  have  had  many  fears  that  my 
views,  instead  of  a  defence  of  the  truth,  might  be  regarded, 
by  many  of  those  who  are  foremost  in  our  Church,  as  involv- 
ing a  surrender  of  much  that  is  most  precious.  And  yet  I 
cannot  do  otherwise  than  as  I  have  done ;  and  it  greatly 
strengthens  me  in  every  way  to  hear  from  one  of  the  most 
honored  leaders  in  the  Church,  'T  fully  concur  in  your  prin- 
ciples and  views." — 

It  was  very  thoughtful  and  kind  in  you  to  think 

°i'  Tr  f  of  my  probable  lack  of  books,  and  to  offer  to  re- 
offer  of  books.  ^    r- 

lieve  me,  as  far  as  you  could,  from  the  evil  con- 
sequences of  the  blockade.  I  have  not  one  of  the  works  you 
mention ;  and  I  will  most  gladly  avail  myself  of  your  kindness 
in  offering  me  the  perusal  of  them.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Adger 
goes  to  Charleston  tomorrow ;  and  if  he  can,  I  know  will  oblige 
me  by  taking  charge  of  them  and  bringing  them  to  me. 
Yours  very  truly  and  gratefully, 

JAMES  WOODROW.' 

^A  letter  of  this  period  f-rom  Ellen  Crawford  tells  of  Dr.  Smyth 
pausing  in  the  packing  of  his  books,  and  exclaiming,  "If  I  could 
but  quietly  enter  the  grave!" — Ed. 

'The  Rev.  James  Woodrow,  D.  D.,  A.  M.  and  Ph.  D.,  Heidel- 
berg: Hon.  L.L.  D.,  M.  D.  and  J.  U.  D.;  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Eng- 
land, of  a  Scottish  family,  educated  in  the  United  States  and  Ger- 
many; and  became  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  men  in  the  Southern 
Church  after  1861,  when  he  accepted  the  newly  established  chair, 
then  unparalleled  in  the  world,  at  the  Columbia  Theological  Sem- 
inary. This  was  the  Perkins  Professorship  of  Natural  Science  in 
connection    with    Revelation,    and    his    Inaugural    Address,    upon 


640 

Monday  Night. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN,     .  [About  March,  1862.] 

I  send  you  by  Mr.  Bowen,  the  bundle  of  scraps 
ne*eTed"^  of  your  dresses ;  do  have  them  mended,  &  take 

care  of  your  clothes,  my  child,  for  if  this  weary 
war  is  not  soon  ended,  we  will  not  be  able  to  get  material  to 
make  clothes — no  calico  of  any  kind  to  be  bought  in  the  city. 
I  send  also,  all  the  darning  cotton  I  can  find.     *     *     * 

I  send  a  little  parcel  for  Sister,  for  the  baby ;  send  it  to  her 
by  the  first  opportunity.  I  suppose  she  has  had  a  letter  from 
Bro.  Adger.  Tell  her  the  boats  are  very  irregular  between 
this  &  the  Island,  &  she  must  not  be  troubled  if  she  does  not 
hear  regularly.     I  look  for  letters  from  Pendleton  tomorrow. 

^  5jc  5jc 

Your  Father  is  better  to  day,  but  is  quite  weak, 
&  looks  badly.  He  is  much  pulled  down.  He  was 
out  this  afternoon,  &  went  round  to  the  office  to  hear  further 
news  of  the  great  battle  wh.  has  been  fought  at  Corinth.^  You 
must  read  the  newspapers,  &  ask  Aunt  Janey  to  tell  you  about 
it.  — A  few  more  such  victories,  &  we  will  have  peace. — 

[Marchf]    1862. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN,  Sabbath  Evening. 

Your  Father  today  read  &  gave  out  to  be  sung,  the  398 
Hymn.  I  thought  of  you  all  the  time ;  the  second  verse,  I 
think  particularly  appropriate  to  you ;  read  it  all,  my  child,  & 
pray  over  it- — 

To  thee  I  tell  each  rising  grief, 
For  thou  alone  can'st  heal. — 

And  may  the  Holy  Spirit  comfort  &  bring  you  peace  &  joy 
in  believing.     *     *     * 

which  Dr.  Smyth  had  congratulated  him,  had  been  published  in 
the  Southern  Presbyterian  Reviezif,  of  which,  with  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Weekly,  Dr.  Woodrow  was  editor.  He  issued  the 
Review  throughout  the  War,  himself  contributing  articles  on  Geol- 
ogy. Dr.  Smyth  had  published  in  the  January  issue  an  article  on 
the  Victory  of  Manassas  Plains.  Dr.  Woodrow  worked  as  expert 
chemist  in  the  preparation  of  medicines,  chiefly  nitrate  of  silver, 
for  the  Confederate  Government,  using  the  Seminary  Chapel  as  a 
laboratory.  For  many  years  before  his  death  he  was  President 
of  the  South  Carolina  College.  See  Memoir  by  Dr.  Flinn;  included 
in  Life  of  Dr.  Woodrow,  by  his  daughter. — Ed. 

^The  victory  was  only  temporary,  as  Corinth,  Mississippi,  was 
evacuated  on  May  29,  1862. — Ed. 


641 

The  soldier  I  wish  Augustine  had  gone  into  the  same  com- 

sons.  pany  with  Adger/     I  would  have  felt  so  much 

less   anxiety  about  him.     He   however  thinks   he   will  be   so 
much  more  comfortable  in  the  Cavalry. 

Tell  Betsy  she  will  have  to  be  more  economical  &  not  pay 
so  much  for  washing.  In  the  country,  less  washing  is  neces- 
sary. Every  thing  is  scarce  &  high  in  town  &  money  not  to 
be  had.  I  can  not  send  it  to  her  in  small  bills,  &  you  c'd  not 
change  a  large  one.  Now  &  then  you  can  give  her  25  cts.  but 
you  will  soon  be  run  dry  too.  Tell  her  this.  Her  Mother  is 
better  &  up  again.  Her  husband  not  yet  gone  to  work. — Tell 
me  every  thing,  when  you  write,  &  write  often.  Tell  me  too 
what  you  want.  Howdye  to  Mary,  hope  she  is  a  good  girl. 
Old  Tom  is  yet  alive,  but  is  unconscious,  does  not  speak. 
Sorry  to  hear  John^  has  headache — what  causes  it?  ask  him? 

During  April  Dr.  Smyth  was  quite  sick  for  a  week  or  two. — 
Editor. 

May,  1862. 

Wednesday. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

Ellison  took  us  quite  by  surprise  yesterday  while  we  were 
sitting  at  dinner.  He  looks  very  well,  &  has  grown  very 
much.  Mr.  Sachtleben  was  in  doubt  whether  he  would  re- 
main in  the  City  or  not,  &  this  made  me  write  as  I  did  in  my 
last.  He  says  now  he  will  stay  as  long  as  he  can,  &  will  open 
his  school  on  Monday,  so  I  am  glad  Ellison  has  got  down.  *  * 
This  sad  news  from  New  Orleans  makes  us  feel  certain  that 
our  town  will  come  next.  Many  people  are  moving  away 
taking  their  things  with  them. 

I   am  writing  whilst  I   am  superintending  the 

ni^re"^    "'^      packing  of  a  box  for  your  Father,  so  I  am  not 

very  connected.     Give  much  love  to  each  one  of 

vour  Sisters,  Aunts  &  Cousins. —  I  am  .as  ever  your  own  dear 

MOTHER— 

^Augustine  first  volunteered  (after  the  disbanding  of  the  Col- 
lege Cadets,)  in  Capt.  Alex.  Taylor's  cavalry  company,  but  in 
order  to  be  with  his  brother  exchanged  to  Co.  A,  25th  Regiment, 
Hagood's  Brigade,  under  Capt.  Charles  H.  Simonton.  Their 
names,  with  their  uncle  Ellison  Adger's,  may  be  found  on  pp. 
425-426  of  Gen.  Hagood's  "Memoirs  of  the  War  of  Secession;" 
and  the  same  volume  gives  a  vivid,  though  brief  account,  of  the 
conditions  of  camp  life  on  the  islands  near  Charleston. — Ed. 

'Mrs.  Smyth's  care  for  her  servants,  especially  John  and  Sam 
Dent,  was  always  great.     Betsy  was  their  sister. — Ed. 

(411 


642 

Monday,  May  5/62. 
MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

I    have   just   turned   up   your   letter   &   cannot, 
views  '"^^   ^     though  it  is  now  late,  allow  your  mother  to  leave 
without  my  writing  you  a  note,  as  I  have  tried  to^ 
do  for  two  evenings. 

We  have  been  very  busy  today  &  for  some  days,  in  packing 
up.     Even  my  lounge  is  gone,  &  my  parlour  chair. 

I  have  no  confidence  in  the  preservation  of  the  city.  Our 
leading  generals  are  divided  in  policy  &  views,  &  therefore 
our  harbour  is  not  blocked  up  &  is  left  open  to  the  enemy. 

A  desperate  &  foolish  attempt  to  defend  the  city  within  it- 
self is  spoken  of;  but  this  would  only  entail  loss  of  life,  the 
utter  destruction  of  the  city;  &  misery  of  thousands. 

Charleston  will  be  N.  Orleans^  over  again  &  our  gun  boats 
he  burned  on  the  stocks.  Procrastination — inertness — want 
of  united  energy. 

You  are  happily  away,  &  greatly  blessed  in  so  good  a  home 
&  so  kind  &  generous  friends. 

And  yet  you  will  have  many  trials,  inconveniences,  depriva- 
tions, &  perhaps  even  sufferings.  But  God  says  it  is  good  to 
bear  the  yoke  in  one's  youth.  You  are  now  in  the  school  of 
providence  &  in  the  household  school.  Be  diligent,  earnest,  & 
prayerful  in  learning  all  you  can  from  both,  so  as  to  come  to 
find  resources,  comfort,  &  happiness  in  yourself,  in  books,  in 
friends,  &  in  God,  whatever  may  be  your  outward  condition. 

I  hope  you  tell  all  to  Jesus ;  talk  much  to  Him,  make  Him 
your  solace  &  joy,  &  learn  more  &  more  how  to  walk  in  Him  & 
live  with  Him  in  your  heart,  the  hope  of  glory. 

Yesterday  was  a  sad  anniversary  of  our  church,  and  we 
had  many  tearful  eyes. 

Next  Sabbath  is  to  be  our  Communion.  Meet  with  us — 
Sisters — in  Spirit. 

•    In  love  to  all 

Ever  affly  yrs, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

P.  S.  I  send  up  ^  lbs.  rock  candy.  Soon,  I  suppose,  sugar 
will  be  done.  Uncle  R.  ought  to  begin  to  make  Maple  Sugar 
&  plant  for  Sugar  cane  &  molasses. 


^Gen.    B.    F.    Butler   had   taken   possession    of    New    Orleans    on 
May  I.— Ed. 


643 

From  Adger  Smyth  to  his  mother,  who  had  gone  for  a  short 
visit  to   Pendleton  to   see  her  daughters. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  May  7,762. 
Wednesday. 
DEAREST  MOTHER, 

I  hope  by  this  time  you  are  near  the  end  of  your  journey  & 
will   soon  be   surrounded   by  your   &  our   dear   ones.      What 
would  I  not  give  to  be  with  you.     *     *     * 
Dr.  Smyth  Edward   gave    Father   a   good   deal   of  trouble 

and  his  body  yesterday ;  &  last  night  Father  asked  me  to  pun- 
servant.  jg]^  \\\m,  but  I  declined,  &  told  him  I  would  take 

him  to  the  work  house  &  have  him  whipped  this  morning,  so 
we  concluded  to  do  this  &  let  the  matter  drop ;  but  somehow 
Edward  heard  of  it,  &  was  unusually  bright  &  attentive  last 
night  &  this  morning.  So  after  breakfast,  when  I  went  up  to 
the  study  to  take  him,  he  got  down  on  his  knees  &  begged 
very  hard,  promising  to  do  better ;  &  Father  concluded  to  let 
him  off  &  try  him  a  little  longer.  So  that  storm  has  blown 
over  for  the  present.  Every  thing  else  is  quiet.  *  *  Elli- 
son went  out  to-day,  but  has  just  returned  saying  school  has 
broken  up,  as  Mr.  Sachtleben  is  going  away  at  once."  It  is  a 
pity  now  he  came  down ;  but  as  he  is  here,  I  think  he  had  best 
remain,  until  you  go  away.     *     *     * 

From  the  same  to  the  same. — Editor. 

May  8,/62. 
A-     * 

Charieston  '"  Troops  are  being  rapidly  concentrated  in  the 
city.  Some  on  the  city  S|quare,  some  on  the 
Citadel  Square,  &  some  on  the  burnt  district"  opposite  the 
Circular  Church.  We  hear  nothing  here  of  the  women  & 
children  being  ordered  away  at  once,  though  no  doubt  it  will 
be  done  as  soon  as  they  can —  They  are  now  busily  engaged 
building  shanties  at  Summerville  to  accomodate  ten  thousand 
persons,  &  as  soon  as  that  is  finished,  they  will  move  up  there 
all  who  cannot  find  places  for  themselves.  The  rush  in  ship- 
ping furniture  still  continues.     *     *     * 

Uncle  John  wrote  to  Father  offering  him  a  home  at  his 
house.  He  seems  quite  disposed  to  go  there.  I  will  do  all  I 
can  to  help  him  until  you  return — 

'"'After  this,  Mr.  Sachtleben  transferred  his  school  to  Columbia, 
and  Ellison  was  with  him  there  for  a  time  in  1863-4;  but  in  the 
interval   his  mother  taught  him. — Ed. 

*Land  laid  waste  by  the  great  fire  of  the  December  previous. — 
Ed. 


644 

In  May,  1862,  "the  Anniversary  of  the  Corpora- 
Notes  from  ^.jQjy,  j3j._  sj^^h  writes  with  a  trembling  hand,  "could 
the    Session  ^  1.      1     1  j    r  .       r  ... 

gQQjj  not  be  held  tor  want  01  a  quorum  remammg  m  town 

&    out    of    service.      Not    more    than    one    third    of    so 
many  remain!" 

Prayer  Meeting,  Preparatory  Lecture,  and  Communion  were 
celebrated  at  the  regular  time.  "On  May  nth  there  was  a  very 
sad  and  solemn  season.  The  Elders  from  Glebe  Street  were 
present  with  their  communion  service,  as  ours  had  been  removed;' 
and  communicants  occupied  the  pews,  as  the  table  linen  had  also 
gone. 

The  occupation  of  Charleston  is  regarded  as  a  very  probable 
event,  and  its  voluntary  evacuation  is  going  on  rapidly. 

Oh  God  how  long!  Let  it  repent  Thee  concerning  Thy  ser- 
vants. The  ways  [?]  of  Zion  mourn.  When  will  the  set  time  to 
favour  her  come?     Hasten  it,  O  Lord! 

On  this  occasion  and  the  preceding,  the  coloured 

e  w  ite  communicants  communed  in  the  back  pews  at  the 
and     coloured  .  .  ,       ,  ,  .       ,, 

communicants,   same  time  with  the  white. 

Friday,  the  i6th  of  May,  was  observed  as  a  day  of 
Humiliation  and  Prayer  for  the  country. — Editor. 

To  Mrs.  Smyth,  in  Charleston. 

DEAREST  MOTHER,  Monday.     [June  16,  1862.] 

We   have   had   a   bloody   battle^   this   morning, 

Secession-  ^  ^^^^^   q^j  ,       f^  ^^^^^    .  ^  j   ^^^   Safe.— 

ville.  '  _  '  J       ' 

We  have  driven  the  eneiny  back  &  I  think  the 

'The  Communion  Service  had  been  sent  to  Columbia,  to  Dr. 
George  Howe,  who  apparently  was  not  informed  of  the  contents 
of  the  box,  which,  placed  in  one  of  the  outer  storerooms  of  his 
residence,  escaped  by  a  miracle  at  the.  time  of  Sherman's  raid. 
In  the  confusion  and  distress  following  the  war,  the  box  was 
overlooked,  and  not  for  more  than  a  year  could  the  service  be 
found.  Upon  its  restoration  to  the  Church,  Dr.  Smyth  offered  a 
special  prayer  of  thanksgiving.  See  full  account  in  the  Centennial 
Exercises,  p.  35;  and  for  an  account  of  the  former  method  of 
administering  communion  to  both  white  and  coloured,  pp.  37-8. 
—Ed. 

*The  battle  of  Secessionville.  J.  H.  Taverner  and  Fleetwood 
Lanneau  were  intimate  friends  of  the  Smyths,  and  members  of 
the  Second  Church,  in  the  churchyard  of  which  they  were  both 
buried  by  Dr.  Smyth.  Young  Taverner  had  been  in  camp  with 
Adger  Smyth  since  Spring,  and  they  were  all  volunteering  to  serve 
through  the  entire  war.  When  the  wounded  were  brought  in, 
Adger  Smyth  carried  one  end  of  the  litter  on  which  his  friend 
Taverner  lay,  shot  through  the  body;  and  as  they  approached  the 
camp,  the  other  litter  bearer  was  shot  down,  leaving  him  to  steady 
the  sick  man  as  best  he  might,  fearing  that  death  might  come  at 
any  moment. — Ed. 


645 

fight  is  over.  Poor  Taverner  mortally  wounded,  Fleety  Lan- 
neau  killed" — Lieut.  Greer  killed,  &  several  others — God  have 
mercy  on  us  &  keep  us. —  Do  write  to  Aunt  Sue,  or  x\nnie,  & 
tell  them  we  are  safe.  -  I  have  come  to  camp  with  the  dead 
&  wounded,  and  go  right  back. —  Good  bye — Pray  for  your 
sons.  God  bless  &  keep  us  all — Good  bye,  God  bless  you — 
Ever  your  affect,  son, 

ADGER. 

From   Mrs.   Smyth  to   her  daughters. 

June,  62. 
MY  DEAR  CHILDREN,  Wednesday-^  o'clock. 

I  have  been  all  morning  at  the  Hospital  with 
The   hospitals   ^^    Tavcrner.     The  Dr.  says  now  that  with  the 

crowded.  -' 

greatest  care  he  may  recover,  but  quiet  &  good 
nursing  are  essential.  *  *  The  Hospitals  are  all  full  of  the 
wounded  men.  Many  more  new  houses  being  opened.  We 
want  all  we  can  get. — beds  &  pillows — I  had  a  bed  brought 
down  for  Mr.  Taverner  to  our  front  room,  but  the  steamer  on 
which  he  lay,  did  not  get  in  until  i  o'clock;  &  then  his  friends 
had  all  left  the  whf.  only  Ellison  was  there,  &  the  Surgeons 
told  him  he  had  better  go  to  the  Hospital  where  they  c'd  at- 
tend to  him.  I  am  so  sorry.  If  any  man  had  been  there,  they 
w'd  have  yielded  &  let  him  come  to  our  house.     I  could  then 

have  attended  to  him  all  the  time,  &  he  w'd  have 
orrow  in  t  e  j^ggj^  g^  xnuch  morc  comfortablc.     Fleetv  Lanneau 

congregation. 

w^as  buried  today,  your  Father  &  Mr.  Girardeau 
officiating. 

See  the  papers  for  all  the  news — In  haste.     Goodby. 

MOTHER. 


MY  DEAR  SARAH  ANNIE 


Charleston,  June  26. 
4  o'clock. 


gjjjgQ^  Poor   Mr.   Taverner"  died  today  at  2   P   M — 

Smyth  to  his    very  calmly  and  without  a  struggle  at  the  Hos- 
^^^^^^-  pital  in  Trapmann  St ;  the  body  will  be  brought 

here  this  evening  and  he  will  be  buried  tomorrow  morning  at 
our  church.     *     *     * 

In  great  haste. 


ELLISON 


"See  Dr.  Porter's  "Led  on   Step  by  Step,"  pages   137,  etc. — Ed. 
"Mr.   Taverner's   young   fiancee   was   with   him   when   he   died. — 
Ed. 


646 
From  the  same  to  the  same. — Editor. 

at  night. 
CHARLESTON,  9>^  oclock., 

July  21   1862. 
*     *     After  breakfast  Gus  and  I  went  round 
boa\s^""'  ^*^  ^^^  wharf  to  see  the  Gun  boats.    A  great  many- 

men  are  at  work  on  them.  They  look  as  if  they 
were  very  strong,  the  iron  plates  with  which  they  are  to  be 
covered,  are  two  inches  thick,  then  the  wood  work  is  4  feet 
thick.  They  have  a  ram  under  water,  very  sharp,  and  strong, 
and  I  pity  the  vessel  they  run  into.  They  have  a  ram  at  both 
ends.  We  next  went  to  Adger's  wharf,  to  the 
works^^*  salt  works.     The  salt  is   very  good,  as  yet  they 

make  but  i  bushel  a  day ;  but  they  have  put  up 
another  boiler,  they  expect  to  make  three.  Mr.  Carrere  told 
me  he  had  sold  five  bushels  and  a  half  at  $8 —  per  bushel.  I 
think  he  ought  not  to  sell  it,  that  Uncle  Robert  wants  all  he 
can  make  for  his  use  in  the  country ;  but  he  says  he  wrote  to 
Uncle  for  directions  and  has  received  no  answer,  so  he  con- 
cluded to  sell  it. 

July  21,  '62. 
Wednesday  Afternoon. 
MY  DARLING  DAUGHTERS, 

Mrs    Smyth  *     *     ^^   ^ad   a   visit   from  Augustine.     Elli- 

teiis  of  sick-  son  has  told  of  his  goings ;  I  fear  he  did  too  much, 
ness  m  camps,  ^g  j^g  ^^^  quite  sick  ycstcrday.  I  had  a  note 
from  him  today,  he  is  better.  Rev.  Mr.  Porter  was  at  the 
Depository  today  to  get  some  things  for  their  sick.  There 
are  26  cases  of  sickness  in  Camp  A. — Augustine's  Company. 
One  man  died  yesterday  in  a  Congestive  Chill. —  Mr.  Porter 
says  they  have  had  no  fresh  meat  for  ten  days,  all  the  time 
"salt  junk." — Hard  living. —  We  look  for  Uncle  Ellison  to- 
morrow morning.  His  horse  is  getting  much  better.  Indeed 
quite  well. —  Tell  Aunties  when  you  see  them,  if  they  have 
any  drawers,  do  send  them,  as  quickly  as  possible ;  we  have 
not  a  pair  of  light  drawers  to  give  Mr.  Porter  for  these  sick 
men.  We  have  had  so  many  applications  for  the  hospitals, 
we  have  exhausted  our  stock  of  drawers — we  still  have  some 
shirts. — 

When  the  gunboat  Palmetto  State   (the  money  for 

The  Palmetto    ^|^j(-}^_    amounting    to    $30,000.00,    had    been    raised    at 

fairs  and  bazaars  by  the  women  of  South  Carolina,) 

was    launched    on    October    15,    1862,   very    elaborate    "christening" 


647 

ceremonies  took  place.  As  part  of  the  services,  prayers  were 
offered  by  Dr.  Smyth  and  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Christopher  Gads- 
den.^— Editor. 

Saturday  Night.     [October,  1862.] 

MY  DEAR  CHILDREN, 

*     *     This   afternoon  at  5.   we   saw  the  body 
f"  ^^^,  of  dear  Httle  Robt^  committed  to  the  s^rave  in  our 

Church  yard. 

As  soon  as  we  rec'd  the  dispatch  last  night,  I  sent  off  a  note 
to  the  Camp  to  Uncle  E.,  he  came  up  as  soon  as  he  got  it  this 
morning,  &  was  with  Uncle  R.  all  day.  After  dinner  we  all 
assembled  in  our  front  room  &  your  Father  read  his  beautiful 
burial  service  &  made  prayer,  in  which  he  fervently  remem- 
bered the  afflicted  parents  &  other  friends.  Then  Uncles  R.  & 
E.  carried  the  box  themselves  to  the  carriage. —  *  *  * 
Attack  on  Uuclc  R.  will  not  hear  of  your  Aunts  remaining 

Charleston  any  longcr  in  the  City.  He  thinks,  &  so  do  many 
feared.  othcrs,  that  bcforc  three  weeks,  there  will  be  an 

attack  on  Charleston ;  so  you  must  make  up  your  minds  to 
stay  quietly  at  Rivoli  until  the  expected  attack  is  made,  or  until 
the  danger  is  averted.  It  is  a  very  general  opinion  now  that 
they  will  attempt  to  shell  the  city  from  their  gun  boats ; 
whether  they  will  succeed  in  destroying  it  or  not,  remains  to 
be  seen.  Uncle  R.  has  asked  Aunt  Janey  to  go  round  to  his 
house,  &  see  if  there  is  anything  there  to  be  packed  up,  & 
Uncle  Ellison  is  coming  up  on  Monday  to  go  with  them  to  his 
house,  to  see  what  they  think  he  had  better  send  away.  So 
they  advise  me  not  to  bring  anything  more  down,  but  rather 
to  send  some  away. 

Your  brother  Adger  may  be  up  tomorrow.  Uncle  Ellison 
stayed  with  us  until  9  o'clock.  Give  much  love  to  my  dear 
Clara,  &  say  my  heart  sympathizes  with  her.    love  to  all. 

in  haste  YOUR  OWN  MOTHER. 


^See  South  Carolina  Women  in  the  Confederacy,  vol.  i,  p.  154. 
—Ed. 

^Grandson  and  namesake  of  Mr.  Robert  Adger,  the  child  of  his 
daughter,  Clara  Bowen,  who  died  on  Oct.  i,  1862,  aged  one  year. 
—Ed. 


648 
Augustine  Smythe  to  his  aunt,  Miss  Susan  Adger.' 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 
DEAR  AUNTIE,  Thursday,  Feb  5,  1863. 

The  capture  *     *     ^^  havc  had  some  exciting  times  here 

of  the  Isaac  in  the  last  week :  the  capture  of  the  gun-boat  in 
p.  Smith.  Stono,  &  the  breaking  of  the  blockade  by  our 
ironclads.  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  be  one  of  four  [of  the 
Signal  Corps. — Ed.]  chosen  to  accompany  Lt.  Col.  Yates. 
[Adger  Smyth  was  also  in  this  engagement,  in  the  infantry. 
— -Ed.]  *  *  The  artillery  was  ranged  along  the  river  in 
ambush.  *  *  At  Grimball's,  on  James  Island,  were  three 
rifled  24  parrott  guns,  with  several  other  guns  lower  down.  At 
Grimball's  on  John's  Island  and  at  Legare's  lower  down  the 
river,  we  had  concealed  our  guns,  some  in  stables,  some  be- 
hind bushes,  &  one  in  the  basement  of  Legare's  house.  *  * 
The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  with  snow,  and  we  were  al- 
lowed neither  light  nor  fire  for  fear  of  discovery.  Our  rations* 
were  "floating-batteries."  I  was  one  of  the  two  stationed  at 
Legare's,  our  chief  point ;  because  the  bank  here  was  high  & 
the  channel  only  250  yds  from  it.  *  *  About  three  o'clock 
on  Friday,  the  men  at  Legareville  reported  the  boat  (the  Isaac 
P.  Smith,)  coming -up  the  river.  *  *  She  steamed  rapidly 
up  to  the  house  where  we  lay  concealed,  *  *  saw  nothings 
and  went  on  to  Grimball's  on  James  Island  and  anchored. 
The  officers  say  that  they  came  up  to  have  a  quiet  dinner  and 
to  kill  some  ducks.  Just  as  their  dinner  bell  rang,  our  guns  on 
James  Island  opened  on  her  and  the  first  shot  passed  through 
the  engine  room,  tearing  off  the  arm  of  the  Asst.  Engineer. 
By  this  time  our  men,  who  had  been  hid  in  the  woods,  had 
arrived,  &  run  the  guns  from  their  places  in  the  houses  to  the 
bank  of  the  river ;  &  the  house  &  banks,  which  were  without 
cover,  were  lined  with  sharpshooters  *  *  The  boat  came 
running  down  the  river,  firing  grape  shot  on  both  sides,  *  * 
and  passed  without  material  harm  by  all  the  batteries  bvit  one, 
*  *  when  a  well  directed  shot  from  Legare's,  burst  her 
steam  pipe,  &  she  had  to  stop  Sz:  surrender.  Col.  Yates  im- 
mediately started  us  signalling  for  steamers  to  tow  her  to 
town ;  and  we  did  not  stop  until  4  o'clock  next  morning,  when 
the  steamboats  came.  *  *  It  is  a  wonder  that  our  loss  was 
no  greater,  only  one  man  was  killed — we  were  totally  unpro- 

■''The  original  account  is  much  longer. — Ed. 

''Large,  square,  heavy  hard-tack.  From  these,  when  hot  water 
could  be  obtained,  the  men  made  what  they  called  "lobscouse,"  by 
mixing  them  with  beef-extract  and  water. — Ed. 


649 

tected  on  the  bank,  only  250  yds  distant,  &  she  was  firing 
grape  constantly.  *  *  The  Smith  is  quite  a  large  vessel,  a 
propeller,  &  very  fast —  She  will  be  exceedingly  useful  to  us 
in  keeping  our  rivers  clear  of  the  abolition  forces.  That  same 
night  the  ironclads  ran  out,  sunk  one  vessel,  crippled  another, 
&  as  they  say,  raised  the  blockade.  *  *  Mr.  Bunch,  the 
English  Consul,  has  sent  an  officer  on  to  Washington,  to 
declare  that  the  blockade  was  actually  raised.  *  *  We  are 
all  c|uite  well  at  home ;  Adger  is  thinking  of  sending  Annie 
away,  but  it  is  not  settled. 

Your  affectionate  nephew, 

AUGUSTINE  T.  SAIYTHE. 

Adger  Smyth  was  at  this  time  stationed  at  Seces- 
Dr.  Smyth  sionville  with  his  uncle  Joseph  Ellison  Adger,  (called 
writing    tor  ,        ,  ■  .  «•»«-  t       >)\      •       .1        /-  •  1 

the  soldiers  ^1^  '^^^  nephews,  Mass  Joe  ),  m  the  Commissary  de- 
partment. From  the  house  in  which  they  were 
stationed,  he  saw  the  attack  on  Morris  Island,  and  watched  the 
Northern  forces  cross  the  inlet  from  Folly  Island  to  Morris. 
Augustine  was  on  the  Ironclad  Palmetto  State.  "Monday"  was 
a  servant  from  Mr  Adger  Smyth's  plantation,  who  served  as  cook. 
While  Dr.  Smyth  was  physically  unable  to  visit  the  fortifications 
and  camps  as  a  chaplain,  as  many  other  ministers  did,  the  danger 
which  his  sons  and  so  many  other  young  men  so  constantly  ran, 
and  the  temptations  with  which  they  were  beset,  weighed  sorely 
upon  him,  and  at  some  time  in  1863  he  compiled  a  Soldiers  Prayer 
Book;  and  an  Outline  for  a  Soldiers  Hymnal  in  1862.  These  may 
be  found  in  his  collected  works,  vol.  VII,  pp.  701  and  753. — Editor. 

Tiiesdav,  3  o'clock.      [1863.] 
MY  DEAR  SISTER. 

Mrs    Sm'th  ■'■  ^^^'^  been  trying  to  get  a  quiet  hour  all  this 

packs  sup-  morning  to  write  to  you,  but  I  had  to  fix  up  a 
plies  for  j-jqj^   fQj-  Augustiuc,   at   Sumtcr.     Then   I  had  to 

'^^™^'  put  grist,  flour,  coffee,  clean  towels,  &c.  &c.  for 

the  Camp — for  our  Camp.  But  I  have  now  another  camp, 
i.  e.  Capt.  Thomas — bundles  to  send  T.  Boggs ;  Flinn  Dick- 
son— Ed.  Palmer,  &c.  Here  comes  Bro.  Ellison  unexpectedly. 
He  tells  me  Bridges  goes  up  tonight,  I  will  send  my  letter  by 
him,  &  that  will  give  me  longer  time  to  write. 
Dr.  Smyth's  Ellcu's   letter   to    Sue   yesterday,    will    tell   you 

visit  to  the  of  our  visit  to  Jamcs  Island.  To  go  with  Dr. 
^°^^^-  Palmer,    &    in    Beauregard's    carriage,    was    an 

honour  not  to  be  declined.  Ellen  told  Sue,  I  suppose,  all 
about  the  services  of  the  Sabbath,  so  I  will  not  repeat  about 
the  crowded  church,  &  the  great  men,  &  the  splendid  sermon, 


650 

&c.  &c.  Mr.  S.  was  going  to  take  Dr.  Palmer  in  his  buggy  to 
see  his  brother  Ed.  who  is  in  Thomas'  Battalhon,  near  the 
Pontoon  Bridge,"  but  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  pass ;  so  Dr. 
P.  wrote  to  Beauregard  for  it.  He  repHed  in  a  very  kind 
note,  sending  him  the  pass  to  visit  Jas.  Island,  &  all  the  forts 
in  the  harbour ;  &  tending  for  his  use,  &  the  family  of  Dr.  S., 
his  ambulance  waggon ;  sending  at  the  same  time  a  photograph 
likeness  of  himself  to  Dr.  S.  &  Dr.  P.,  with  Autograph  affixed. 
— The  carriage  had  seats  for  five — besides  the  driver —  Sarah 
Ann  &  I  took  the  back  seat,  Mr.  S.  along  side  the  driver,  & 
Dr.  P.  the  middle  seat.  We  started  about  lo  o'clock,  stopped 
at  Thomas'  Camp,  saw  Mr.  Mullally,  Dickson,  Palmer,.  An- 
drew,! Boggs,  &c.  &c.  Mr.  E.  Palmer  took  the  spare  seat  by 
his  brother;  then  we  drove  on  to  Ft.  Pemberton — then  to  the 
Eutaw  Camp,  saw  &  chatted  awhile  with  Adger  &  Col.  Simon- 
ton  ;  Uncle  E.  had  gone  to  town,  we  passed,  or  rather  missed 
him,  by  taking  the  road  around  by  Ft.  Pemberton.  We  had 
hoped  Adger  w'd  have  been  able  to  go  with  us  to  the  battle 
ground,"  but  he  c'd  not  leave  Camp —  So  we  went  on  alone. 
I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  Ellison  was  with  us  on  Augustine's 
horse.  We  rode  over  the  battle  field,  Mr.  S.  expounding  and 
explaining.  It  is  much  altered  since  Janey  &  I  were  there 
with  Brother  John,  after  the  battle  of  Secessionville.  The 
fortifications  are  much  higher ;  more  numerous ;  guns  &  breast- 
works in  every  direction — batteries  all  over  the  island.  It  ap- 
pears to  me  it  would  be  very  difficult  for  any  troops  of  our 
enemy  to  land,  or  pass  over  the  island.  From  Secessionville 
we  returned  to  the  City — ^which  we  reached  a  little  after  2 
o'clock,  having  had  a  ride  of  20  miles — through  heavy  sand  in 
about  4  hours — but  we  had  a  pair  of  fine,  strong,  grey  horses 
accustomed  to  fast  driving — &  their  white  driver  never  let  them 
flag,  kept  them  at  a  brisk  trot  all  the  time.  We  ate  dinner 
hastily,  &  then  took  the  boat  for  Sumter  at  3 — on  our  way  we 
stopped  at  one  of  our  gun  boats,  the  Chicora,  to  give  them 
some  ammunition.  This  of  course  took  some  time,  &  gave  us, 
the  two  Palmers  especially,  an  opportunity  of  closely  examin- 
ing it —  then  at  Fort  Johnson  we  took  in  a  great  number  of 

"The  Pontoon  bridge  occupied  the  site  of  the  present  Wappoo 
bridge. — Ed. 

fAndrew  Adger;  Mr.  Mullally  had  married  Dr.  Adger's  daugh- 
ter, Lizzie;  Thomas  Boggs  was  a  cousin,  killed  the  year  following 
in   Virginia. — Ed. 

''Secessionville.  Fort  Pemberton  was  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Stono  River,  on  James  Island,  one-quarter  of  a  mile  from  Elliott's 
cut. — Ed. 


651 

negroes  to  be  taken  to  Morris  Island  to  work 
urn  er.  ^-^^^^^  ^^  Fort  Sumtcr,  we  c'cl  not  get  up  to  the 
whf — so  we  had  to  make  the  circumference  of  the  Fort,  & 
come  up  to  the  other  side  of  whf. — this  gave  us  an  oppor- 
tunity, highly  valued;  of  seeing  all  the  injury  done/  I  was 
sorry  to  see  so  many  holes — all  however,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions, already  filled  up  with  brick  work — they  have  worked 
at  night  on  the  outside,  &  by  day  inside  ever  since  the  firing 
ceased.  They  have  not  let  it  be  published,  &  don't  want  it  to 
be  known,  how  much  the  Fort  was  injured.  Gadsden  King 
was  "officer  of  the  day,"  helped  Mr.  S.  on  the  fort  very  cour- 
teously, but  laid  his  hand  on  Dr.  P.  &  asked  for  his  pass.  It 
was  instantly  recognized.  He  addressed  me,  but  finding  I  did 
not  know  him,  said  that  if  I  had  forgotten  the  little  boy  in  my 
Father's  Counting  House,  he  had  not  forgotten  me.  He 
shewed  us  in,  &  remained  with  us  until  Augustine  c'd  be  re- 
lieved &  come  to  us.  We  saw  him  using  the  Signal  Flags  from 
the  parapet  as  we  passed  by.  Capt.  King  told  us  that  three 
balls  had  penetrated  the  seaward  wall ;  two  of  them  passed 
entirely  over  the  parade  ground,  &  out  of  the  wall  opposite, 
falling  outside,  one  of  them  dislodging  one  of  the  guns  on  the 
opposite  side — the  third  ball  fell  into  the  parade  ground,  for- 
tunately did  not  explode ;  they  had  taken  the  match  from  it  & 
he  shewed  it  to  us,  an  immense  ball — 15  inches  in  diameter — • 
after  all  this,  he  told  us,  the  fort  was  stronger  than  it  was 
before  the  fight,  they  had  made  a  better  arrangement  of  the 
guns,  had  strengthened  some  points  with  an  immense  quantity 
of  sand  bags.  The  parade  ground  was  all  dug  up,  &  numbers 
of  negroes  were  then  employed  in  filling  &  carrying  the  bags, 
&  this  they  had  been  doing  day  &  night  ever  since  Tuesday. 
Augustine  took  us  all  over  the  ramparts,  shewed  us  the  famous 
Brook's  gun — the  breach — shewed  through  their  fine  glass,  all 
that  c'd  be  seen  of  the  Ironsides — took  us  through  the  Case- 
mates ; — from  a  platform  we  saw  the  dress  parade,  the  firing 
of  the  evening  gun  &  the  lowering  of  the  flag.  Then  he  ac- 
companied us  to  the  boat.  He  is  very  comfortable,  in  a  mess 
with  four  officers,  but  is  kept  very  busy,  &  will  very  soon  tire 
of  the  confinement,  longs  to  be  at  home  again.  We  had  a 
rough  time  coming  up — wind  high  and  chilly — too  late  for  Dr. 
P.  to  get  to  the  depot.  He  &  his  brother  stayed  all  night.  Dr. 
P.  went  this  morning  to  Columbia,  &  Ed.  Palmer,  after  break- 

'This  visit  must  have  been  paid  during  the  repairs  which  took 
place  after  the  bombardment  of  Sumter  on  April  7,  1863.  Many- 
ladies  visited  the  fort  at  that  time.  See  Johnson's  "Defence  of 
Charleston    Harbour,"   pp.    56   and   80. — Ed. 


652 

fast  walked  back  to  Camp.  This  has  been  an  extremely  un- 
pleasant day,  wind  high,  water  rough;  we  c'd  not  have  gone 
out  to  day,  were  highly  favoured  in  the  weather  yesterday. 
We  had  a  delightful  excursion,  enjoyed  it  greatly — but  to  day 
I  feel  as  if  the  machine  had  been  overworked.  Sarah  Anne 
will  have  it  to  remember  as  long  as  she  lives."  She  is  amply 
repaid  for  remaining  in  town.  Mrs.  Lowndes'  daughters  have 
returned. 

Dear  Mother,  ^'"'^""y  ^^"^  ^9-  1863. 

*     *     Please  say  to  Father  that  I  do  not  care 
Sm:nh-     ^"     ^*-*  invest  any  more  in  Confed.  Bonds'  if  he  has 
already  put  in  enough  to  cover  the  $1,000  certifi- 
cate that  I  have  sent  for.     As  the  rest  is  in  bonds  already  I 
believe  I  will  hold  on  to  them.     Thank  him  for  his  kindness. 


On  May  5,  1863,  the  books,  and  the  22  scrap-books  of  Confed- 
erate historical  data,  sent  by  Dr.  Smyth  to  the  Smyth  Library, 
were  reported  by  the  Library  Committee  of  the  Seminary.  The 
final  payment  on  the  Smyth  Library  was  also  reported. — Editor. 

July  12,  1863. 
Sabbath  Afternoon — 
MY  DEAR  DAUGHTERS  &  SISTERS.— 
Mrs.  Smyth's  Hcavy  firing  all  day;  sometimes  the  windows 
account  of  rattle,  &  the  house  shakes.  There  is  quiet  for  a 
fighting  near  gj^Qj.^  ^jj^g^  ^  ^^ten  there  will  be  such  loud  &  long 
continued  volleys  from  large  cannon  &  shell ! —  I 
was  amazed,  walking  up  to  church  this  morning,  at  the  change 
in  the  street ;  so  very  few  ladies  to  be  seen ;  the  men  are  all  in 
the  Reserves.  Very  few  of  them  in  the  Church,  the  Congre- 
gation very  slini:  The  appearance  of  the  weather  however, 
may  have  occasioned  that,  as  it  betokened  rain.  Indeed  it  did 
rain  on  us  from  George  St.  up  to  the  Church. —  As  we  came 
out  of  Church  we  were  told  they  were  fighting  at  Secession- 
ville  &  that  our  men  had  been  driven  in.  Ellison  drove  me 
down  in  the  buggy,  &  soon  after,  Monday  came  up  on  your 
Bro  Adger's  horse  with  some  letters  to  be  mailed,  &  a  note  to 

^She  remembers  it  in  1912,  as  a  most  delightful  and  interesting 
trip,  especially  when  taken  in  the  company  of  Dr.  Palmer  and 
Dr.  Smyth.— Ed. 

"Everything  Dr.  Smyth  had  to  dispose  of  was  invested  in  Con- 
federate securities.  He  was  a  believer  in  the  Confederacy,  and 
thought  it  his  duty  as  a  citizen  to  help  the  Government  in  every 
way. — Ed. 


653 

me  for  some  things.  As  I  supposed  his  letter  to  your  Sister 
will  tell  her  all  about  the  expected  attack  last  night,  &c.  I  will 
not  repeat  it.     *     *     * 

Your  Father  is  quite  unwell  today ;  he  preached  this  morn- 
ing, but  has  had  no  service  this  afternoon.  Sam  Boggs  was 
in  church,  &  came  down  &  took  dinner  with  us — He  arrived 
this  morning  with  Thomas'  command.  I  heard  from  Augus- 
tine just  now.  Old  Richard,  Caeser's  friend,  is  steward  on 
the  boat,  &  comes  up  every  evening  to  get  marketing,  &  goes 
down  early  in  the  morning,  so  I  can  send  &  hear  from  him 
every  day  as  long  as  the  boat  lies  where  she  is.     *     *     * 

The  Battery  has  been  full  of  men  all  day,  &  Ellen  who  sits 
at  the  front  window,  now  says  a  great  many  ladies  are  going 
down  there.  Ellison  says  the  firing  is  between  Battery  Wag- 
ner, &  the  batfery^  the  enemy  took  from  us,  so  that  they  are 
turning  our  own  guns  against  us.  Your  Father  heard  that 
we  had  learned  the  range  of  their  rendezvous  &  were  throwing 
shell  into  their  midst,  destroying  many.  He  heard  600 — but 
this  is  only  a  report.  No  news  on  the  Bulletin  Board,  nothing 
reliable,  but  countless  stories  &  reports  of  all  kinds.  Many 
wounded  men  are  brought  up,  &  the  Hospitals  are  full. — 

I  feel  sometimes  so  sorry  I  let  you  go,  &  then  when  the  guns 
are  loud  &  frequent,  &  I  hear  some  startling  news,  I  am  so 
glad  you  are  in  a  place  of  safety.  I  miss  you  all  sadly.  I  can 
scarcely  believe  it  is  only  little  more  than  one  day  since  you 
left.    It  seems  so  long.     *     *     * 

Your  Father  is  awake,  &  is  clamouring  for  tea — he  wants 
to  go  &  see  Mrs.  Ben  Gibbs,  whose  little  daughter  is  ill  with 
Typhoid  Fever.     *     *     * 

Tuesday  after  3  P.  M.   [July  14.  1863. — Ed.] 

MY  DEAR  SISTERS,  &  DAUGHTERS  ALL, 

Have  just  returned  from  the  Depository,  where 

^'Tds  ^°''^'^"     the  ladies  are  busy  as  bees  getting  up  clothing  for 

Graham's  Reg't,  who,  in  losing  their  Camp,  lost 

every  thing.    The  men  at  Wagner  ask  for  cooked  food.'    They 

^On   Morris  Island,  the  day  before. — Ed. 

"The  Charleston  Mercury,  July  14,  says:  "Fighting  is  reported 
at  Battery  Wagner  and  on  James  Island.  Hospitals  in  Charleston 
are  crowded  with  wounded,  and  the  Soldier's  Relief  Association 
calls  urgently  for  cotton  to  make  beds  for  them.  They  also  ask 
for  cooked  food  to  be  sent  to  their  depository  by  one  o'clock, 
midday,  for  a  regirrient  on  Morris  Island."  See  So.  Ca.  Women 
in  the  Confederacy,  vol.  2,  p.  13, — Ed. 


654 

cant  prepare  food — have  no  water  but  what  is  brought  from 
the  City — The  Yankees  have  the  best  springs.f  Adger  is  in 
town  today,  has  taken  his  bath,  &  is  now  writing  in  the  Study. 
He  will  tell  you  all  news.  They  .have  to  send  two  miles  for 
water.  Had  a  note  from  Augustine.  They  are  out  of  water 
on  board,  &c.  I  enclose  you  his  note.  I  rec'd  Janey's  home- 
sick note  this  morning.  She  is  not  more  sick,  than  I  am  of  her 
absence.  I  wish  most  earnestly  you  had  not  been  in  such  a 
hurry  to  get  away.  Although  I  feel  you  would  have  to  go 
hence  at  some  time.  Mr.  Caldwell  is  in  town.  If  I  can,  will 
send  by  him  a  dress  of  Susan's — Cap  of  Janey's,  collar  of 
Annie's,  &  perhaps  some  silver  spoons,  ^c.  I  find  nothing 
more  here  to  send  you.  We  had  a  plate  of  figs  at  breakfast 
this  morning,  the  first.—  Oh !  how  I  wished  you  had  them ; 
McNeiir  brought  me  15  beautiful  peaches- — sent  3  to  Gus — 3 
to  Adger,  3  to  Uncle  Ellison,  &  wish  you  had  the  rest.  They 
do  look  so  beautiful  on  the  trees.  They  have  enlarged  much 
since  you  left,  &  the  colour  is  so  red  &  rich.  Every  time  I 
look  at  them,  it  is  with  regret  that  no  one  of  you  can  enjoy 
them.  I  will  send  a  couple  over  to  Becky  Courtney.  She  is 
better. 

Do  'you  see  the  newspapers  ?    If  so,  you  get  all 
Citizens  ^Yyq  ncw^s.     That  is  very  little.     All  manner  of  re- 

anxious.  _  .  -' 

ports  in  circulation.  Every  body  despondent  & 
blaming  our  Gen'l.  &  military  authorities.  'T  told  you  so." 
All  wonder  that  the  Yankees  have  been  allowed  to  land  and 
entrench  themselves  so  strongly  on  Folly  Island.  Why  did  we 
not  cut  down  the  woods*  &  drive  them  off — ^&c,  &c.     Dr.  For- 

t  The  pickets  from  Battery  Wagner  were  sent  to  the  rifle  pits 
before  day,  and  returned  after  dark;  having  but  one  canteen  of 
water  each  for  the  long,  hot  day. — Ed. 

■^Robert  McNeill,  an  Irish  member  of  Dr.  Smyth's  congregation, 
lived  with  his  family  in  rooms  in  one  of  the  back  buildings  (after- 
wards occupied  by  Ellison  Smyth's  family,)  as  gardener  and  care- 
taker. He  left  when  the  shelling  began,  but  returned  when 
Charleston  was  evacuated. — Ed. 

*The  trees  to  which  Mrs.  Smyth  alludes  were  in  a  "dense  copse- 
wood  near  the  north  end"  of  Folly  Island,  known  as  little  Folly 
Island.  (Johnson's  "Defense  of  Charleston  Harbour,"  p.  84.)  Capt. 
Langdon  Cheves,  of  the  Engineers,  "identified  with  the  building 
and  perfecting  of  Battery  Wagner"  on  Morris  Island,  had  pointed 
out  to  General  Beauregard  the  advantage  the  enemy  might  obtain 
from  this  wood;  as  sheltered  by  it,  they  could  establish  themselves 
firmly  on  this  point,  from  it  sweep  Morris  Island,  and  straight  on 
up  to  Battery  Wagner.  This  warning  was  not  heeded  at  first,  but 
finally,  about  July  8,  a  squad  of  pien,  of  whom  Dr.  Smyth's  son, 


655 

rest  was  very  blue  today ;  &  George  Robertson,  at  the  Deposi- 
tory. Mr.  S.  is  not  very  bright.  He  blames  not  the  military — 
but  the  authorities,  &  people  who  would  not  aid  them  with 
Blockade  supplies.     He  has  just  come  in  to  dinner;  says — 

runners  two  of  our  blockade  steamers  have  been  impressed 

impressed.  f^^  harbour  use ;  the  Antonica  &  Flora.  The 
design  to  attack  &  drive  oiT  the  enemy  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  wh.  has  been  debated  at  the  Council  of  War  for 
several  days,  &  wh.  was  currently  reported  thro'  the  City  w'd 
be  done,  has  been  abandoned.  Genl.  Beauregard  says  too 
hazardous,  &  costing  too  many  lives ;  so  report  says. —  "Then 
the  City  is  lost,"  says  Mr.  Rhett,  &c.  &c. —  Mr.  S.  says  bat- 
teries are  to  be  erected  on  Jas.  Island  so  as  to  command  Black 
Island  &  Morris  Island ;  in  fact,  to  drive  them  out  of  Black 
Island,  wh.  they  are  fortifying,  &  from  whence  they  could 
shell  Secessionville  &  Morris  Island.  (Dr.  Morrow's  Island.") 
Some  still  hopeful,  but  the  general  feeling  that  of  depression. 
After  dinner. —  Adger  gone,  rather  sad,  heavy  rain  coming 

Augustine,  was  one,  was  despatched  across  the  inlet  to  cut 
down  the  brush  wood.  When  they  reached  Folly  Island,  it  was 
found  that  the  axes  had  been  forgotten  and  the  party  returned. 
Had  they  had  their  axes  they  all  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
killed,  for  the  very  thing  forseen  by  Mr.  Cheves  had  been  going 
on;  and  on  July  9,  the  Federals  cut  down  the  trees,  exposing 
strong  fortifications,  from  which  they  shelled  Morris  Island  on  the 
loth;  attacking  Battery  Wagner  on  the  nth  and  12th.  Capt. 
Cheves  was  killed  by  the  first  shell  that  entered  Battery  Wagner, 
on  July  loth.  For  full  particulars,  see  Johnson's  "Defense  of 
Charleston  Harbour,"  pp.  83,  etc. — Ed. 

"The  Antonica  did  not  remain  long  in  the  Government  ser- 
vice. Her  engine  was  an  unusual  one  and  the  new  engineer  could 
not  get  any  speed  from  it.  They  finally  summoned  her  former 
engineer  and  Capt.  Adair,  who  had  before  been  second  in  com- 
mand, was  put  in  charge.  They  insisted  that  what  the  vessel 
needed  was  scraping  and  painting;  and  paint  her  they  did,  only 
working  when  anyone  was  watching,  and  putting  on  three  full 
coats  when  one  would  have  been  sufficient;  thus  detaining  her  for 
ten  days  instead  of  two,  and  so  wearing  out  the  patience  of  the 
government  officials,  that  the  Antonica  was  in  the  end  returned 
to  her  owners,  and  resumed  her  triumphant  career  as  an  unusually 
fast  and  successful  blockade  runner.  No  reference  to  books  can 
be  given  for  this,  the  authority  is  the  statement  of  Capt.  Adair 
himself,   who   seems   gloatingly  unrepentant  to  this   day. — Ed. 

•"Dr.  Morrow  was  a  surgeon  in  the  army,  an  intimate  friend  of 
the  family.  He  had  been  with  Commodore  Perry  on  the  first  trip 
to  Japan,  and  had  travelled  so  extensively  that  he  was  known  as 
"The  Ubiquitous   Morrow." — Ed. 


656 

up.  Moved  camp  yesterday,  hard  work,  &  no  comforts ;  no 
tent  fixed  for  him  to  night  to  sleep  in,  nothing  to  eat  yesterday 
but  some  smoked  fritters  &  singed  hominy.  Monday  had  no 
kitchen  erected,  had  to  cook  any  how.  Oh !  if  their  wives 
could  have  seen  them  as  they  sat  down  dirty  &  tired,  to  eat 
their  uninviting  meal.  They  both  washed  in  the  same  water 
this  morning  that  they  had  washed  in  yesterday,  both  in  the 
same  water ;  they  could  not  spare  Monday  to  go  two  miles  to 
get  more;  so  Adger  enjoyed  his  bath  to  day.  All  this  is  for 
Anne.  I  know  she  will  get  a  letter  from  him,  so  that  will 
suffice.  She  must  keep  up  a  stiff  upper  lip,  tell  her.  I  sympa- 
thize with  her,  but  poor  Mrs.  Courtney  is  worse  off,  her 
daughter  ill.  her  husband  in  the  reserves ;  so  is  every  body, 
Mr.  Geddings,  Sawyer,  Andrew  Brown,  Dewees,  every  body 
they  can  catch.  They  had  officers  at  the  gun  boat  launch,  to 
stop  the  men  as  they  came  out,  even  with  ladies,  causing  great 
commotion  &  almost  a  row.  Ellison  was  there  &  had  a  fall 
off  a  shed,  on  his  back,  wh.  makes  him  stiff  &  unable  to  move 
about  today.  Ellen  cutting  out  &  Betsy  making  shirts  for 
Graham's  Reg't.  today.  Henry  still  laid  up.  Keep  Sam  until 
further  notice.    Love  to  all.     Kisses  to  dear  little  Sarah. — 

M.  M.  A.  S. 

August,   { ?]    1863, 
Sabbath  Afternoon. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SARAH  ANN, 

*  *  It  is  so  ordered,  &  we  must  submit.  I 
Wa^  ner^^  °^  Want  you  to  acquicscc  cheerfully  &  pleasantly  in 
remaining  away  from  me,  &  to  enjoy  yourself, 
wherever  you  are ;  seek  to  make  others  happy,  &  you  will  thus 
bring  happiness  to  your  own  bosom.  Go  to  Clarendon  with 
your  Sister,  &  enjoy  all  that  is  pleasant  there,  &  back  again  to 
Columbia,  then  return  to  Pendleton  to  remain  until  fall.  God 
grant  we  may  then  be  able  to  meet  again  in  our  own  dear 
home !  I  am  writing  on  the  piazza,  because  the  mosquitoes 
are  so  annoying  in  the  room.  There  is  a  fine  breeze.  The 
three  orphan  bantams  are  playing  around  my  feet  &  occasion- 
ally hopping  on  my  dress.  *  *  As  I  write  I  hear  the  dis- 
tant booming  of  heavy  guns — not  very  frequent,  but  constantly. 
They  are  not  from  Sumter,  so  I  suppose  they  are  from  the 
enemy.  I  heard  today  that  our  men  from  Jas.  Island  shelled 
them  last  night  out  of  a  new  fort  they  were  erecting  on  Morris 
Island,  &  drove  them  back  to  the  end  of  the  Island,  but  I 
doubt  it.     Then  I  heard  that  Wagner  was  to  be  surrendered. 


657 

I  doubt  this  too,  for  your  Father  heard  last  night  that  several 
heavy  guns  had  been  sent  down,  &  that  4  or  5  Brooks  guns 
had  been  obtained  from  Richmond  thro'  Porcher  Miles,  who 
had  gone  on  for  that  purpose.  So  if  the  Fort  can  be  strength- 
ened with  heavy  guns,  that  is,  guns  wh  can  carry  large  balls  a 
long  way,  it  will  be  able  to  baffle  our  enemies  yet  for  a  long 
time.     *     *     * 


[42] 


Chapter  IV.    Life  as  a  Refugee. 

In   August.    1863,   Dr.    Smyth,   finding   their   house, 
Removal  from   ^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^        ^^      ^^^^   danger   from  the   shells  of 

Charleston.  ,  „     ,         ,        "'   ...  ,        , 

the  Jhederal  artillery,  and  the  congregation  much 
scattered,  retired  with  his  family  to  the  home  of  his  son,  Adger, 
who  had  rented  a  small  house  from  Col.  P.  S.  Kirk,  near  Sum- 
merton.  Clarendon  County;  hoping  later  to  build  a  house  of  his 
own.  Here,  Dr.  Smyth  remained  for  two  years;  and  that  he 
Dr.  Smyth  might  not  be  idle,  he,  together  with  his  intimate 
preaches  for  friend,  the  Reverend  Christopher  Gadsden,  rector 
the  Metho-  of  St.  Luke's  Church  in  Charleston,  put  himself  un- 
^'^*^-  der    the    orders    of    the    Methodist    Church.      For    the 

remainder  of  the  war  these  two  clergymen,  one  Presbyterian,  the 
other  Episcopalian,  served  a  circuit  of  three  Methodist  Churches. 
Dr.  Brackett  says:  "During  the  two  closing  years  of  the 
war  he  resided  with  the  family  of  his  eldest  son,  in  the  interior  of 
the  State,  where  there  was  no  Presbyterian  Church — but  he  could 
not  be  idle.  Precious  souls,  out  of  Christ,  were  all  around  him; 
and  so,  freely,  he  preached  the  gospel,  alternating  his  appoint- 
ments with  his  Methodist  brother  at  the  different  churches  on  his 
circuit,  and  rain  or  shine,  was  always  at  his  voluntary  post  of 
duty." 

Dr.  Smyth  once  preached  in  a  Baptist  Church  on  Communion 
Sunday  and  sat  as  a  spectator  in  the  pulpit,  not  asked  to  partake 
of  the  sacrament. 

Owing  to  these  engagements.  Dr.  Smyth  drove  constantly 
through  the  country,  and  formed  the  habit  of  collecting  all  the 
promising  looking  light-wood  knots  in  the  back  of  his  buggy,  for 
the  fire  was  almost  the  only  illumination  his  family  had  at  night; 
two  little  negro  boys,  one  of  them  called  Bacchus,  the  other 
Remus,  being  continually  busied  in  keeping  up  the  blaze.  Every- 
one who  has  had  to  do  with  the  lightwood  knot  in  its  native  state, 
knows  that  it  is  covered  with  soot  from  the  woods-fires  through 
which  it  has  passed;  so  when  Dr.  Smyth  arrived  at  church,  his 
hands  were  regularly  inspected  by  his  wife,  that  he  might  not 
startle  the  congregation  by  uplifting  a  pair  of  black  palms  in  fer- 
vent prayer. — Editor. 

DEAREST  MOTHER, 

I  am  so  glad  that  Father  &  yourself  have  de- 

From^  Adger     (,j^g^  ^q  ^q      'pj^g  suspense  was  terrible  last  night 

as  I  lay  awake,  not  knowing  at  what  moment  the 

shelling^    might    again    commence,    and    what    might    be    the 

result.     *     * 

^Lhe  shelling  of  Charleston  had  begun  on  Aug.  12,  1863.  See 
So.  Ca.  Women  in  the  Confederacy,  vol.  2,  p.  19. 

The    Mercury    of    October,    1863,    speaks    of   the    pigeons    found 


659 

The  depar-  ^  ^ill  hope  ( D.  V.)  to  get  up  to  town  on  Thurs- 

ture  from  day  &  help  you  pack  the  car,  and  if  possible,  stay 
Charleston.  ^^  ggg  y^^  ^^  ^^  Friday  morning.  I  have  written 
Annie  two  different  letters  :  one  is  gone  by  the  mail  at  one 
o'clock,  the  other  by  Ellison ;  so  I  feel  sure  she  will  get  your 
letters  in  time.  There  will  be  two  carriages  &  four  waggons 
to  meet  you.     *     *     * 

I  think,  if  possible,  you  had  better  take  the  cow,  as  she  can 
be  led  behind  the  waggon.  By  all  means  take  all  the  ducks  and 
turkeys,  for  we  will  very  seldom  go  to  town.  Take  all  your 
soap  and  starch,  except  a  little. 

Tell  Father  I  think  he  has  decided  wisely  &  that  he  will 
receive  a  warm  welcome  from  Annie,  &  I  hope,  be  as  com- 
fortable as  possible.  He  will  have  a  large  field  for  doing  good, 
as  he  can  be  chaplain  to  the  neighbourhood.     *     *     * 

God  bless  and  shield  you  all. 

Love  to  Father  and  all. 

Affectly, 

ADGER. 

■P.  S.     What  about  Gus?     Can  Ellison  get  a  message  sent 
him  by  the  Signal  Corps  to  come  up? 

Augustine  Smythe  to  Miss   Susan  Adger. 

C.  S.  STR.  PALMETTO  STATE. 

^"^^S  30,  1863  Sunday  night. 
DEAR  AUNTIE, 

Life   on  ^ 

board  the  *     *     The  table  has  at  last  been  put  down  in 

Palmetto  |-j^g   ward   room  and   I   can  write   in   peace.     Up 

above  &  even  here  however  there  is  considerable 
bustle  &  excitement,  preparing  for  a  trip  to  Morris  Island  in 
the  small  boats.  *  *  This  night-boating  is  very  hard  as  it 
has  to  be  done  in  all  weathers,  and  often  under  fire.  Still  it 
is  the  only  way  of  re-enforcing  our  men  on  the  Island,  &  sup- 
plying them  with  Commissary  &  ordnance  stores. 

Word  has  just  come  over  from  Commodore  Tucker,  not  to  let 
the  men  go  down  in  the  small  boats,  but  keep  them  on  board. 
This  is  in  anticipation  of  an  attempt  by  the  Monitors  to  run 
in  during  the  night,  and  shell  Morris  Island  and  the  city,  I 

dead  and  dying  in  the  streets,  having  been  unable  to  take  rest  or 
food  from  fright  at  the  heavy  firing.  See  So.  Ca.  Women  in  the 
Confederacy,  vol.  2,  p.  20. 

The  Soldiers'  Relief  Association  was  obliged,  in  the  Autumn 
of  1863,  to  move  its  headquarters  up  town  to  the  Orphan  House, 
to  escape  the  shelling. — Ed. 


660 

think.  *  *  We  are  now  quite  practiced  in  getting  up  in  a 
hurry.  I,  &  several  of  the  ofificers,  sleep  in  hammocks  swung 
on  the  gun  deck,  &  when  the  alarm  is  given  we  must  be  up  & 
dressed,  our  hammocks  stowed  away  below,  &  we  ready  for 
duty  in  five  minutes.  *  *  I,  in  particular,  am  frequently 
called  up  for  signallingf  at  any  time  of  the  night.  *  *  It 
has  been  raining  all  day,  just  a  day  to  make  one  long  for  home, 
*  *  but  "it  cant  be  did."  *  *  More  orders.  No  one  al- 
lowed to  sleep  on  the  gun-deck  tonight.  *  *  Something  is 
in  the  wind,  an  expected  attack.' 

Mother  &  Father  left  town  on  Friday  for  Clarendon,  where 
they  expect  to  spend  the  Winter  unless  disturbed  by  the 
Yankees.  They  were  very  much  favored,  as  Father  got  a  car 
&  carried  his  buggy,  horse,  cow,  &  some  baggage.  Adger 
brought  up  his  waggons  &.  helped  them  move ;  &  then,  through 
Father  and  Gen.  Beauregard,  got  a  furlough  of  seven  days. 
This  is  a  secret  though.  Thus  they  will  get  to  Clarendon  very 
comfortably  in  comparison,  but  oh,  how  uncomfortably  in 
reality!  Poor  Mother,  my  heart  bleeds  for  her.  It  was  a 
heavy  trial  and  affliction  to  her  to  leave  home.  *  *  She 
did  not  want  to  leave  us  boys,  and  me  in  particular,  as  I  was 
by  myself.  *  *  It  was  very  much  better  for  her  to  go.  I 
was  very  much  troubled  when  she  was  in  the  city  &  the  Yan- 
kees shelling  it,"*  though  she  was  ready  to  risk  it  all,  only  to 
stay.  I  wish  very  much  that  you  and  Aunt  Janey  would  go 
and  stay  with  her.     "^^     ^'     * 

Your  affectionate  nephew. 

AUGUSTINE. 

t"On  board  the  monitor  Keokuk  a  Federal  signal  code  was 
found.  Armed  with  this,  one  of  the  Confederate  Signal  Corps, 
dressed  in  a  blue  jacket,  was  locked  up  as  a  fellow-prisoner  with 
one  of  the  Federal  Signal  Corps;  from  him  he  learned  it  per- 
fectly."    Maj.  R.   C.   Gilchrist.— Ed. 

'A  terrific  night  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  took  place  on  the  ist  of 
September  and  the  shelling  was  very  heavy  on  Aug.  30th.  Morris 
Island  was  evacuated  on  September  7th.  See  Maj.  Gilchrist's  ac- 
count, Charleston  Year  Book,  1884;  and  Johnson's  "Defence  of 
Charleston   Harbour." — Ed. 

^The  shells  fell  so  thickly  in  that  part  of  Charleston,  that 
scarcely  a  human  being  remained  in  any  of  the  houses.  Grass 
grew  thick  in  the  streets,  and  rabbits  and  foxes  took  possession 
of  the  deserted  gardens.  Augustine  continued  to  sleep  in  the  old 
house  alone,  whenever  he  was  in  Charleston,  and  was  there  con- 
stantly in  '64,  when  he  was  on  duty  in  St.  Michael's  steeple.  One 
day  the  pipe  in  his  mouth  was  broken  ofif  by  a  fragment  from  an 
exploding  shell. 

The   lower   part    of  the   city   being   so    dangerous,    most   of   the 


661 

From  Augustine   Smythe   to   Miss   Susan  Adger. 

FORT  SUMTER,  Dec  6,763. 
MY  DEAR  AUNTY, 

*     *     I  have  been  down  here  now  for  10  days^ 
I  em    -ort     ^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  £^^  ^  ^^^  davs  loneer,  tho'  I  dont  think 

bumter.  -  -  .        " 

so.  *  *  I  had  quite  a  narrow  escape  on  Friday 
last.  Middleton,'  the  other  Signal  Corps  officer,  &  myself, 
were  walking  along  what  remains  of  the  parapet  of  the  Gorge, 
or  South  wall,  about  dusk,  at  a  time  when  the  Yankees  are 
always  quiet. —  The  wall  on  the  inside  is  perpendicular  &  per- 
fect, without  any  ledge,  or  piazza  at  all,  save  at  the  West  end ; 
where  are  the  remains  of  an  old  shed  extending  about  6  ft.  We 
had  just  got  to  this  shed,  when  the  Yankees,  who  must  have 
seen  us,  sent  a  Parrot  shell  at  us.  We  saw  it  coming  & 
jumped  down  on  the  shed  just  in  the  nick  of  time ;  for  it 
struck  the  parapet  just  above  us  &  burst,  covering  us  with  dust 
and  bricks,  and  nearly  blinding  us  with  the  glare  of  the  powder. 
We  came  down  after  that,  you  may  depend.  This  is  about 
the  closest  yet.  *  *  I  am  in  command  of  a  squad  armed 
with  Hand  Grenades  &  Greek  Fire,  posted  on  the  S.  E.  and 
S.  W.  angles  of  the  parapet,  the  highest  points  in  the  Fort 
This  is  in  addition  to  my  Signal  duties  which  are  very  light. 
*     '■'     Love  to  Aunt  Sue  and  all  at  Woodburn. 

Your  affectionate  nephew, 

AUGUSTINE 


Presbyterians  left  in  Charleston,  joined  with  the  Huguenot  con- 
gregation under  their  minister,  Mr.  Peck,  in  holding  service  at 
Second  Church,  until  it  was  struck,  when  they  took  refuge  in  the 
Orphan  Chapel.  The  church  had  been  dismantled,  even  the  has- 
socks and  cushions  being  hid  in  the  steeple,  but  the  explosion 
damaged  the  organ  and  fragments  of  broken  shell  have  been  found 
in  the  graveyard,  especially  around  the  Smyth  lot.  Dr.  Girardeau 
held  services  in  the  church  immediately  after  the  war  by  agree- 
ment with  Dr.  Smyth,  who  had  not  yet  returned.  See  Dr.  Adger's 
"My   Life  and  Times,"  p.    176. — Ed. 

■"A  terrible  bombardment  of  Sumter  had  taken  place  on  the 
5th.— Ed. 

■'Augustine's  college  friend,  Bentivoglio  Middleton,  called 
"Benti."  He  went  back  after  the  war  to  his  Italian  relatives, 
fought  under  Garibaldi,  and  still  lives  in  Rome,  as  the  Count 
Bentivoglio. — Ed. 


662 

Augustine   Smythe  to   Miss   Susan  Adger,   Columbia,  S.   C. 

DILLS  BLUFF,,  JAMES  ISLAND, 

MY  DEAR  AUNTIE,  ^^^'^^^  ^'  ^^4- 

*     *     The  house,  No  36,"  has  been  struck  again. 
It  m  reac      jj^^   ^^^^i  came  through  the  roof  into  the   same 

of   the   guns.  ° 

room  as  the  other  &  burst  in  your  room,  doing 
considerably  more  damage  than  the  first,  but  71  ot  breaking  the 
mirrors.  .  The  pieces  were  scattered  all  around,  some  sticking 
in  the  wall  which  I  especially  charged  Robt  not  to  take  out; 
but  to  leave  in  for  Aunt  Janey's  satisfaction,  to  show  after 
the  war.  *  *  The  fire  the  other  day  burnt  down  the  Bow- 
en's  kitchen,  etc.,  and  they  had  hard  work  to  save  No.  34.     * 

I  am  here  for  the  present  to  relieve  a  man  at  this  station,  & 
find  it  quite  pleasant,  as  Mass  Joe  &  Adger  are  very  close  & 
I  mess  with  them.     *     *     * 

Will  not  you  and  Sarah  Annie,  as  well  as  Aunt  Janie  &  Sue, 
call  on  Miss  McCord?  I  am  sure  she  will  be  pleased  to  see 
you,  &  I  want  you  to  know  her  yourself.     *     *     * 

Your  affectionate  nephew, 

AUGUSTINE. 

An    old    manuscript    sermon,    unpublished    because 
Union   of  incomplete,    dated    "Log    Cabin    Retreat,    Clarendon, 

Southern  S.    C,    1864,"    shows    that    in    spite    of    ill-health    and 

Presbyterians,  banishment,  Dr.  Smyth's  heart  was  with  the  Presby- 
terian Church  and  her  problems.  The  subject 
is  the  Atonement,  and  a  note  states  that  it  was  suggested  by  the 
proposed  plan  of  union  with  the  United  Synod:  it  shows  the 
danger  of  union  with  those  who  hold  theories  contradictory  to  the 
Presbyterian  Standards.  When  the  churches  were  divided  by  the 
zeal  of  the  North  for  the  Union,  the  small  number,  of  Southern 
churches  connected  with  the  New  School  Assembly,  in  1858,  formed 
themselves  into  the  United  Synod  of  the  South.  This  Synod  was 
anxious  to  become  a  part  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church 
formed  from  the  Old  School  Assembly;  and  in  1863  the  matter 
was  taken  into  consideration.  It  was  opposed  by  many,  including 
among  them  that  prince  of  the  church.  Dr.  B.  M.  Palmer,  of  New 
Orleans,  who  thought,  as  did  Dr.  Smyth,  that  New  School  laxity 
was  not  a  desirable  factor  to  introduce  into  the  church.  The 
union  was  however  effected  in  May,  1864,  at  the  General  Assembly, 
in  Charlotte,  N.  C,  it  having  been  ascertained  that  there  were  only 
three  unsound  men  in  the  Synod.  Dr.  John  Adger  was  also  a 
delegate  and  opposed  the  union.  (See  Life  and  Letters  of  Ben- 
jamin M.  Palmer,  pp.  274,  etc.  Also  Dr.  Hoge's  account,  in  "Pres- 
byterians," p.  491.) 

°The  residence  of  the  Misses  Adger  in  Meeting  Street. — Ed. 


663 

At  the  bottom  0|f  the  title  page  of  Dr.  Smyth's  sermon  is  this 
note,  "Written  in  very  great  nervousness,  with  very  imperfect 
light  and  pens,  often  in  much  pain  (as  now),  and  in  time  between 
sermonizing,   exercising,  etc." 

Dr.  Smyth  published  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Review  of 
April,  1864,  an  article  on  "The  Character  and  Conditions  of  Lib- 
erty." This  may  not  seem  worth  noting,  but  it  is  a  remarkable 
fact  in  consideration  of  conditions  surrounding  author,  editor,  and 
printer. — Editor. 

Augustine  writes  to  his  aunt.   Miss  Janey  Adger: — 

April  3,  1864. 
"ST.  MICHAEL'S  STEEPLE  Sunday  morning. 
Life  in  St.  Here  I  am,  in  church  it  is  true  and  in  one  of  the 

Michael's  high  scats'  of  the  synagogue  to  boot,  but  I  have 

Steeple.  ^^  ]-,g   prcachcr,   choir,   congregation,   and   sexton 

too  for  that  matter,  for  there  is  not  a  soul  here  but  m3^self. 
Still  it  is  such  a  lovely  day  and  such  a  beautiful  view  all  around 
that  it  is  no  hardship  to  be  up  here  by  myself.  I  have  to  stop 
at  the  end  of  nearly  every  sentence  to  take  a  survey  of  things 
outside  and  jot  down  any  movement  to  be  reported  to  Gen. 
Beauregard.  As  I  cant  get  to  Virginia  I  have  done  the  next 
best  thing  and  got  into  the  most  responsible  post  in  the  Signal 
Corps  here  and  entre  nous  the  most  dangerous  when  they  are 
shelling,  for  they  avowedly  make  this  steeple  their  mark  when 
firing  and  have  made  some  close  shots.  I  only  hope  they  will 
continue  to  miss  it  for  tho'  there  may  be  some  'glory'  there 
will  be  very  little  pleasure  in  tumbling  down  with  the  steeple. 
Still  the  risk  makes  up  the  excitement."  [The  rest  of  the 
letter  is  full  of  his  recent  engagement. — Ed.] 

In  1864  a  balloon  was  constructed  by  the  Signal  Corps,  in  the 
hope  of  getting  a  better  view  of  the  blockading  fleet  than  could  be 
obtained  from  St.  Michael's  Steeple.  The  balloon  was  made  of 
silk,  and  filled  with  gas  at  the  gas  works  on  Charlotte  Street. 
Capt.  Joseph  Manigault,  commanding  the  Signal  Corps,  chose 
Augustine  Smythe,  as  his  best  man,  to  make  the  ascension.  The 
latter  worked  out  a  system,  by  which,  using  three  large  balls,  a 
foot  or  so  in  diameter  and  made  of  light  material,  to  be  hung  from 
the  car  of  the  balloon,  he  could  give  a.ny  information  he  obtained 
to  those  on  the  ground.  But  all  came  to  naught,  as  the  balloon  was 
not   strong  enough   and  burst   during  the   inflation. — Editor. 

'The  lower  balcony  was  boarded  in  for  a  shelter  for  the  signal 
service  men.  Here  Augustine's  companion  was  a  little  black  ter- 
rier.  Pic,  the  property  of  "Miss  Lou." — Ed. 


664 

Adger  Smyth  to  his  mother;  from  the  Camp  in  the  trenches  of 
Petersburg,  where  he  had  just  been  appointed  Quarter-Master 
Sergeant. — Ed. 

June  12,  1864. 

Life  in  the  ^^    ^^^    "^t    more    than    250   yards    from    the 

trenches  of       Yankees,  &  can  plainly  see  and  hear  them.  *  *  * 

Petersburg.  j^  jg  ^^  awfully  dirty  life  here  and  vermin  of 

all  kinds  about.     We  have  to  sleep,  eat,  and  sit  right  in  the 

dirt  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  mules,  whose  slightest  motion 

throws  up  clouds  of  the  finest  dust.     *     *     We  bathe  at  every 

chance  we   have,   and   have  all   our  clothes   boiled   when   we 

change." 

Not  long  after  Adger  Smyth  and  his  Uncle  Elli- 
H^^e'^^^Sh"^  son  Adger  had  been  transferred  to  Virginia,  the 
battle  of  Hawe's  Shop^  took  place,  on  May  28,  1864, 
and  they  were  told  that  among  the  missing  wounded  was  James 
Adger,  Mrs.  Smyth's  nephew.  The  Charleston  Light  Dragoons, 
a  part  0[f  Gen.  Hampton's  command,  had  met  with  severe  losses; 
of  forty-seven  men,  ten  were  killed,  eight  wounded,  and  one 
captured.  James  Adger  and  his  friend,  Arthur  Robinson,  a  son 
of  the  Robinson  family  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  and  a 
college-mate  of  Augustine  Smythe,  were  sheltered  behind  a  tree, 
when  in  spite  of  care  they  were  reached  by  one  bullet,  which 
killed  young  Robinson  and  wounded  James  Adger  so  severely 
in  the  skull  as  to  seriously  affect  his  health  and  ultimately  cause 
his  death."  He  was  carried,  with  other  wounded,  to  Richmond, 
and  was  searched  for  through  many  hospitals  by  Adger  Smyth; 
who  considers  the  five  or  six  days  spent  in  wandering  through 
wards  filled  with  the  most  frightful  suffering  his  most  terrible 
experience  of  the  war. — Editor. 

Adger  Smyth  to  his   Mother. 

PETERSBURG  VA.  July  16/64. 
*     *     Just  for  curiosity,  measure  off   1/3  of  a 
So  diers  pouud  of  bacou,  &  then  boil  it,  &  vou  will  see  how 

rations.  J^  '  _  ^ 

much  meat  we  had  to  live  on  all  day ;  that,  &  a 
pint  and  a  quarter  of  meal.  *  *  And  the  dirt  in  which  we 
eat  &  sleep  &  live  is  awful.  We  have  not  had  rain  here  for 
nearly  ten  weeks,  the  dust  is  nearly  six  inches  deep,  and  almost 
unpalpable ;  and  flies  in  clouds.  But  we  are  infinitely  better 
off  than  the  poor  fellows  in  the  trenches,  who  not  only  have 
hard  fare  and  filth  to  contend  with,  but  are  covered  with  ver- 
min and  exposed  every  moment  to  lose  their  lives.     *     *     * 

'Hampton  and  his   Cavalry.     Wells,  p.   160. — Ed. 

"History  of  the  Charleston  Light  Dragoons.     Wells,  p.  43. — Ed. 


665 

I  am  sorry  for  Father's  loss  about  Burt,  but  am 
A  runaway        ^^     j^^|  j^^  -^  ^^^  ^£  ^j^^  yard.     I  am  sorry  now 

negro.  •='  _  _       .  -'       ,  •' 

we  did  not  insist  upon  his  being  sent  down  to  the 
plantation.  Father  ought  to  advertise  him.  I  have  ordered 
Monday  to  look  out  for  him  &  will  keep  a  look  out  myself.' 

I  am  so  glad  to  hear  Father  keeps  well  &  is 
hlaitif'"^"'"'  ^^^^  ^°  preach  often,  but  I  fear  the  hot  weather 
will  exhaust  him  very  much  without  the  cool  salt 
breeze  to  refresh  him.  How  does  he  stand  it?  Do  give  him 
my  very  best  love,  &  tell  him  I  think  of  him  often  &  pray 
often  for  him,  &  that  we  may  all  get  home  once  more  to- 
gether. 

Gus  wrote  me  about  the  house  being  strvick."  It  has  escaped 
a  long  time,  &  even  now,  according  to  his  account,  it  is  not 
much  damaged.  We  ought  to  be  so  thankful  that  Gus  was 
not  hurt,  &  our  house  itself  so  little  changed. 

You  are  worried  about  Augustine's  pay.  No  one  is  being 
paid  now.  I  have  not  received  a  cent  of  money  since  last 
August,  &  very  few  here  have  a  cent  in  their  pockets  &  are 
far  from  home.  Gus  is  fortunate  in  being  so  near  home,  &  I 
hope  he  will  remain  there.  I  would  write  for  some  money  to 
be  sent  me,  but  the  mails  are  so  uncertain,  &  do  not  like  to  risk 
it.  Everything  here  is  enormously  high,  chickens  with  hardly 
any  feathers  on  are  worth  $12.00,  Ducks  $18.00,  &  Geese 
$25.00;  flour  &  rice  $2.00  a  pound.     *     *     * 

Mrs.  Smyth  continued  her  work  for  the  Soldiers' 
The  commis-  Relief  Association  during  her  absence  from  Charles- 
sary  depart-  ^^^  q^  ^vXy  /,  1864,  acknowledgment  is  made 
Oq  ^.j^  through    the    Mercury    of    $365.00    from    the    ladies    of 

Summerton,    received    through    Mrs.    Thomas    Smyth.^ 
A  letter  to  her  from  Adger  Smyth,  dated  July  23,  1864,  from  the 
camp  at  Petersburg,  Virginia,  says: — 

"We  are  getting  on  very  comfortably  now  since  the  receipt 
of  Aunt  Sue's  box  and  basket,  and  have  felt  so  much  more 
civilized,  that  we  have  made  a  table,  &  eat  more  like  human 


"Burt  was  one  of  Dr.  Smyth's  many  body-servants  or  boys.  The 
Doctor  was  particular  and  irascible,  as  well  as  needing  his  servant 
in  call  night  and  day.  This  boy  was  caught  by  the  sheriff,  and 
at  Adger  Smyth's  desire,  sold  to  a  neighbour;  because  in  his 
opinion,  once  a  run-away,  always  a  runaway.  The  amount  received 
for  Burt  was  $4,500;  of  course  in  Confederate  money. — Ed. 

"The  house  at  No.  12  Meeting  Street  was  struck  by  shells  three 
times,  but  not  seriously  hurt. — Ed. 

'So.  Ca.  Women  in  the  Confederacy,  v.ol.  2,  p.  68. — Ed. 


666 

beings  than  when  we  had  only  corn-bread  and  bacon,  and  eat 
it  off  the  ground.  *  *  Uncle  Joe  and  Andrew  have  both 
been  sick.     *     * 

I  am  anxious  to  hear  again  from  Gus,  as  he 

Patriotism.  .        ,  ,  111  tt      •  r       1 

was  quite  blue  when  he  last  wrote.  He  is  a  fool- 
ish fellow  about  some  things  and  so  I  wrote  him.  A  few  weeks 
of  trench  life  here  would  take  the  starch  out  of  him  and  make 
him  long  to  be  back  in  St  Michael's  Steeple.  *  *  No  one, 
my  dearest  Mother,  can  long  more  earnestly  for  peace  than  I 
do,  and  no  one  can  be  sicker  of  the  war;  but  I  would  rather 
endure  ten  years  more  of  this  life  we  are  now  leading*  than  go 
back  into  the  Union  as  it  was,  or  in  any  way  be  identified  with 
such  people  as  the  Yankees  have  shewn  themselves  to  be. 
Peace,  if  purchased  by  reunion  with  them,  would  be  infinitely 
worse  than  death." 


Adger  Smyth  writes  to  his  brother,  Augustine: — 

'■'PETERSBURG.  VIRGINIA,  Aug  14,  1864. 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  enjoyed  a  visit  home,  and  hope 
you  will  be  able  to  pay  your  visit  in  September  and  take  Miss 
Lou  [Augustine's  fiancee.— Ed.]  with  you.  I  know  you  were 
delighted  with  Sarah  Ragin  and  my  boy."  [Adger's  two  chil- 
dren.— Ed.] 

From    the    beginning    of    the    war,    provisions    had 
Scarcity    of        j^^^^^   difficult   to   obtain.     The   plantations   in    Pendle- 

food   for   man  i    /-i  i  i  i  i  i    j 

and  beast  ^°'^  ^""  Clarendon  became  more  and  more  depended 

upon  for  supplies  for  the  soldiers  of  the  family. 
Augustine  also  had  vegetables  in  the  garden,  raised  by  old  Philip. 
The  family  in  Clarendon  was  forced  to  watch  the  plantation  sup- 
plies carefully,  but  Adger  Smyth  arranged  by  letter,  that  "old 
Jim,"  Dr.  Smyth's  horse,  should  contiue  to  have  twenty-two 
ears  of  corn  a  day,  though  "Pet,"  the  Doctor's  small  horse,  could 
only  have  fifteen.  The  working  horses  could  only  be  given  eleven, 
while  the  mares  with  colts  received  eight.  There  was  also  some 
rice  in  the  house  in  Clarendon,  a  little  coffee,  sugar,  and  flour, 
but  corn  meal,  hominy,  and  bacon  were  their  food  for  the  rest  of 
the  war. 

Adger    Smyth         Adger    Smyth    finally    became    so    ill    in    Virginia, 

returns   home    that  he  returned  to  his  family,  and  was  never  fit  for 

ill-  army   life   again. — Editor. 


*See  "Memoirs  of  the  War  of  Secession"  by  Gen.  Johnson 
Hagood,  p.  270;  and  especially  an  extract  from  the  diary  of  Lieut. 
Mofifett,  p.  286,  "It  was  endurance  without  relief,  etc." — Ed. 


667 

Three  letters  from  Mrs.  Smyth  to  her  son,  Augustine,  written 
from  Summerton. 

Sunday  P.  M. 
MY  DEAR  SON,  Sep  ii— 1864. 

Ellison  Smyth  While  the  othcrs  are  at  church,  I  will  try  & 
preparing  for  write  you  a  fcw  Hncs.  I  havc  got  very  low  down, 
service.  j^y  ^^^^  hoj ,  &  I  can't  rally  &  get  the  steam  up 

again.  I  can't  be  as  I  was  a  little  while  ago.  These  4  or  5 
days  that  we  have  been  busy  getting  Ellison  ready,  I  have 
tried  to  rouse  up,  but  it  has  been  with  great  effort.  He  leaves 
us  in  the  morning.  I  cut  up  a  dark  calico  dress  of  Janey's  & 
made  him  3  dark  shirts ;  Sister  had  given  him  a  pair  of  home- 
spun pants,  wh.  were  just  made,  &  we  made  him  a  knapsack 
&  a  haversack  of  that  English  oil  cloth  that  was  used  to  wrap 
the  goods ;  it  is  very  poor,  but  we  lined  it  with  strong  home- 
spun, &  it  was  all  we  had.  He  may  not  be  kept  out  very  long, 
some  say  a  few  weeks,  perhaps  months — others  that  they  are 
in  for  the  War.  It  is  a  gr^eat  trial,  a  very  great  trial  to  me. 
I  know  not  how  I  will  stand  it —  He  is  so  young,  so  childlike. 
— Mr.  Briggs  promises  to  keep  him  in  his  mess  &  to  take  every 
care  of  him ;  he  will  be  kind  to  him,  in  case  of  sickness^&c. 
&c.  My  poor  boy — he  will  soon  be  homesick  &  want  to  be  with 
his  Mother.  Your  Father  has  rallied  somewhat,  but  he  has 
not  got  back  to  his  former  state.  He  cant  read, 
Dr      myth       ^^^^^  ^^^^  effort  confuscs  his  brain,   so  vr  Sisters 

feeble.  -  .  .  - 

take  it  by  turn  to  read  to  him,  &  in  the  evening 
we  talk  to  him  &  thus  put  in  the  time  for  him.  It  was  his  turn 
to  preach  here  this  morning,  but  he  said  he  hardly  felt  able,  & 
was  very  easily  persuaded  to  decline  the  appointment ;  &  Janey 
read  to  him  at  home.  He  drives  out  one  of  Adger's  mules. 
Sam  goes  with  him,  who  says  he  sleeps  all  the  time ;  &  then 
he  goes  on  mule  back  just  at  dusk,  not  going,  he  says,  out  of  a 
walk  all  the  time.  He  is  cheerful,  not  at  all  despondent  about 
himself.  Oh  this  sad  news  from  Atlanta  has  put  back  all  hopes 
of  peace  &  getting  home  this  winter !  It  is  so  sad  &  dreary  to 
look  forward,  the  future  is  dark  &  cheerless. 

We  got  no  letters  from  you  by  last  mail  at  all ;  none  from 
Pendleton.  Anne  heard  from  Adger ;  he  heard  thro'  Col  Ben- 
bow  of  our  going  to  the  City.  &  was  in  a  great  quandary.  I 
had  asked  her  not  to  tell  him  until  our  return,  in  order  to  save 
him  anxiety,  not  remembering  Col.  B  w'd  see  &  tell  him,  even 
before  the  mail.  We  hoped  to  hear  of  your  reception  of  the 
box  by  last  mail.  If  possible,  return  your  pattern  drawers  & 
collars,  &  Anne's  brooch,  by  the  Manigaults.  The  Dukes  may 
not  be  here  for  six  weeks  or  more — We  will  be  very  lonely 
here,  every  available  man  is  going — Drs.  preachers  &  all. 


668 

— 12  Sep. —  1864. 
Monday  Morning— 
Well  he  is  gone !   my  poor  boy ! — Mr.   Briggs 
anxktie"^'   ^   Called  &  took  him,  in  his  carriage  with  his  wife 
whom  he  leaves  at  her  Father's.     *     *     * 

I  thought  it  hard  to  part  with  you,  though  you  went  with 
your  Brother  &  Uncle,  &  I  c'd  hear  from  you  every  day — this 
poor  child  goes  alone,  &  I  know  not  where. — He  went  off  very 
cheerful  &  light  hearted. — • 

Your  Father  says  he  does  not  feel  as  well  as  usual.  He  has 
taken  cold,  has  neuralgic  pains,  sore  throat,  &  cold  in  his  head 
He  is  now  taking  his  breakfast,  Sarah  Anne  reading  to  him, 
while  Sue  writes  to  Pendleton,  &  Janey  to  her  Bro.  Adger.  I 
hope  not  to  be  disappointed  in  getting  letters  from  you  today. 
I  want  to  know  the  results  of  the  examination,  if  declared. 
I  believe  &  hope  you  have  passed  &  stood  a  good  examination," 
yet  if  it  was  not  for  disappointing  you,  I  w'd  wish  you  w'd 
remain  in  the  Signal  Corps  and  commence  study  with  Mc- 
Crady.  "  *  How  did  you  like  the  box  for  Lou?''  Did  you 
send  it  to  her?  I  left  it  to  you,  to  send  or  not  as  you  thought 
best.  I  was  very  sick,  the  day  the  girls  selected  &  arranged 
it,  &  could  not  do  much  myself. —  If  you  can't  get  a  furlough 
to  bring  her  here,  can't  you  come  for  2  or  3  days  yourself  as 
you  did  before.  I  w'd  be  so  glad  to  see  you.  &  I  think  it  w'd 
do  your  Father  good. —  H  you  can  get  a  furlough,  then  bring 
her.     '''     *     * 

May   God  bless  &  prosper  you,  my   dear  boy,   in   all  your 
plans  so  far  as  they  are  for  His  glory,  &  your  good, 
prays  ever  for  you, 

YOUR  OWN  AIOTHER. 

Mondax —  Oct  24  1864. 
MY  VERY  DEAR  SON, 

Old  Geo.  goes  up  this  eveng  with  a  carriage  to  Manchester 
to  meet  Uncle  John  &  Aunt  E.  I  hope  there  will  be  no  deten- 
tion, but  that  they  will  be  there  at  3  A.  M. — pretty  cold  time  & 

■'A  letter  signed  James  Adger,  Jr.,  dated  Columbia,  Sept.  28, 
says:  "Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  success  in  the 
Ordnance  Examination.  I  only  hope  you  will  be  as  successful 
with  your  papers  at  Richmond.  *  *  I  had  the  pleasure  of  call- 
ing on  Miss  Manning;  "Mamma"  supposed  I  was  a  cousin  of  Mr. 
Smythe,  who  "called  to  see  us  in  town,  and  it  was  music  from  the 
time  he  came  in  till  he  went  out."  Really  I  am  getting  quite  in 
conceit  of  my  cousin,  Mr.  Smythe!" — Ed. 

"Miss   Louisa  R.   McCord,   Augustine's  future   wife. — Ed. 


669 

dark,  with  no  house  to  go  into  while  Geo  is  fixing  up  carriage, 
&c. —  You  will  then  get  this  one  day  in  advance  of  our 
Wright's  Bluff  mail.  Your  last  to  Sarah  Ann  &  myself,  has 
made  me  sad  ever  since.  You  tell  me  not  to  be  anxious  about 
you.  That  is  impossible.  How  can  I  be  otherwise  when  you 
are  so  surrounded  with  dangers !  I  had  not  thought  so  much 
of  the  Fever,  as  you  had  a  pretty  severe  attack  of  it  once — 
still  you  may  have  Bilious,  or  other  forms  of  fever,  but  oh ! 
oh !  that  Steeple ! — I  do  dread  it !  You  had  escaped  so  long, 
it  had  not  been  struck,  I  began  to  feel  secure,  &  as  if  it  w'd 
escape  altogether ;  but  now  they  have  hit  it,  they  have  the 
range,  &  there  is  no  longer  any  hopes  of  escape,  any  safety 
for  you.  It  is  a  very  dangerous  position,  &  I  am  continually 
anxious  about  you,  fearing  the  whole  structure  will  come 
tumbling  down  about  you,  &  bringing  you  with  it,  all  mangled 
&  crushed.  I  watch  anxiously  to  get  any  news  from  the  city, 
to  hear  of  the  safety  of  the  Steeple.^  I  need  not  charge  you 
to  write,  for  you  have  been  so  regular  hitherto,  I  know  you 
will  continue.  Indeed  I  am  very  anxious  about  you.  Do  not 
however  conceal  any  thing  from  me,  tell  me  all,  every  thing, 
the  worst  always. —  I  would  feel  a  thousand  times  worse  if  I 
thought  you  concealed  aught,  &  I  w'd  be  sure  to  hear  it  some- 
how, somebody  w'd  tell  me. 

I  hope  to  hear  to  day  from  Sue,  &  it  may  be  from  Janey 
too — oh !  how  my  anxieties  are  divided — ^my  children  all  scat- 
tered from  me  again.  I  had  a  note  from  Miss  Lou  by  last 
mail,  returning  thanks  for  the  box,  assuring  Janey  a  welcome, 
&  replying  very  playfully  to  a  little  note  of  "Mrs.  Anne's"  en- 
closed in  Sue's  third  note.  She  is  full  of  fun  &  humor.  If 
I  was  in  spirits  I  w'd  reply  &  enclose  a  note  to  her  in  one 
Sarah  Anne  is  writing  to  Sue,  but  some  how,  I  feel  very  flat 
today.  I  must  try  &  rouse  up,  to  meet  our  guests  tomorrow. 
Oh,  how  I  wish  I  c'd  get  home,  to  my  own  house,  once  more ! 

Your  Father  preached  yesterday  to  a  larger  congregation 
than  usual  here.  He  is  pretty  well  again.  "Old  Jim"  has  been 
sent  home  by  Mr.  Benbow,  better  in  flesh,  looking  pretty  well, 
but  not  improved  in  speed  at  all.  Your  Father  drove  him 
yesterday,  but  he  has  been  so  long  now  using  a  fast  horse,  he 
is  quite  dissatisfied  with  old  Jim's  movements,  not  willing  to 
give  up  the  carriage  horse  wh.  he  has  been  using  since  old  Tom 
has  been  laid  up.  Major  Briggs  has  taken  him  down  to  his 
place  to  try  &  fatten  him.     That  ride  to  Manchester  used  him 


'St.  Michael's  was  struck  four  times,  but  only  one  shell  burst, 
in  the  chancel. — Ed. 


fi70 

up,  Monday  lacerated  his  sides,  so  they  have  all  festered  & 
skinned.  Major  B.  says  he  ought  to  have  had  lOO  lashes  for 
it!  Your  Poney  is  quite  well  again.  He  is  to  be  sent  up  for 
Ellison  on  Wednesday  to  bring  him  from  Manchester — the 
first  time  he  will  have  been  used. — 

Adger  is  better,  is  quite  interested  in  the  plantation,  as  Mr. 
Hoyle  leaves  this  week.  &  Mr.  Dixon  takes  charge.  I  hope  he 
will  do  better  next  year  than  Mr.  Hoyle  has  done ;  i.  e.  I  hope 
there  will  be  a  better  crop.  What  prospect  for  a  boy  for  your 
father?  We  did  very  well  during  the  summer,  but  now  that 
there  is  so  much  wood  to  be  cut,  there  will  be  difficulty  in  get- 
ting on.  Adger  does  not  wish  to  bring  up  another  hand  from 
the  Plantation  to  cut  wood.  Get  us  one  if  possible,  so  that  we 
may  give  as  little  trouble  as  possible  here. 

ever  your  own  MOTHER. 

P.  S.  Poor  Joe  will  be  on  the  R.  Road  again  on  his  birth 
day.  Last  year  on  this  day  he  was  sent  for  Mrs.  Ballantine 
on  the  26th — he  is  now  17. — 

Cadet  Ragin  has  just  sent  a  note  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann  for  a 
horse  back  ride  this  P.  M.,  offering  her  the  use  of  his  poney. 

Ellison,  who  had  been  at  school  in  Columbia,  un- 
t'  '®°"  der    his    old    teacher,    Mr.    Sachtleben,    was    now    old 

Smyth  s    army  ,.,...  -  , 

jjfg  enough,    in    his   opinion   at   least,   to    enter   the   army; 

and  went  into  service  in  September,  1864,  as  sergeant 
in  a  company  from  Clarendon,  gotten  up  by  Capt.  D.  J.  Bradham, 
who  had  already  lost  an  arm;  but  undiscouraged,  went  with  his 
handful  of  young  recruits  to  the  44th  regiment  of  South  Carolina 
Militia,  under  Col.  A.  D.  Goodwin,  at  Hamburg,  S.  C. 

To  make  this  journey,  the  troops  passed  through  Charleston, 
and  as  Ellison,  with  John  Dent  as  body-servant,  looked  out  at  the 
familiar  streets,  he  spied  his  brother  Augustine,  come  on  horse-- 
back  to  see  him  if  possible.  The  boy  on  the  slowly  moving  train 
came  out  to  the  boy  from  St.  Michael's  steeple,  and  home  news 
was  exchanged  while  they  trotted  along,  until  the  bridge  across 
the  Ashley,  on  which  the  Savannah  train  crossed  in  those  days, 
was  reached,  and  the  brothers  parted. 

From  Hamburg  the  regiment  was  sent  to  Grahamville,  S.  C, 
to  guard  the  Savannah  railroad,  which  the  Northern  troops,  half 
of   them   coloured,   were   making  a   series   of  attempts   to   destroy. 

They  were  repulsed  at  this  time  by  the  Confederates 
The  battle   of    ^^   ^^^   battle    of   Honey   Hill,   and   retreated   to   their 

Honey    Hill.  ,  „  _, . 

gunboats   on   Stono   River. 

After   continuing  with   the   regiment   for  a   time,    Ellison   Smyth 

was  transferred  to  the  Arsenal  Academy  Cadets,  which  had  been 

in    the    fight    at    Pocotaligo.      They   were    the    fourth    class    of   the 

South   Carolina  Military  Academy;  the  three  higher  classes  being 

known  as  the  Citadel  Cadets.     Ellison  was  now  Second  Sergeant, 


671 

the    3d    Cadet    officer    in    the    battalion,    which    was    kept    on    very 
necessary  guard   duty,   maintaining  order   in   Columbia   until   Sher- 
man's approach;  when  they  were  placed  in  charge  of 
General  ^    small    battery    near    the     Congaree    bridge,    which 

they  burned  before  they  retired,  under  heavy  fire,  on 
the  night  of  the  15th  of  February.* 

During  this  stay  in  Columbia,  as  before,  Ellison  Smyth  was  a 
constant  visitor  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  McCord,  whose  daughter  was 
engaged  to  Augustine  Smythe,  and  who  having  lost  her  only  son 
in  the  war,  was  devoted  in  her  care  of  any  young  soldier,  doing 
all  she  could  for  Ellison  and  iilling  his  haversack  with  what  food 
she  had,  chiefly  sweet  potatoes,  when  -the  exhausted  young  fellow 
came  down  to  tell  them  he  was  leaving.  He  was  one  of  the  tallest 
boys  in  the  company  and  as  thin  as  a  match,  having  completely 
outgrown  his  strength. 

The  Arsenal  Cadets"  were  carried  chiefly  on  foot 
The  Arsenal  ^^^  partly  by  railroad,  into  North  Carolina  and  back 
to  Spartanburg,  w)here  after  being  much  compli- 
mented on  their  soldierly  record,  they  were  encamped  with  the 
Zouave  Cadets,  whose  commander,  Capt.  Chichester,  having  been 
disabled  at  Battery  Wagner,  had  been  commissioned  by  Gov. 
Magrath  to  establish  a  Camp  of  Instruction.  Here  the  cadets 
remained  for  a  time,  next  going  into  camp  at  Finlay's  bridge,  near 
Greenville;  where  they  lived  in  log  huts  of  their  own  building. 

On    May    i,   hearing   of  the   approach   from   Tenn- 
btoneman  s        essee    of    Stoneman's    raiders,   the   two    companies    of 

Raiders.  ,  ,       ,  .,,„.,, 

cadets,     153    strong,    marched    out    with    the    Citadel 

flag,  and  at  Williamston  were  attacked  by  the  raiders  and  suc- 
cessfully repelled  them;  afterwards  going  into  camp  at  Ninety-six 
on  May  9,  being  then  the  only  organized  body  in  arms  in  the 
State,  and  probably.  Col  Thomas  says,  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Citadel  fired  the  first  shot  and  the  Arsenal  the  last  of  the  war. 
Their  discipline  remained  perfect  to  the  end,  in  spite  of  irregular 
bands  of  soldiers,  proceeding  home  after  the  surrender,  constantly 
passing  the  camp. 

When  they  disbanded,  furloughed  for  sixty  days  in  hope  of 
reopening  the  Academy,  every  cadet  was  allowed  to  carry  away 
his  arms  and  accoutrements.  To  Ellison  Smyth's  share  fell  a 
pistol;  and  with  his  furlough  papers,  he  made  for  Pendleton  and 
his  uncles  for  instructions,  before  attempting  to  reach  Clarendon. 
In  Pendleton  he  again  came  into  conflict  with  Stoneman's  raiders, 


*For  accounts  of  the  burning  of  Columbia  by  Gen.  Sherman, 
see  the  ist  volume  of  South  Carolina  Women  in  the  Confederacy; 
Dr.  Porter's  "Led  on  Step  by  Step;"  and  Dr.  Adger's  "My  Life 
and  Times,"  page  336;  as  well  as  other  records  and  histories. — Ed. 

"A  full  and  most  interesting  account  of  the  movements  of  the 
Arsenal  Cadets  is  given  by  Col.  J.  P.  Thomas,  their  commander, 
in  his  History  of  the  South  Carolina  Military  Academy,  from  p. 
179  on.     Ellison  Smyth's  name  appears  in  a  list  on  p.  277. — Ed. 


672 

who  visited  the  family  plantations^  and  many  others  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Ellison,  James  Adger,  the  Dragoon,  and  John 
Adger,  Dr.  Adger's  fifteen-year  old  son,  went  out  in  a  squad  of 
seven  boys  and  old  men  under  Capt  Dufif  Calhoun.'  They  cap- 
tured eleven  prisoners  between  Anderson  and  Brown's  Ferry  and 
brought  them  back  to  Pendleton,  where  they  were  kept  until  a 
squad  of  Wheeler's  men  coming  through  on  their  way  to  Texas, 
claiming  that  they  would  surrender  the  prisoners  to  General 
Stoneman  at  Washington,  Georgia,  carried  them  off;  but  disre- 
garding their  promises  killed  them,  leaving  their  bodies  on  the 
roadside. 

As  General  Stoneman  was  sending  a  company  to  investigate 
this  matter  and  arrest  those  concerned,  Ellison  Smyth,  with 
$500.00  in  gold  from  his  Uncle  Robert  Adger,  in  a  buckskin  belt 
next  his  person;  still  in  uniform,  with  no  papers  except  his  fur- 
lough; unparoled,  and  armed  only  with  a  pistol,  left  Pendleton 
hurriedly  at  three  o'clock  one  morning,  crossing  the  Saluda  River 
at  the  spot  on  which  he  afterwards  directed  the  building  of  the 
town  of  Pelzer.  He  made  his  way  alone  to  Clarendon,  having 
dodged  three  different  bodies  0|f  Northern  soldiers  on  their  way 
to  garrison  different  towns;  being  warned  of  their  approach  by 
the  clouds  of  dust. 

When     home     was     finally     reached,     the     hungry, 
Return    home.      .,,,,,  ,  ,  ^   ,        ^  , 

tired,    plucky    boy  s    welcome    was    heartfelt,    for    the 

last  news  his  parents  had  received  was  a  report  of  his  death  in  the 
Williamston  skirmish.  He  records  modestly  that  he  was  "made 
quite  an  ado  over,"  and  considers  the  belt  of  gold  quite  as  import- 
ant as  himself.  We  can  imagine  the  prayer  the  worn,  anxious, 
earthly  father  raised  that  night  to  the  Heavenly  Father,  Whose 
help  he  sought  at  every  crises. 

Ellison  had  been  separated  so  long  from  civilization  that  for 
many  nights  he  slept  on  the  floor,  finding  a  mattress  uncomfort- 
able. He  remained  with  the  family  in  Summerton  until  their 
return  in  the  Autumn. 

Powell's    de-  ^"  ^^^  early  part  of   1865,  after  the  evacuation   of 

fense  of  his  Charleston,  when  news  of  the  approaching  surrender 
mistress.  of   the    Confederate    forces    had    not    yet    reached   the 

lower  part  of  South  Carolina,  Berkeley  and  Clarendon  Counties 
were  raided  by  the  negro  soldiers,  who  committed  great  depre- 
dations. Dr.  and  Mrs.  Smyth  and  their  three  young  daughters 
were  still  with  their  daughter-in-law,  the  wife  of  their  son 
Adger.  She  having  also  her  two  babies  to  care  for,  and  the 
negroes,  during  her  husband's  absence,  to  control  and  direct,  was 
most  anxious.     Her  only  real  dependence  among  the  negroes  was 

^See  raid  of  Rivoli,  and  Boscobel,  Dr.  Adger's  Life  and  Times, 
page  341,  etc.  Woodburn  was  not  raided  as  it  was  some  distance 
.from  the  main  road,  protected  by  thick  woods. — Ed. 

'Dr.  Adger  gives  Capt  Calhoun's  age  incorrectly.  He  was 
about  2"]  years  old. — Ed. 


673 

a  man  named  Powell,  who  had  been  especially  charged  by  his 
master  with  the  responsibility  of  looking  after  his  young  mistress 
and  her  family. 

One  morning  young  Mrs.  Smyth  went  out  to  the  kitchen, 
which,  like  all  plantation  kitchens,  was  a  separate  building,  some 
little  distance  from  the  house;  and  in  returning  noticed  one  of 
the  plantation  negroes,  who  were  not  allowed  to  come  about  the 
house,  loitering  near  the  gate.  She  spoke  positively  to  him, 
asking  his  business,  which  the  man  was  most  reluctant  to  state; 
for  the  negroes  were  already  fully  realizing  that  obedience  could 
not  be  enforced.  Still  she  persisted,  finally  extorting  from  him 
the  confession  that  the  negro  soldiers  were  approaching,  and  he 
had  come  to  make  sure  of  a  share  of  the  booty  when  the  house 
was  plundered!  The  poor  girl,  for  she  was  very  young  in  spite 
of  her  two  babies,  ordered  the  inan  ofif  with  such  determination 
that  he  slunk  away;  while  she  fled  into  her  bedroom,  where  she 
wept  with  helplessness  and  dread.  Summoning  her  courage,  out 
she  came  again,  to  find  Powell  sitting  on  the  back  steps;  but  with 
no  answer  to  her  inquiries  but  a  repeated  "Nuttin  de  matter." 
After  a  time,  however,  Powell,  leaving  his  young  mistress,  went 
to  the  front  gate  of  the  large  yard  to  meet  the  approaching  mob 
of  negro  soldiers;  and  as  each  straggling  group  approached  he 
demanded,  "What  you  comin'  here  for?  Dis  all  belong  to  me!" 
This  so  impressed  the  lawless  rascals  that  they  all  passed  by  with- 
out harming  anything  on  the  place,  though  they  did  fearful  damage 
in  the  neighbourhood,  especially  at  Mr.  Duke's  place.  As  Dr. 
Smyth  had  almost  all  his  family  possessions  stored  in  the  house 
he  was  saved  from  a  great  pecuniary  loss,  as  well  as  the  unspeak- 
able horrors  which  might  have  taken  place  in  such  a  raid. 

This  negro  man,  Powell,  took  the  name  of  Smyth,  and  in 
radical  days  was  the  State  senator  from  Clarendon  County.  Mr. 
Adger  Smyth  has  a  group  of  portraits  of  the  radical  members  of 
the  legislature,  with  two  negroes,  one  of  them  Powell,  in  the 
middle,  flanked  by  Governor  Moses  and  another  white  dignitary, 
and  surrounded  by  the  chiefly  black  faces  of  the  rest  of  the  so- 
called  law-makers  of  South  Carolina. 

Augustine  ^"    -'^^^-    ^^'    1S65,    Charleston    was    evacuated   by 

Smythe's  later  the  Confederate  forces  in  a  very  hasty  fashion.^  They 
war  experi-  were  needed  in  North  Carolina,  and  Sherman  was 
^""^  approaching  in  his  march  to  the  sea.     With  the  army 

under  Gen.  Hardee,  went  Augustine  Smythe,  "foot-loose,"  as  he 
expresses  it;  for  the  Signal  Corps  no  longer  existed,  now  the  need 
for  it  was  past.     He  started  out  riding  a  mare  with  a  young  colt 

^The  Courier  of  the  20th  gives  an  account  of  their  departure, 
and  prints  also  the  last  report  of  the  Soldiers'  Relief  Association. 
After  this  the  paper  was  published  by  Northerners.  See  So.  Ca. 
Women  in  the  Confederacy,  vol.  2,  pp.  89,  etc.  For  an  account  of 
the  movements  of  the  army  and  its  condition,  see  Hagood's  Me- 
moirs of  the  War  of  Secession,  p.  331. — Ed. 

[43] 


674 

running  alongside,  the  only  mount  he  could  obtain;  crossed  the 
river  at  St.  Stephen's  by  slipping  ahead  of  some  cavalry  and  fitting 
himself  so  securely  into  the  corner  of  a  barge  that  the  quarter- 
master, in  spite  of  impatience  at  the  colt,  found  it  too  much 
trouble  to  dislodge  him;  and  then  made  for  Summerton.  On  the 
way  he  met  James  Adger,  the  young  dragoon,  w^ho  in  pity  for  his 
plight,  gave  Augustine  his  extra  horse,  "Gypsy,"  and  in  Summer- 
ton  he  traded  his  mare  and  colt  for  a  big  black  horse. 

So  with  John  Dent  as  body-servant  riding  behind  on  "Gypsy," 

Augustine  went  on  to  join  General  Hagood's  brigade,  in  which  he 

had  been  formally  enrolled  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  with 

which    he    took    part    in    the    battle    of    Bentonville,* 

The  battle  of     j^y    q_^  ^|^g^  fighting  continued  from  the  i6th  to  the 

Bentonville.  ir-n^-ii  ti  j  ir^i  i 

22nd  of  March  between  Johnston  s  and  Sherman  s 
armies,  with  no  decisive  results,  but  with  heavy  loss  to  the  Northern 
army,  which  moved  on  to  Goldsboro.  The  Confederate  army  was 
withdrawn  into  camp  on  the  North  bank  of  the  Neuse,  in  a  last 
desperate  effort  by  Gen.  Johnston  to  put  it  into  effective  condition 
for  further  service."  A  skirmish  line  of  cavalry  was  maintained, 
and  with  this  lingered  x\ugustine  Smythe,  who  was  made  by  Col. 
Lovick  Miller,  Sergeant-Major  of  his  regiment.  Holding  this 
ofiice,  Augustine  continued  with  the  last  skirmish  line,  and  one 
characteristic    adventure    of    his    deserves    recollection.      With    the 

Northern   Cavalry  almost  in   sight,   a  train  was   seen 

A  Contedei-  approaching,  running  straight  into  the  enemy's  lines, 
ate    courier.  .  ,  .    ,       ,       i-    ,1      ^        r     1 

on  the  track  beside  which  the  little  Confederate  troop 
was  riding.  Ordered  by  his  commanding  officer  to  stop  it  at  all 
hazards,  Augustine  put  spurs  to  his  big  black  horse.  Jack,  starting 
with  such  suddenness  as  to  knock  down  and  jump  over  another 
cavalryman  directly  in  his  path,  leaped  a  fence  and  was  off,  check- 
ing the  progress  of  the  train  not  one-quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
Northern  Cavalry. 

.  .  As    the    straggling    remnant    of    an    army    worked 

A     bargain.  .  _  ,         ,      .        ,.^^       ,    .         ,  , 

its  way  South,  their  dimculties  became  greater,  and 
food  for  both  riders  and  horses  was  almost  impossible  to  get. 
When  Augustine  Smythe  reached  the  bank  of  the  Catawba  River, 
he  was  in  great  straits,  for  his  horse's  back  was  so  sore  that  he 
could  not  go  on.  But  there  was  a  little  Confederate  battery  there 
on  the  river  bank  with  some  men  in  charge  of  a  good  many  mules, 
in  great  uncertainty  as  to  the  ownership  of  those  mules  today; 
and  no  doubt  as  to  the  claimants  of  tomorrow,  if  a  troop  of 
iNlorthern  soldiers  should  come  that  way.  Augustine  had  no  money, 
but  was  still  possessed  of  a  good  silver  watch,  which  was  so 
desirable  in  the   eyes   of  two   young  men   in   the   battery,   that   he 

''See   Hagood's   Memoirs,  p.  356. — Ed. 

"See  Hagood's  Memoirs,  p.  364;  and  for  an  account  of  the 
homeward  march  of  the  S.  C.  troops  and  the  surrender,  extracts 
from  the  diary  of  Capt.  W.  E.  Stoney,  Hagood's  Memoirs,  pp.  367 
to  373. — Ed. 


675 

succeeded  in  making  a  trade;  and  when  two  of  the  mules  were 
brought  to  water,  he  was  in  waiting  with  John,  the  watch  changed 
hands,, and  with  the  two  mules,  leading  Jack  and  Gypsy,  Augustine 
returned  to  Columbia,  arriving  there  so  belated,  that  his  friends 
had  given  him  up  for  dead,  so  worn  and  dirty  and  hungry  that  his 
sweetheart  did  not  know  him  when  she  saw  him  coming  down  the 
street.     Neither  he  nor  his  brothers  surrendered. 

As    Mrs.    McCord's    plantation    was    in    danger    of 

A    wedding.  f      f    u     i    --c  j-j  ..    .    i  ■ 

being   torieited   it   some   one   did   not   take   possession 

immediately,  Augustine   Smyth  was  married  on  June  27,   1865,  and 

went  with  his  young  wife  to  Lang-  Syne  plantation  at  Fort  Motte, 

which    he    planted    in    the   interests    of   Mrs.    McCord   until    it   was 

sold. 

During   this    Summer,   the   Smyths   decided   to   re- 

Dr.    Smyth's      turn    home    as    soon    as    possible,    and    in    the    early 

sons   prepare      ;\utumn  Adger  and  Augustine  came  to  Charleston  to 

lor   his    return 

to  Charleston.  ^^^  what  prospect  there  was  of  comfort.  They  found 
the  old  home  in  a  sad  state,  for  soon  after  the  evac- 
tiation  of  Charleston,  a  surgeon  of  the  Northern  Army  had  taken 
possession  of  Dr.  Smyth's  residence  and  lived  there  for  months, 
selling  all  the  furniture  he  could  before  he  took  his  departure. 
When  the  two  brothers  returned  home,  they  bought  back  as  much 
as  possible  of  the  scattered  family  Laus  aue  Penates.  The  North- 
ern officer  claimed  that  the  property  was  deserted,  but  this  was 
untrue,  as  the  faithful  Robert  McNeil  had  returned  to  his  rooms 
in  the  yard  as  soon  as  the  shelling  ceased.  Among  the  many  pieces 
sold  was  the  big  hall  clock  with  the  moon  over  the  dial. 

The  family  silver  had  been  sent  to  Columbia  for  safe  keeping, 
and  through  some  error  was  despatched  to  Rivoli.  There  the  box 
was  put  away  and  forgotten.  When  Stonenian's  raiders  came, 
Mr.  Robert  Adger,  not  knowing  of  this  box,  left  it  alone;  but  sent 
his  silver,  wine,  and  other  valuables  in  a  waggon  to  the  woods; 
on  the  way,  a  party  of  raiders  seized  the  waggon  and  contents, 
but  Mrs.  Smyth's  silver  remained  safe  in  its  dark  corner  until  some 
time  after,  when  it  was  discovered  and  sent  to  her. 

Augustine  and  his  wife  spent  only  one  Winter  on  the  planta- 
tion. He  very  soon  made  up  his  mind  that  the  work  did  not  suit 
him,  and  when  he  .visited  Charleston  with  his  brother,  he  carried 
back  to  the  plantation  a  pile  of  law  books;  and  in  the  Spring  of 
1866,  removed  permanently  to  Charleston  and  became  for  some 
years  an  inmate  of  his  father's  house. 

Adger   and   Ellison   went,   with   their' uncle    Ellison   Adger,   into 
the   old  hardware   business   of  J.   E.   Adger  and   Company.     Adger 
with    his   family,   lived   also   in    the   house   in    Meeting 
Street,    and   when    Ellison    was    married,    on    Feb.    17, 
«.  '  1869,  to  Miss  Julia   Gambrill,   he   brought  his  wife   to 

his  father's  house.  After  that,  though  the  sons  went  to  house- 
keeping, they  would  return  at  times;  and  for  many  years  there 
was  always  one  set  of  grand-children  to  be  found  under  the  roof 
of  "Number  12,"  as  it  was  called  by  the  clan. — Editor. 


THE  LAST   YEARS 


Return    to 
the    Union. 


679 


THE  LAST  YEARS. 

On   September   13,   1865,  a   convention   of  the   peo- 
ple of  South' Carolina  formally  repealed  the  Ordinance 
of    Secession;    on    the    14th,    President    Johnson    was 
duly  endorsed.     South  Carolina  was  again  a  part  of  the  Union. 

By  November,  Dr.  Smyth  had  resumed  his  active 

„,    ^°^  work  at   the   old   church,   preaching-  to   a   remnant   of 

Charleston.  •    r  o 

1865.  the  large  and  active  congregation  of  i860.   His  health 

had  suffered  from  the  anxiety  and  privation  of  those 
awful  years,  but  he  valiantly  went  forward  in  the  work  of  restora- 
tion. His  inner,  as  well  as  outer,  life  was  much  changed,  for  the 
division  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  the  resulting  diversity 
of  interests,  had  cut  him  off  from  many  of  his  early  friends;  and 
the  interchange  of  thought  and  opinion  which  is  so  noticeable  in 
his  earlier  period,  was  very  much  lessened.  The  break  in  the 
sequence  of  letters  is,  however,  the  result  of  the  fire  in  his  study 
in  1870. 

Necessary  repairs  had  been  made  at  the  church  and  in  1866^  Dr. 
Smyth  writes  in  the  Session  Book: —  ♦ 

Notes  from  "Since  the  date   of  the  last  minute    [May    16, 

the  Session  1 862.]  there  has  been  no  opportunity  for  holding 
Book,  1866.  regular  meetings  of  the  Session.  During  the  first 
two  and  a  half  years  [of  the  war],  I  endeavoured  to  sustain 
the  services  of  the  Church  without  any  interruption ;  although 
the  congregation  itself  became  gradually  reduced  to  a  mere 
handful,  by  the  removal  of  its  members  from  the  city,  to  find 
refuge  in  various  portions  of  this  and  other  states.  The  church 
however,  was  attended  by  strangers  and  soldiers.  During  the 
same  period  there  were  never  more  than  one,  and  frequently 
none,  of  the  elders  in  the  City.  After  the  bombardment  of  the 
City  commenced,  I  moved  to  Clarendon,  where  I  passed  more 
than  two  years ;  preaching  by  invitation,  regularly  in  three 
dififerent  Methodist  Churches ;  no  other  denominations  being 
near  me. 

"Since  the  return  of  peace,  we  have  had  three  communion 
seasons. 

"During  the  War,  the  loss  of  the  church  by  members  has 
been  exceedingly  great. 
"August,   1866. 

"In  reorganizing  the  church,  we  do  so  under  the  greatest 
difficulties.     The  congregation  was  entirely  scattered.     Many 

'Probably  in  May,  at  the  time  of  the  Anniversary. — Ed. 


680 

have  not  yet  returned  to  the  City :  many  will  probably  never 
return :  all  are  impoverished.  The  Sabbath  School  has  been 
reopened  and  the  regular  services  of  the  Sabbath  resumed ; 
this  is  all  that  has  been  deemed  practicable." 

It  has  not  been  possible  to  ascertain  the  full  extent  of  Dr. 
Smyth's  work  as  an  author  during  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  but 
there  are  two  articles  which  were  written  about  this  time:  "The 
Second  Advent,"'  published  in  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Review, 
in  1866;  "Culdee  Monasteries,"^  in  the  Princeton  Review,  in  1867. 

The    minutes    of    the    session    for    October,    1867, 
Notes  from        ^^^^^   ^j^^^   three    elders   were    ordained   to    assist   the 

the    Session  i    r         i-      i  i  i    o         ■ 

Book,  1867.  three  who  were  left  of  the  old  Session  and  the  fol- 
lowing month  the  Deacons'  Court  resumed  its 
meetings  with  five  new  deacons  added  to  fill  out  its  numbers,  one 
of  them  Adger  Smyth,  who  acted  as  clerk  both  then  and  for  the 
Session  after  he  became  an  elder. 

The  following  letter  is  of  interest,  not  only  as  coming  from  his 
dear  old  friend  and  fellow-traveller,  who  had  found  refuge  in 
England  during  a  part  of  the  war,  but  as  showing  the  resumption 
of  Dr.  Smyth's  former  interests  and  activities. — Editor. 

No.  208  IV.  42nd  Street. 
NEW  YORK— 4  Dec.  1867. 
Rev.  Dr.  Thos.  Smyth, 

Charleston,  S.  C. 
MY  DEAR  BROTHER, 

Dr.   Scott's  I  ^"''  always  glad  to  hear  from  you,  or  to  re- 

hope  for  the  ceive  a  kind  word  from  you.  I  am  sincerely 
South.  thankful  for  your  encouraging  words  about  "The 

Christ  of  the  Creed."  I  have  the  Reviezv,  but  have  not  yet  had 
time  to  read  it.  I  hope  to  do  so  soon.  I  hope  the  darkness  is 
about  to  break  &  will  soon  pass  away,  but  I  am  a  poor  blind 
watchmau.  I  am  not  asleep,  nor  even  drowsy — I  have  no 
trouble  in  keeping  awake,  but  with  all  the  power  of  vision  I 
can  command,  I  cannot  see  thro'  the  darkness.  I  often  think 
of  Victor  Hugo's  image  of  looking  through  a  long,  dark  tun- 
nel and  seeing  the  light,  a  little  clear,  earnest,  burning  thing 
far  ahead,  intimating  there  is  an  end  to  the  dark  passage.  And 
sometimes  I  have  thought  I  saw  the  light,  but  again  fogs, 
vapour,  or  smoke  rose  around  so  densely,  I  have  not  been  able 
to  see  it,  &  my  eyes  fall  down  upon  the  impenetrable  darkness. 
Politically  I  see  no  hope  for  the  South,  but  in  a  new  Congress, 
which  will  be  with  the  next  administration  ;  and  in  dividing  the 

'See  vol.  X,  pp.  551-568,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 
^See  vol.  VI,  pp.  721-745,   Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


681 

large  farms  into  small  ones  &  inviting  white  immigration  & 
encouraging  all  sorts  of  manufacturing.  With  these  views  in 
my  mind,  I  can  see  a  powerful  &  glorious  South  at  no  very 
distant  day.  The  power  of  the  American  "King  Cotton"  is 
gone  beyond  any  possible  resurrection — buried  deeper  than 
the  "tomb  of  all  the  Capulets." 

Religiously,  Unbelief  in  its  myriad  forms  is 
die^'^North*  gaining  &  popularizing  itself  on  the  one  side,  and 
Broad  Church  ritualism  on  the  other.  Among 
the  learned,  the  contest  is  between  Neological  atheism  and 
positive  Christianit}' — New  England  will  soon  be  Episcopa- 
lian ;  Romanism  the  dominant  ecclesiastical  power  in  America. 
The  downfall  of  Papal  temporary  power  will  strengthen  the 
Catholic  Church — ■  Old  &  New  School  &  all  other  sorts  of 
Presbyterians  will  soon  be  united  in  the  North  in  some  organic 
shape  or  other.  This  Union  fever,  I  consider,  as  politically 
one ;  first,  as  against  the  good,  sound,  dear  old  Presbyterians 
of  the  South — secondly,  for  the  purpose  of  consolidating  votes 
to  control  elections,  in  order  to  Puritanise  our  Constitution  & 
all  our  laws ;  so  as  to  make  America  a  New  England,  a  la 
Connecticut  "of  long  ago."  I  do  not  profess  to  be  a  prophet, 
but  my  "out  look"  lies  over  the  territories  I  have  just  inti- 
mated. In  the  mean  time,  I  am  hard  at  work,  but  not  doing 
much — abiding  in  my  lot  as  best  I  can,  trying  to  expound 
God's  Word  and  proclaim  Life  through  a  Crucified  Saviour. 
My  Centurions  is  now  in  .press.  I  will  send  you  a  copy,  if  the 
Lord  spare  me. 

Cease  not  to  pray  for  us. 

Ill  Epistle  of  John,  2  Verse. 

Yours  affectionately, 

W.  A.  SCOTT.     ■ 

In  1868,  besides  other  work,  Dr.  Smyth  published 
Article  by         j^^    ^j^^    Southern   Presbyterian   Reviezv,    his    article    on 

Dr.    Smyth.  ,,^t-,,         ^t  r    t  "  •        t-.    i  i-       ttt-         i  •    d 

The    Use    of   Instruments    m    Pubhc   Worship   :    see 
vol.  VI,  pp.  525-556,  Smyth's  Works. — Editor. 

HARTFORD,  CT.  Aug.  2,  1869. 
REV  AND  DEAR  SIR : 

Most  sincerely  do  I  thank  you  for  the  very 
Dt.  Smyth's  ^ami  words  of  commendation  you  are  pleased 
requested.  to  bcstow  on  the  little  Essay  I  so  gladly  sent  to 

you.  Yet  more  I  am  grateful  for  what  you  say  of 
your  personal  views  of  the  Divine  authority  for  a  Church 
school  on  the  Lord's  Day.     You  speak  so  convincingly  on  this 


682 

point,  that  I  want  the  privilege-  of  quoting  the  testimony  of 
such  a  father  in  Israel  as  yourself,  in  support  of  the  truth  I 
hold  dear ;  and  unless  I  am  forbidden  by  you  to  do  so,  I  shall 
be  glad  to  make  use  of  your  utterances  in  some  publication 
of  my  opinion  on  the  point  in  question. 

I  thank  you  also  for  each  pamphlet  and  article  of  your  own, 
you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send  to  me.  The  work  on 
Religious  Giving  will  be  valued  by  some  of  my  friends  just 
now,  in  view  of  the  formation  of  an  association  to  urge  Sys- 
tematic Beneficience  on  the  church,  as  an  individual  duty  of 
Christians.  The  sermon  on  Christian  Union  could  never  have 
been  more  timely  than  now.    I  am  glad  to  have  it  in  hand. 

My  publisher  sends  to  you  through  me,  a  more  extended 
work  of  mine  on  Children's  Services,  and  he  will  be  glad  of 
your  opinion  of  it.  I  think  that  its  general  aim  and  spirit  will 
be  approved  by  you,  whatever  you  may  think  of  the  details  of 
execution.     *     '^ 

I  thank  you  for  your  kind  counsel  as  to  the  enlarging  of  my 
little  book.  *  *  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  work  could  be 
vastly  improved  in  some  such  way  as  you  suggest.  *  *  My 
Dr  Gaiiau-  father-in  law  was  the  Rev.  Thos.  H.  Gallaudet,* 
det  and  Dr.  the  writer  for  children  and  the  friend  of  deaf- 
Prime.  mutcs.       My    brother-in-law    is    Wm.    C.    Prime, 

brother  of  "Iraeneus"  f  hence  I  am  in  a  circle  where  your  name 
has  been  long  known  and  honored.  I  am  very  glad  to  have 
been  so  pleasantly  brought  into  direct  communication  with 
you.  I  gladly  send  the  added  copies  of  the  Essay  as  requested, 
and  with  thanks  for  your  assurance  of  interest  and  confidence 
in  me,  I  am 

Respectfully  and  fraternally  vours, 

H.  CLAY  TRUMBULL. 

Nov.  26,  1869.  NEW  YORK. 

No.  208  West  42d  Str. 
DEAR  FRIEND  &  BROTHER 

,  «     *     J  hope  you  will  yet  occupy  my  pulpit  & 

return  to  rcst  ou  my  pillotv  &  Cat  of  my  plate,  but  if  you 

San  Fran-         ([q  j-jot  comc  soon,  it  is  possiblc  you  will  not  do  so 
'^'®'^°'  in  this  city.     Entre  nous,  it  is  now  in  my  mind  to 

return  to  San  Erancisco.  to  build  another  Church,  God  helping, 

*See  p.  251. — Ed. 

"Dr.  S.  I.  Prime  of  the  New  York  Observer,  who  speaks  of  Dr. 
Smyth  in  a  letter  dated  September,  1873,  as  "one  of  our  cherished 
friends."  He  made  Dr.  Smyth  the  subject  of  an  "Iren^us  letter," 
on  June  22,  1871. — Ed. 


683 

even  now,  when  the  almond  tree  is.  beginning  to  blossom.  Vig- 
ilante &  Radical  furor  has  defeated  me  as  Dr.  Wadsworth's 
successor  in  my  own  old  Church,  which  had  my  name  on  every 
stone  &  timber  of  it  from  foundation  to  turret,  pulpit,  & 
organ;  &c,  &c.  The  vote  was  93  for  me  &  124  for  a  young- 
man  from  Ireland.  All  right.  Now  delicacy  allows  me  to 
return.  But  God  help  us  in  that  azvftil  country,  it  is  a  serious 
business —  Twice  have  I  been  hanged  in  effigy  before  my  own 
door  in  that  city,  &c.  &c..  Church  burnt  once,  &c.,  yet  may 
there  not  be  an  open  effectual  door  &  much  opposition?  See 
Paul.    /  have  not  yet  decided. 

The  flippant  notice  was  certainly  by  a  scribbler  who  had  not 
read  the  Centurions.  Dr.  Jas.  Hamilton  of  London,  a  judge, 
pronounced  it  "a  most  eloquent,  learned,  and  valuable  work, 
that  deserved  to  be  widely  known  in  the  British  Army — "  &c, 
&c.  There  are  similar  notices  from  various  papers  of  Great 
B.  But  in  fact  I  am  used  to  such  popguns.  They  trouble  me 
very  little.  I  am  altogether  with  you  about  the  baptism  of 
children — Have  always  been  &  so  have  practised.  I  hope  you 
will  complete  &  then  publish  in  a  vol. 

Sorry  your  son''  &  ladies  were  not  in  when  I  called  at  their 
Hotel.  Salutations  to  all  your  family.  Come  &  see  me  noin'. 
Pray  for  me.    The  Lord  be  with  you. 

Yours  affectionately  &c. 

W.  A.  SCOTT. 


The  Doctor  continued  to  pray  and  to  preach;  also 

f-     myt  ^Q  visit  his  congregation  in  their  homes;  when,  first 

and   his  .  ,  . 

people  removmg  his   mufflers   and   wrappmgs,   he   would   call 

the  family  together  and,  in  such  prayers  as  will  be 
remembered  as  long  as  the  hearers  live,  commend  them  all  to 
God.  Then  he  would  talk  to  the  children,  for  whom  he  had  in  his 
pockets  bits  of  liquorice,  stick  cinnamon,  or  raisins.  He  usually 
sat,  with  his  body  slightly  bent  forward,  and  his  two  hands  on  one 
of  his  sticks.  The  children  all  loved  him,  even  when  they  candidly 
thought  him  ugly,  and  always  begged  for  stories;  at  Christmas,  or 
on  other  important  occasions,  he  had  packages  for  his  especial 
friends  among  them,  little  books  or  pictures  of  birds,  with  cinna- 
mon, or  raisins  tied  up  with  them.  His  visits  were  paid  in  his 
buggy,  and  when  out  on  one  of  the  night  drives  he  has  himself 
described,  he  would  stop  for  supper  with  some  favourite  parish- 
ioner, when,  if  he  fancied  a  viand,  he  would  ask  for  a  piece  to  take 
back  with  him,  to  eat  during  his  work  in  the  small  hours.     At  the 

"Augustine,  with  his  wife,  sister  Sue,  and  cousin,  Susie  R. 
Adger,  had  taken  a  trip  to  New  York  and  New  England  in  the 
Summer  just  past. — Ed. 


684 

house  of  one  old  Scotch  lady,  he  frequently  asked  for  her  good, 
hot,  spiced  porter.  The  little  parcels  of  food,  or  perhaps,  table 
napkins,  were  constantly  found  by  his  wife  in  his  pockets,  and  she 
would  ask  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Education  Society,  "Did  you 
have  bologna-sausage  for  supper  last  Monday?" 

The  session  books  show  the  Doctor's  old  spirit  alive  in  him; 
he  was  present  at  session  meetings  and  deacons'  courts,  and  there 
is  record  of  church  discipline  in  1868,  as  well  as  of  his  going  to 
Presbytery.  One  of  the  church  members  tells  of  his  tenderness  to 
her  as  a  young  girl,  when  after  prayer-meeting  he  took  her  up  by 
him  on  the  sofa  that  served  for  a  seat  on  the  platform  of  the  old 
lecture-room,  over  the  church,  and  talked  gently  and  lovingly  with 
her  concerning  her  Saviour.  In  February  1869,  he  preached  the 
sermon  at  the  funeral  of  Warren  McGee,  which  is  still  remembere'd, 
and  has  been  told  of  earlier;  and  in  July  of  that  year  he  had  the 
great  blessing  of  ordaining,  at  the  same  service,  his  eldest  son  to 
the  Eldership  and  his  second  son  a  Deacon. 

The  sermons  were  just  as  long  and  vigorous,  but  not  quite  as 
connected  as  they  had  formerly  been.  The  tendency  from  which 
he  had  always  suffered,  of  suddenly  leaving  his  original  plan  and 
following  an  entirely  new  line  of  thought,  became  more  marked. 
Both  sermons  and  prayer  were  long,  and  he  disregarded  the  pre- 
arranged cough  with  which  his  eldest  son  let  him  know  when  the 
prayer  exceeded  ten  minutes,  and  Avent  calmly  on  to  twenty-five 
minutes;  or  Augustine  from  the  choir-loft  coughing  to  stop  the 
sermon;  just  as  he  had  done  other  signals  in  the  days  of  his  full 
strength.  Though  not  an  old  man  in  mind,  or  spirit,  his  weary 
body  failed  more  and  more,  his  lameness  becoming 
Paralysis,  more    marked,    until    on    February    7,    1870,    he    was 

stricken  with  paralysis  of  the  A'ocal  cords.  His  eldest 
son  still  treasures  the  paper  with  the  two  words,  "Perfect  peace," 
which";  thinking  death  imminent,  he  wrote  with  his  worn,  palsied 
hand  for  his  wife's  comfort.  His  last  sermon  before  his  illness  was 
preached  in  the  Orphan  Chapel. 

In  this  emergency,  the  session  took  command  in  the  Church. 
Dr.  Girardeau  conducted  the  communion  service  on  February  13; 
and  the  pastor  of  the  Circular  Church,  with  the  good  will  of  his 
congregation,  offered  to  preach  for  a  certain  number  of  Sundays. 
The  story  of  Doctor  Smyth  teaching  himself  to  speak  again  is  told 
elsewhere;  by  April  8,  he  was  present  at  the  meeting  of  session, 
and  on  the  26,  we  read,  "the  Pastor  reported."  On  May  8,  Dr. 
John  B.  Adger  conducted  the  Communion  services,  but  Dr.  Smyth 
was  present,  though  still  unable  to  speak  freely;  after  the  services 
at  the  church  he  assisted  Dr.  Adger  in  administering  the  Com- 
munion to  a  dying  member  of  the  congregation. 

The  following  extract  from  la  biographical  sketch  by  Dr. 
Brackett,  followed  by  a  portion  of  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Flinn,  give 
very  vividly  an  account  of  the  fire,  which  occurred  early  in  April, 
1870. 


685 

"A  most  Avonderful  instance  of  his  faith  and  trust 
Fire  m  his  j^^  God,  which  was  the  source  of  all  his  joy  and  happi- 
ness, was  manifested  when  a  tire,  in  1870,  destroyed 
his  selected  library  of  about  three  thousand  choice  volumes,  all  his 
sermons  prepared  since  .the  war,  many  valuable  MSS.  intended  for 
publication,  and  all  his  personal  effects  and  valuables.  Rescued 
himself  only  narrowly  from  a  dreadful  death,  he  was  as  cheerful 
the  next  morning-  when  he  surveyed  the  charred  remains  of  his 
valuable  books,  the  greatest  possible  loss  to  him,  as  he  was  in 
former  days  when  in  his  well  appointed  library,  he  sat  surrounded 
by  thousands  of  choice  volumes,  every  one  of  which  was  to  him 
a  cherished  and  personal  friend.     *     *     *" 

"We  could  only  surmise  the  origin  of  the  fire.  Your  Grand- 
mother always  thought  a  piece  of  coal  must  have  dropped  from 
the  grate  to  the  carpet  and  ignited  it; — your  Grandfather  was  very 
intent  on  his  work,  and  roused  with  the  smell  of  burning  cloth — 
to  find  the  fire  blazing  in  the  room.  A  calored  boy  was  always  in 
waiting  to  help  him  to  undress,  but  your  Grandfather  was  so 
helpless,  that  it  was  some  minutes  before  the  boy  could  be  roused 
and  the  household  alarmed. — 

"I  have  always  thought  that  one  of  the  most  beautiful  episodes 
in  your  Grandfather's  life  took  place  on  that  night,  after  he  was 
gotten  out  of  the  room —  He  was  helped  up  the  little  stairs  to  his 
,&  Mother's  bedroom,  on  the  second  storey,  where  he  was  helped 
into  bed  and  left,^  while  every  one  else  was  running  backwards 
and  forwards — trying  to  save  some  few  things — ■  (so  very  few!) — 
and  then  standing  to  watch  the  destruction  of  the  room  and  its 
contents. —  I  ran  up  to  See  how  he  was, — and  found  him  praying 
for  submission  &  patience.  It  was  so  pathetic — for  if  he  had  been 
active,  he  might  have  saved  so  much  more — for  he  knew  just  where 
his  treasures  were. 

"You  have  heard  the  story,  I  suppose,  of  Taddie,^  running  out 
at  great  risk — with  an  empty  box, — while  right  near  that  was  his 
watch  and — more  precious  still  to  him, — a  manuscript  he  had  just 
almost  completed." 

Many  of  Dr.  Smyth's  sermons,  which  are  published  in  vol.  X 
of  his  Works,  show  the  stain  and  smoke  of  this  fire;  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  family  letters,  with  others  of  importance, 
printed  in  this  volume,  were  rescued  that  night  and  stored  in  the 
great   mahogany   press   in   the   dining  room. 

This  study  was  never  occupied  by  the  Doctor  again.  He  used 
the  large  library;  and  the  back  room,  when  repaired,  was  occupied 
by  his  son   Ellison's   family.-^Editor. 


'His   little  grand-daughter,  Sarah,  was  left  with   him. — Ed. 
*The  name  by  which  "Sarah  Annie"  is  known  and  loved  by  all 
the  family. — Ed. 


t>86 

WOODBURN— PENDLETON. 
Apr.  13,  1870. 
DEAR  SISTER, 

Ellison  Adger  To-night's  mail  brings  me  a  letter  from  Sister 
to  Mrs.  Susan,  giving  particulars  of  the  fire  in  Dr.  Smyth's 

Smyth.  room,  &  fully  confirming  in  detail  the  brief  men- 

tion made  by  Mr.  Brown,  in  a  letter  received  last  night,  of  the 
terrible  blow  to  your  afilicted  husband,  in  the  loss  of  all  his 
manuscripts,  to  say  nothing  of  his  books  &  wardrobe.  I  will 
not  say  the  loss  of  his  whole  life's  labor,  for  that  is  not  the  case. 
There  are  too  many  living  witnesses  all  around  us  to  contra- 
dict any  such  statement,  &  many  others  who  have  preceded 
them  &  him  to  that  Heaven  above,  where  they  will  eternally 
shine  as  gems  in  his  crown.  And  oh!  what  a  coronal  his  will 
be !  His  disappointment,  however,  in  the  loss  of  his  manu- 
scripts, must  be  terribly  severe  to  him ;  &  the  loss  of  his  entire 
wardrobe  a  very  serious  matter  indeed. 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  Brown  by  this  mail,  to  send  to  you  by 
Ellison  $100.00,  which  please  ask  Mr.  S.  to  accept  from  me  in 
token  of  my  brotherly  sympathy  with  him  in  this  last,  though 
not  least,  affliction ;  it  will  aid  him  to  supply  in  some  measure 
the  deficiency  in  his  wardrobe  &  books — would  that  I  could 
aid  him  in  restoring  his  manuscripts.     *     *     * 

Yr.  afif.  Brother, 

J.  E.  ADGER. 

THEOL.  SEMY.  COLUMBIA. 

April  13.  1870. 
REV  THOMAS  SMYTH  D.  D. 
RE\^  &  DR  BRO : 

I  have  often  thought  of  you  in  your  afflictions, 
heaped  upon  you,  as  they  have  been,  ni  that  prov- 
idence of  God,  into  whose  mysteries  it  is  so  hard  for  us  to 
penetrate.  I  think  of  you  with  wonder  and  admiration.  *  *  * 
The  loss  you  have  now  sustained  of  your  library  and  manu- 
scripts is  one  that  you  must  feel  most  deeply.  Your  danger 
was  imminent,  yet  you  escaped  wnth  your  life,  and  for  this  we 
are  thankful.  The  hand  of  our  covenant  God  was  with  you. 
To  Him  be  praise  and  thanksgiving!  That  He  may  perfect 
your  recovery,  and  fill  you  more  &  more  with  all  peace  and, 
joy.  is  the  prayer  of  your  most  truly  &  fraternally, 

GEO.  HOWE. 


687 

r    ,L     T    ^-^      f  CHARLESTON.  April  19th  1870. 

The  Seii'ing  Society^ 
MY  DEAR  MOTHERS  &  SISTERS,  JX  THE  LORD, 
Dr.  Smyth's  The  tics  of  nature  are  dear,  but  those  of  grace 

letter  of  are  still  nearer,  purer,  &  more  perfect.     Among 

thanks.  thesc,  thosc  which  bind  an  old  pastor  to  his  flock, 

are  peculiarly  tender;  &  of  these,  those  that  unite  him  to  the 
ladies,  of  his  Church  are  inexpressibly  sweet.  As  woman  is  y" 
glory  of  humanity,  so  is  woman's  sanctified  refinement,  &  con- 
secrated energies  &  afifections,  y'  glory  of  y'  gospel,  in  its 
earthly  manifestation ; — which  is  still  but  in  y"  dawn  of  its  full 
noontide  splendour. 

It  is  with  joy,  amid  my  manifold  causes  of  grief,  I  recog- 
nize in  you  y'  "Mothers  &  Sisters"  of  y"'  loving  &  adorable 
Jesus,  &  of  his  Apostles ; —  i  Tim  5.2 — who  now  minister  to 
y"  personal  wants  of  Christ,  &  of  his  afflicted  Church  &  ser- 
vant ;  &  do  not  refuse  to  follow,  even  to  y"  garden,  y"  cross,  y" 
desert. 

I  will  still  hope,  that  sustained  by  your  sympathy,  love,  & 
prayers, — if  it  be  Christ's  will, — I  may  yet  be  enabled  to  lead 
you  with  a  shepherd's  care ;  &  that  His  love  &  mercy  may  fol- 
low your  kindness  with  a  prophet's  reward ;  &  that  His  all- 
sufficient  grace  &  sympathy  may  support  you  in  all  y"  joys  & 
sorrows  of  life,  &  through  y"  valley  shadowed  over  by  death. 

Under  these  circumstances  therefore.  I  accept  your  gift,  y" 
fruit  of  your  toil,  with  grateful  feelings — & 
Remain  in  all  affection. 

Yours  in  y'  Lord, 

THOMAS  SMYTH.' 

MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH,  ALBANY,  14  May.  1870. 

I  have  just  heard  of  the  terrible  calamity  that 
Dr.  Sprague  has  befallen  you  in  the  burning  of  your  house  and 
library,  and  though  I  am  in  the  midst  of  the  prep- 
aration for  moving  to  a  new  and  somewhat  distant  home,  I 
cannot  but  pause  long  enough  to  offer  you  the  assurance  of  my 
heart-felt  sympathy.     *     *     * 

With  every  good  and  affectionate  wish,  believe  me  ever  most 
sincerely,  *"         Your  friend  &  brother, 

W.  B.  SPRAGUE.' 

'The  original  of  this  letter  is  most  pathetic;  an  almost  illegible 
pencil  scrawl,  copied  by  Mrs.  Smyth  in  her  beautiful,  clear  hand- 
writing.— Ed. 

'Dr.  W.  B.  Sprague.     See  letter,   1872. — Ed. 


MY  DEAR  BROTHER,       ^'ASHVILLE,  May.  26,  1870. 

In  due  time  I  received  the  newspaper  sent  by 
you,  containing  a  short  account  of  the  burning  of 
your  room,  and  the  great  loss  sustained  by  you. —  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  much  I  sympathize  zvith  and  love  you :  and  how  my 
thoughts  are  constantly  with  you  in  the  fierce  trials  you  are 
called  upon  to  bear : —  '■"■'■  '■'  I  hope  by  this  time  you  are 
very  much  improved,  and  daily  becoming,  if  slowly — surely 
yourself  again — there  is  one  thing  you  never  did  take  enough 
of  in  your  life — that  is  sleep,  nature's  sweet  restorer :  my  pre- 
scription for  you  would  be  sleep  half  the  time — take  as  much 
exercise  in  the  open  air  as  possible — with  plenty  of  nourishing 
food ;  and  dont  take  a  book  in  your  hand  for  six  months.  You 
must  tell  me  what  you  think  of  my  prescription  after  you 
faithfully  try  it. —  I  had  a  letter  from  Isabella  the  other  day ; 
I  hope  she  has  written  to  you  before  this,  she  can  write  such 
excellent  letters  and  has  so  much  to  say ;  "  *  She  is  very 
much  distressed  indeed  on  account  of  you.     *     =;=     * 

I  am  ever, 

ANNA  S.  PLUNKET. 

Mrs.  Plunket  and  Mrs.  Fauntleroy  had  both  writ- 
Sympathv.  .  .  ,       ,  ,  ,  .        ,       , 

ten    loving,    sisterly    letters,    when    they    received    tne 

news   of   Dr.    Smyth's   paralyzed   throat.     Among  the   many   other 

letters,   is   one   from   his   old  friend   and   teacher,    Dr.    Houston    of 

Knockbracken,   Ireland,  who  from  this   time   wrote   constantly. 

^,  .  An     event     in     the     history    of    the     Presbyterian 

The    union  ^,  ,  ,  .    ,  ,  ...  ^     , 

of  the  two         Church    which    occurred    at    this    time,    was    of    deep 

branches  of  interest  to  Dr.  Smyth.  In  Philadelphia,  in  May. 
Northern  iS/O,  the  tv/o  Assemblies  of  the  Old  and  New  School 

Presbyterians.  ^^^^  ^^  ^j^^  same  time,  and  by  prearrangement,  with 
appropriate  ceremonies,  united  under  the  name  of  "The  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  United  States  of  America."  A  special  dele- 
gation was  then  appointed,  consisting  of  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Backus 
D.  D.,  of  Baltimore,  the  Rev.  Henry  J.  Van  Dyke,  D.  D.,  of 
Brooklyn,  and  the  Hon.  W.  E.  Dodge  of  New  York,  to  wait  upon 
the  General  Assembly  of  l^he  Southern  Church,  (known  since  the 
war  as  "The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,")  in  ses- 
sion at  Louisville,  Kentucky;  proposing  that  a  union  be  affected 
between  the  Northern  and  Southern  Churches.  After  due  de- 
liberation, the  Louisville  Assembly  decided  that  until  the  Northern 
Church  should  unequivocally  retract  the  imputations  against  the 
South,  made  at  each  succeeding  Assembly  for  many  years,  union 
was  impossible.  It  was  also  considered  unadvisable  on  the 
ground  that  the  two  wings  of  the  Northern  Church  had  come 
together  without  any  doctrinal  requirements;  as  well  as  for  other 
reasons,  most  especially  the  decision  of  the  Southern   Church  on 


689 

the  avoidance  of  political  questions^  as  beyond  the  jurisdiction   of 

ecclesiastical   organizations. 

Dr.    Smyth's    feeble    condition    continuing,    neces- 

,    ■    „  ^'^^'        sitated  an  assistant  and  on  Tune  13,  Mr.  Hampden  C. 
den    C.  J  ^!  r 

Dubose.  Dubose,     afterward    the     celebrated     Dr.     Dubose     of 

Soochow,  China,  assumed  that  position,  which  he 
retained  for  some  months;  during  which  time  Dr.  Smyth  made  the 
trip  to  Virginia,  mentioned  in  the  following  letter.  On  November 
13  the  Doctor  was  able  to  conduct  all  the  opening  services  and 
make  the  address  at  the  Communion  for  a  large  and  deeply- 
moved  congregation. 

Dr.   Smyth's  -'^'^  ^  meeting  of  the  Second  Presbyterian   Church, 

final    resigna-     held    on    Sunday    November    27,    1870,    the    following 

tion-  letter  was  presented: — 

CHARLESTON,  S.  C,  November  18,  1870. 

To  the  Session  and  Male  Pezv  Holders 

of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  : 

My  Dear  Brethren:  About  this  time  in  November,  1831,  I 
arrived  in  Charleston  from  Princeton  Theological  Semina:ry, 
in  accordance  with  an  invitation  from  you  to  preach  in  vour 
then  vacant  Church. 

In  April  of  the  following  year,  I  received  a  unanimous  call 
to  remain  with  you  and  become  your  pastor.  Since  that  time 
I  have  lived  and  labored  among  you  as  the  spiritual  bride  of 
my  youth,  being  then  twenty-three  years  of  age.  in  all  mutual 
love  and  assiduity  of  devoted  service  to  promote  your  pros- 
perity and  happiness.  We  have  seen  together  many  seasons  of 
deep  affliction  and  bereavement.  Of  the  seven  hundred  and 
seventy-one  members  added  to  the  Church  during  my  min- 
istry, but  a  few  abide  in  the  flesh,  or  remain  with  us.  Of  a 
glorious  company  of  them — fathers,  mothers,  and  children — 
we  can  rejoice  in  believing  that  thev  are  now  members  of  the 
Church  triumphant  in  Heaven,  with  the  four  beloved  pastors 
and  all  their  flock  who  had  preceded  them. 

We  have  had,  too,  our  many  times  of  refreshing  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord,  when  songs  of  rejoicing  over  new  born 
souls  have  been  heard  in  our  assemblies  and  dwellings,  and 
among  the  angels  of  God.  We  have  had  also  the  happiness  of 
seeing  our  Church  spread  her  roots,  and  spring  up  in  vigorous 
trees,  and  impart  life  to  many  other  Churches  throughout  the 
land.  And  our  Church  is  still  showing  the  signs  not  only  of 
leaves,  but  of  buds  and  fruits ;  springing  up  after  the  howling 

^See  Life  of  B.  M.  Palmer,  D.  D.,  by  Johnson,  pp.  317,  etc.,  and 
Presbyterians   by   Hays,   pp.   228,   etc. — Ed. 

144] 


690 

wintr_v  desolation  of  war,  and  various  trials  and  losses,  she 
has  made  steady  growth,  and  has  attained  to  a  condition  of 
unity,  peace,  concord,  and  energetic  efficiency  seldom  exceeded 
in  her  most  flourishing  days.  Seldom  have  we  passed  a  com- 
munion season  without  some  additions ;  and  even  during  my 
recent  silence  and  absence,  a  goodly  number  of  the  children  of 
the  Church  have  been  added  to  our  Christian  family.  Well 
officered  by  honored  brethren,  both  in  the  temporal  and  spirit- 
ual government  of  the  Church ;  full  of  love  towards  myself 
and  each  other,  with  loving  hopes  and  prayers  for  my  continu- 
ance with  you ;  unsolicited  by  any  intimation  from  you,  I  now, 
with  many  tears  and  prayers  for  self-sacrificing  grace,  send 
you  my  resignation  of  your  call  and  of  my  pastoral  office,  and 
request  you  to  join  me  in  seeking,  in  the  lawful  order  pre- 
scribed by  Christ  in  His  spiritual  courts,  a  divorce  of  our  mar- 
riage union ;  and  to  unite  with  me  in  opening  the  way  for  the 
formation  of  such  another  holy  and  happy  union  with  your 
young  and  lovely  Church,  as  may  bring  to  it  the  consecrated 
heart,  life,  and  activities  of  a  suitable  pastor. 

I  had  formed  this  conclusion  while  absent  in  Virginia,  but 
thought  it  best  to  return  and  make  an  experiment  among  you 
of  my  vocal  powers  ;  and  last  week,  during  the  Sabbath  com- 
munion services,  and  again  in  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gowan^  on  Sabbath  evening,  I  felt  irtore  encouraged  that  I  had 
previously  done ;  yet  on  learning  at  the  Court  of  Deacons  last 
evening  that  your  arrangement  for  the  supply  of  the  pulpit 
was  closed,  and  another  would  become  necessary,  I  have  con- 
cluded that  this  is  the  best  and  proper  occasion  to  present  this 
my  letter  of  resignation. 

With  heartfelt  prayers  to  Christ,  our  Shepherd  and  Bisho.p, 
that  He  would  look  upon  your  flock  with  sympathy  and  kind- 
ness, and  guide  you  to  a  pastor  after  His  own  heart ;  and  with 
soul,  heart,  and  mind,  as  ever,  ready  to  be  offered  a  living 
sacrifice  upon  the  service  of  your  faith  and  love,  were  it  the 
Lord's  will  to  grant  me  continued  ability, 

I  remain  yours  in  the  Lord, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 


^On  Nov.  15,  the  Rev.  Peter  Gowan  was  ordained  at  Zion 
Church,  where  he  v\^as  to  act  as  assistant  in  the  negro  v^^ork  to  Dr. 
Girardeau',  who  was  ministering  to  the  white  portion  of  the  con- 
gregation at  Glebe  St.  Church. — Ed. 


691 

Resolutions  The   following  preamble   and   resolutions   were 

from  his  con-    then  unanimously  adopted  :• — 
gregation.  'pj^g  letter  of  our  Pastor  announcing  that  his 

bodily  infirmity  will  prevent  his  further  ministrations  among 
us,  and  his  desire  consequent  thereon  to  dissolve  the  Pastoral 
relations,  which  have  bound  us  together  for  so  many  years,  fills 
us  with  no  ordinary  emotions. 

Beyond  the  memory  of  the  large  majority  of  our  congrega- 
tion, he  has  borne  the  sacred  office  over  this  flock,  and  broken 
to  us  the  bread  of  life — our  parents,  our  brethren,  our  chil- 
dren under  his  ministry  have  been  received  into  the  fold  of 
Christ.  And  under  the  strong  influence  of  affection  and  of 
habit,  we  have  looked  up  to  him  as  our  spiritual  father.  The 
blessing  of  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been  richly  bestowed  upon 
his  ministry,  and  he  has  been  made  the  instrument  of  gather- 
ing many  into  the  Church  of  Christ. 

We  had  fain  hoped  that  he  would,  to  the  end,  have  continued 
the  master-laborer  in  this  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  Taking  this 
as  his  first  charge,  for  nearl}'  forty  years  of  uninterrupted 
ministry,  he  has  enjoyed  our  confidence,  and  has  won  and 
secured  for  himself  our  respect,  our  veneration,  and  our  love. 

But  the  hand  of  God  has  been  laid  upon  him,  and  whilst  our 
hearts  bleed  under  the  stroke,  we  recognize  the  act  of  an  all- 
wise  and  beneficent  Father. 

Even  so,  however,  we  are  yet  reluctant  to  sever  the  ties 
which  have  existed  so  long  between  our  Pastor  and  ourselves, 
and  have  bound  us  so  happily  together.  But  we  feel  that  our 
Pastor  in  suggesting  himself,  that  they  should  be  dissevered, 
has  recognized  an  imperative  and  overwhelming  necessity. 
And  in  all  affectionate  tenderness,  we  yield  to  his  conviction 
of  duty,  and  with  hearts  big  with  emotion,  we  accept  his  resig- 
nation, but  as  some  relief  to  the  feelings  that  oppress  us,  we 
express  the  sense  of  our  bereavement. 

Be  it,  therefore, 

RESOLVED,  That  in  the  resignation  of  our  Pastor,  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church 
has  met  with  a  heavy  bereavement  and  an  irreparable  loss. 

RESOL\^ED.  That  no  influence  could  induce  us  now  to  part 
from  our  loved  and  venerated  Pastor,  save  the  desire  expressed 
by  himself,  and  in  obedience  to  the  counsel  given  by  himself,  to 
the  flock  whom  he  has  taught  and  loved  so  long. 

RESOLA-'ED,  That  in  retiring  from  the  active  duties  of  this 
pastorate,  he  carries  with  him  that  devoted  love  and  deep  ven- 
eration which  we  have  borne  for  him  for  so  many  years,  many 
of  us  during  the  period  of  our  lives ;  that  he  will  have  our 


692 

constant  prayers  at  the  throne  of  grace  that  he  may  be  re- 
stored to  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  health,  strength,  and  every 
faculty,  so  that  he  may  yet  again  return  to  his  place  over  his 
people. 

RESOLVED,  That  he  be  unanimously  elected  our  Pastor 
Emeritus,  and  that  he  be  earnestly  entreated  to  continue  and 
to  increase  his  pastoral  visits  among  our  congregation,  so  that 
at  our  homes  and  around  our  firesides  we  may  still  enjoy  the 
■  ministrations,  and  be  blessed  with  the  teachings  of  this  faith- 
ful servant  of  God. 

RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and  resolutions 
be  furnished  to  the  Session  of  this  Church,  with  the  request 
that  they  be  laid  before  the  Presbytery  at  its  next  session. 

RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of  the  same  be  furnished  to  the 
Southern  Presbyterian,  for  publication. 

RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of  this  preamble  and  resolutions 
be  presented  to  our  Pastor. 

CHARLES  H.  SIMONTON,^  President. 

C.  P.  Frazer,  Secretary  pro  tern. 

Resolutions  ^^   ^   meeting   of   the   Session   of   the    Second 

of  the  Presbyterian    Church,  held    on    the    evening    of 

Session.  November  28,   1870,  a  letter  of  resignation  from 

the  Pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  and  the  action  of  the  Corporation 
thereon,  was  brought  before  the  meeting.  On  motion  the 
following  minute  was  unanimously  adopted  : — 

This  Session  cannot  find  words  to  express  the  deep  disap- 
pointment with  which  they  learn  that  Dr.  Smyth  has  felt  con- 
strained by  his  continued  infirmities,  to  resign  the  charge  he 
has  so  ably  and  devotedly  filled  for  more  than  a  third  of  this 
century.  During  the  whole  period  of  his  absence  in  the  efforts 
to  recuperate  his  powers,  they  were  sustained  in  the  separa- 
tion, by  the  thought,  that  in  answer  to  the  prayers  daily 
ascending  in  his  behalf,  from  their  family  altars  and  the  sanc- 
tuary, he  would  be  restored  to  them  with  his  wonted  health 
and  ability. 

And  now,  although  these  hopes  are  well  nigh  blasted,  they 
yet  feel  that  the  great  head  of  the  Church,  if  it  be  His  will, 
can  pronounce  the  word  "Ephphatha!'  and  enable  him,  for 
many  years  to  come,  to  proclaim  the  Gospel  of  Christ. 

Until  their  Pastor  is  summoned  to  his  reward,  they  will  to 
this  end  both  hope  and  pray ;  and  at  the  same  time  acknowl- 

°The  distinguished  jurist,  member  for  many  years  of  the  State 
Legislature;  later  Judge  o,f  the  U.  S.  Circuit  Court. — Ed. 


693 

edge  with  gratitude,  the  mercy  which  spares  to  them  his  pres- 
ence, his  blessing,  his  counsel,  and  his  prayers.  Be  it,  there- 
fore, 

RESOLVED,  That  this  Session  heartily  sympathizes  with 
the  Congregation  in  the  resolutions  they  have  so  feelingly 
adopted,  and  gratefully  avail  themselves  of  the  privilege  af- 
forded them  of  continuing  their  intimate  and  endearing  rela- 
tions with  their  "Pastor  Emeritus." 

RESOLVED,  That  Dr.  Smyth  be  requested  to  meet  with 
this  Session  whenever  convened,  and,  until  some  other  Pastor 
is  elected  by  the  Congregation,  to  ^Moderate  their  sessions. 

RESOLVED,  That  Dr.  Smyth  be  furnislied  with  a  copy 
of  these  resolutions,  by  the  Clerk. 

Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  Session 

J.  ADGER  SMYTH, 

Clerk  of  Session. 

REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH.  D.  D. : 

„     ,  ^.  DEAR  BROTHER  :    At  the  recent  sessions  of 

Resolutions 

of  the  Synod  the  Syuod  of  Soutli  Carolina,  at  Anderson  C.  H., 
oi  South  s_  Q^  the  following  minute  was  adopted,  viz  : — 

"A  communication  from  our  venerable  Brother, 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  with  reference  to  his  feeble 
health,  was  read ;  and,  on  motion  of  Rev.  Dr.  J.  L.  Wilson, 
the  Stated  Clerk  was  directed  to  write  a  suitable  letter  to  Dr. 
Smyth,  expressive  of  the  tender  interest  and  sympathy  of  this 
Synod  in  the  trials  of  our  afflicted  Brother."     *     *     * 

Long  will  the  Synod  remember  the  delightful  refreshment 
afforded  by  one  of  your  last  sermons  delivered  before  us,  (at 
the  Brick  Church  in  Sumter,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  late 
war,)  in  which  you  spoke  of  the  tender  love  of  our  Saviour, 
His  presence  and  sympathy  in  all  our  personal  trials,  and  His 
almighty  power  and  constant  care  over  His  Church. 

Nor  can  your  brethren,  especially  those  of  us  who  have 
been  long  associated  with  you  in  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  and  afterwards  in  the  Synod  of  South  Carolina, 
forget  the  deep  interest  you  excited  in  our  breasts,  in  behalf 
of  the  great  work  of  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  prosperity  of 
our  Theological  Seminary  at  Columbia,  an  institution  which 
we  trust  will  be  perpetuated  in  our  Church  in  connection  with 
your  name. 


694 

The  following  anonymous  letter  is  an  evidence  of  the  turmoil 
and  distrust  which  was  growing  among  the  negroes  of  Charleston. 
They  had  become  so  completely  demoralized  that  their  truest 
friends  were  treated  with  ingratitude. — Editor. 

CHARLESTON,  July  8,  187 1. 
REVD  THOS  SMYTH  D  D. 

DEAR  SIR 
Anonymous  Impelled  by  a  sense  of  Justice  due  alike  to  dead 

letter  from  and  Hviug"  (which  as  a  Divine,  you  will  appreci- 
a  negro.  ^^^^    j  ^j^^  constrained  to  correct  your  erroneous 

impression  as  declared  before  Presbytery  5th  inst.  to  wit 
"That  on  your  return  to  Church  and  ministrations  at  close  of 
War,  your  color'd  members  refused  to  approach  you  and  with 
but  one  or  two  exceptions  deserted  Church"  The  converse 
being  true  state  of  case  they  having  awaited  your  approach 
and  were  ready  to  accept  any  overtures  from  you.  Self  respect 
mingled  with  deference  to  your  feelings  after  defeat  of  cause 
so  near  and  dear  to  your  heart  forbade  them  to  take  initiatory. 
As  their  Shepherd  it  was  only  for  you  to  hold  forth  crook 
and  they  would  have  flocked  to  your  standard  as  they  have 
done  in  Dr  G's^  case  despite  his  surrender  of  post  for  field  in 
struggle  to  perpetuate  Slavery.  Your  position  though  less 
conspicuous  was  as  open  and  avowed  in  pulpit  and  forum 
besieging  a  Throne  of  grace  to  avenge  and  overthrow  enemy 
and  in  answer  thereto  discomfited  by  opposite  results.  The 
Late  E.  White  purposely  kept  aloof  from  joining  Colony  of 
your  Church  who  went  with  Rev.  Mr  Adams  (Col'd)  and 
worship'd  at  Glebe  St  Church.  Hoping  on  your  return  with 
nucleus  retained  to  build  up  Congregation.  Failing  to  obtain 
your  sanction  by  word  or  act  he  had  to  abandon  hope  and  in 
this  connection  as  you  cite  yours  as  the  History  of  all  the 
churches  Dr  G's  being  The  honored  exception.  Allow  me  to 
correct  you  here  also,  to  begin  with  Dr  Wightman's  large 
charge  It  is  patent  that  color'd  members  were  main  support 
of  Church  in  return  they  were  crowded  in  galleries  entrance 
from  basement  which  was  ultimatum  for  reception  of  Sacra- 
ment at  Trinity  once.  Catholic  and  Episcopal  sacrificing  at 
a  common  altar  to  all  communicants^  Dr  W's  charge  in  con- 
sonance with  progress  of  age  now  worship  in  Edifice  of  2nd 
Baptist  Church,  purchase  money  in  Gold  being  advanced  by 
Northern  Church,  Tivoli  Garden  and  Old  Bethel  latter  being 
all   left  them   of   rights   in   Southern   Church."     Deprecating 

*Dr.  Girardeau. — Ed. 

'Before  the  war,  Mr.  Tupper  conducted  a  mission  for  the  col- 
oured  people   at  the   Second    Baptist   Church,   now  known   as   the 


695 

spirit  of  exclusiveness  forced  upon  them  by  debarring  them 
of  rights  due  to  all  church  members  in  good  standing  regard- 
less of  majority,  or  caste,  Separate  organizations,  have  been 
entered  into  to  attest  to  Whites  our  desire  to  worship  God 
unmolested  under  own  vine  and  fig  tree,  obeying  injunction 
"Fear  God  Honor  the  King  &c,"  While  we  shudder  at  the 
grave  responsibility  incurd  by  those  Pastors  or  Spiritual  guides 
who  pandering  to  prejudice  refuse  to  watch  over  and  ad- 
monish in  Love  the  objects  of  their  former  charge  and  would 
visit  on  their  innocent  heads  penalties  of  their  own  rash  acts, 
We  rejoice  to  know  that  even  in  Charleston,  The  Episcopal 
Church  voted  Calvary  Church  to  Ex  Slaves  for  whom  it  was 
built,  giving  them  choice  of  Pastor.  Rev.  Mr.  Prentiss  being 
now  Rector.  This  Church  was  the  cause  of  far  greater  ex- 
citement than  Zion  Mob  surrounded  and  were  in  act  of  razing 
it  to  the  ground,  but  for  appeal  of  Ma3'or  who  proposed  to 
call  Public  Meeting  and  abide  decision  which  sustained  Church. 
Mob  being  appeased  by  Execution  of  3  Convicts  who  at- 
tempted to  escape  from  Work  House,  phrensied  imagination 
of  alarmists,  associating  contiguity  of  Church  with  the  Scene 
of  disorder  as  a  Collusion  with  Emente  at  Work  House 
Whereas  in  the  case  of  Zion  Church  petty  envy  of  a  large 
class  was  excited  by  Church  Marriages  and  gay  attire  of 
Slaves,  Which  let  to  Card  from  Deacons  endorsing  Pastor  as 
Slaveholder  and  their  own  allegiance  and  conformity  to  Di- 
vine institution  and  proposing  Legislation  in  the  matter  of 
Change  in  dress,  which  proposition  have  a  quietus  to  opposi- 
tion. Public  Meeting  I  cannot  recall  to  Memory.  I  feel  war- 
ranted in  asserting  that  but  for  your  cold  repulse  and  refusal 
to  accept  amenities  and  courtesy  they  were  ever-  ready  to 
accord  by  virtue  of  your  office  which  they  were  wont  to  mag- 
nif)^,  your  color'd  leaders  and  members  who  under  stress  of 
circumstances  from  lack  of  Spiritual  comfort  took  refuge  in 
Mission  Church  now  in  course  of  erection  would  have  returned 
to  your  fold  The  Circular  Church  was  adhered  to  by  Color'd 
Members  and  but  for  ultra  Spirit  of  Pastor  would  have  re- 
tained their  connection  .in  tact.  Pastor  in  compliance  with 
request  of  an  aged  Color'd  Member  on  his  dying  bed,  to  per- 

Morris  Baptist.  Tivoli  Garden,  at  the  corner  of  Spring  and 
Meeting  Streets,  was  formerly  a  beer-garden.  The  church  is  now 
known  as  Wesley  Church.  Calvary  Church,  on  the  corner  of 
Wilson  and  Beaufain  streets,  had  been  erected  in  1847  for  the 
coloured  people,  with  the  Rev.  Paul  Trapier  in  charge.  Laurel 
Street  Chapel,  at  that  time  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Lafar,  is  now 
African  Methodist. — Ed. 


696 

form  funeral  Service,  ordered  Color'd  Pastor  of  Laurel  St 
Chapel  who  sat  behind  him  to  go  down  or  he  would  not  pro-, 
ceed  and  this  in  the  presence  of  Death  the  Leveller  of  human 
distinction.  Dr  Dana's  Church  retains  her  few  color'd  mem- 
bers two  of  whom  died  this  year,  one-  of  thenr  for  nearly  y^ 
century  at  his  post,  never  absent  from  communion  it  was  last 
and  crowning  act  of  worship  in  Church  militant  Pastor  said 
one  who  had  important  business  relations  with  him  said  30 
yrs.  ago,  "He  was  an  honor  to  any  Church  and  he  sustained 
encomium  to  the  end  Full  of  years  and  honor  funeral  rites  was 
denied  him  in  the  Walls  of  Sanctuary  he  loved  next  to  his  God 
Pastor  paid  him  just  tribute  in  annual  Sermon  concluding 
with  consoling  thought  "That  he  was  gone  Where  there  was 
neither  Scythian  or  Barbarian  but  Christ  was  All  and  in  All" 
God  grant  that  Made  in  His  likeness  His  Holy  Spirit  may 
stamp  His  image  on  our  Hearts  It  is  a  matter  of  surprise  that 
your  past  intercourse  with  intelligent  Color'd  men  of  whom 
your  Church  had  a  few ;  you  hesitate  to  concede  to  them  rights 
which  are  none  the  less  sacred  for  having  been  held  in  abey- 
ance and  which  when  withhe;ld  in  Church  is  Clung  to  with  more 
tenacity  in  State,  To  ignore  them  would  betray  insensibility 
on  the  part  of  those  who  free  and  to  the  manor  born  claim  as 
a  birthright,  boon  of  Liberty  bestowed  on  aliens  by  naturaliza- 
tion in  this  asylum  of  oppressed  of  every  clime —  By  our 
hopes  of  Heaven  we  forever  disclaim  all  enmity  to  our  fellow 
man  and  if  in  providence  of  God,  Our  beloved  Country  is  in- 
deed at  last  a  "Free  Republic,"  the  blot  of  Slavery  which  made 
her  a  bye  word  and  reproach  removed  and  no  longer  Misno- 
mer of  Free  Republic  and  Slaverv  T  et  i^s  vri^h  o^e  hea^t 
rejoice  and  God  shall  have  the  thanks  "Who  has  made  wrath 
of  man  to  praise  Him" —  Dr  G's  loss  is  a  great  one  to  us  All, 
I  would  have  him  stay,  for  mutual  benefit  of  White  and 
Color'd  Since  he  is  not  appreciated  Let  them  suiTer,  I  concur 
in  belief,  "there  is  too  much  preaching"  with  less  it  will  not 
be  so  undervalued,  I  have  thought  it  due  to  the  class  to  which 
I  belong  to  disabuse  your  mind  as  to  the  causes  of  separation, 
and  think  it  susceptible  of  demonstration  that  they  have  been 
more  Sinned  against  than  Sinning,  we  respect  the  rights  of 
others  and  demand  that  ours  be  respected,  our  highest  ambi- 
tion now  as  before  being  to  be  made  "Fellow  Citizens  with  the 
Saints  and  of  the  household  of  God"  Of  whom  the  Whole 
Family  in  Heaven  and  earth  is  Named 

AMEN' 


''This    letter    is    unsigned,    and    written    in    a    showy    hand    with 
practically  no  punctuation. — Ed. 


697 

It  was  probably  about  this  time  that  an  informal 
Dr.  .Brackett  overture  was  made  to  Dr.  Girardeau,  to  know  if  he 
called   as   co-  ,  ,  ,  .  „,  . 

pastor  would   consent   to   accept   a    co-pastorship.      There    is 

no  record,  but  one  account  is  that  he  was  unwilling 
to  come,  unless  Dr.  Smyth,  of  his  own  accord,  gave  up  his  pasto- 
rate entirely;  while  another  story  is  that  Dr.  Girardeau  objected 
to  the  organ  in  the  church,'  and  required  its  removal,  to  which  the 
deputation  would  not  agree.  At  any  rate  the  plan  was  not 
carried  out,  and  after  Dr.  Smyth  had  struggled  through  another 
Winter,  attending  regularl}^  to  his  duties  with  only  occasional 
help,  an  assistant  was  chosen  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Gilbert 
Robbins  Brackett,  a  native  of  Xewton,  Massachusetts,  who  had 
received  his  education  in  part  at  Amherst,  but  through  ill  health 
had  come  to  the  South  before  the  War,  and  graduated  at  the 
Columbia  Seminary  in  1862.  He  was  at  this  time  at  Scion  Church, 
\\'innsboro,  S.  C,  and  had  made  a  inost  favourable  impression  on 
all  who  came  in   contact  with  him. 

A  meeting  of  pew-holders  to  call  a  pastor  had  taken  place,  at 
Dr  Smyth's  request,  on  February  26,  1871.  The  first  nominated  did 
not  accept,  and  on  April  22,  Dr.  Brackett  was  called.  On  May 
12,  his  presence  is  noted  at  session  meeting,  and  on  the  14th  he 
administered  the  Communion  and  Dr.  Smyth  admitted  the  mem- 
bers. On  May  22,  Dr.  Smyth  preached  his  first 
Dr.    Smyth's      sermon  since  his  paralysis  of  the  year  before,  at  the 

first  sermon  Circular  Church,  his  text  being  II  Corinthians,  IV, 
after    his  , 

paralysis.  O-IO. 

From  now  on  the  young  minister  became  as  a  son 
to  the  older  man.  The  records  show  the  old  Doctor's  continued 
attendance  at  the  meetings,  but  "the  Pastor  and  Mr.  Brackett," 
changes  in  February,  1872,  at  Dr.  Smyth's  suggestion,  to  "the 
Pastor  and  the  Honorary  Pastor,"  and  Dr.  Brackett  moderates  the 
meetings.  Dr.  Sinyth  especially  requested  Dr.  Brackett  to  wear 
the  Geneva  gown  which  his  lameness  had  forced  him  to  discard  in 
1853.  He  was  at  church  almost  every  Sunday,  preached  at  inter- 
vals, and  was  present  at  every  communion.  He  did  not  always 
sit  in  the  pulpit,  but  usually  occupied  a  pew  by  the  South  window 
in  the  "amen  corner"  (near  the  spot  where  his  tablet  is  placed), 
"with  the  soft  breeze  lifting  the  stray  locks  on  his  brow,  and  his 
face  full  of  a  radiant  peace,"  to  use  the  words  of  an  old  friend. — Ed. 

In  his  funeral  discourse.  Dr.   Brackett  speaks  thus 
The    friend-  .....        ...  ■   ,      -r.        o  1 

ship    between     °^  "^^   friendship  With   Dr.   Smyth: — 
Dr.    Smyth  "It    was    my    lot    to    know    Dr.    Smyth    only    as    a 

and   Dr.  wreck   of   his    former   self.      Already   was   it   stranded 

Brackett.  ^^    ^j.^^    beach,    when,    a    little    more    than    two    years 

ago,  I  entered  into  his  pastoral  labors;  and  daily  have  I  watched, 
with  mingled  feelings  of  pity  and  of  wonder,  the  yielding  wreck,  as 
piece  after  piece  it  gave  way  before  the  surging  billows  of  disease 
and  suffering,  until  the  tedious  tide  as  slowly  rose  around  it  and 
bore  it  away  to  the  deep,  deep   sea.     True  manhood  is  lovely  and 


698 

sublime  in  its  ruins,  and  wliile  the  grandeur  challenged  my  lofti- 
est admiration,  I  found  my  heart's  warmest  affections  entwining 
around  him,  like  the  clinging  ivy  that  covers  the  walls  or  pillar  of 
some  ruined  temple. 

"I  may  be  pardoned  for  saying  that  I  have  sought  his  compan- 
ionship with  something  of  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  of  the 
connoisseurs  of  art,  who  cross  the  seas  to  visit  the  splendid  ruins 
of  ancient  cities,  and  who  return  to  gaze  coldly  upon  the  most 
finished  architecture  of  modern  times.  It  is  amid  these  broken 
pillars  and  shattered  walls,  that  humanity  exhibits  its  highest 
dignity,  and  religion  achieves  its  sublimest  triumphs.  To  recur  to 
his  own  figure,  his  setting  sun,  with  its  gorgeous  confusion  of 
clouds,  has  impressed  me  more  than  the  clear,  burnished  azure 
of  his  noonday  could  have  done.  *  *  Let  me  say  that  he  has 
aided  and  counselled  me  with  the  tender  interest  of  a  father,  and 
drawn  me  to  him  with  a  filial  reverence  and  afifection." 


CHARLESTON,  9  January,  1872. 
REVEREND  &  DEAR  SIR, 

Thanks  to  ^^^  members  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Sec- 

Dr.  Smyth  ond  Presbyterian  Church,  have  requested  me  to 
for  work  dur-  euclose  the  within  Check  to  their  Pastor  Emeri- 
ing  eve  .  ^^^^  ^^  ^  ^^^  year  offering  to  one,  who  has  so 
long  ministered  to  them  the  Word  of  God. —  They  ever  hold 
in  remembrance  your  Hfelong  service  in  their  behalf,  but 
especially  that  labour  of  Love  during  the  past  trying  Summer. 
— When  pestilence  walked  in  our  midst  and  sorrow  bowed 
our  heads,  you  like  a  true  soldier  of  your  &  oiu"  Master, 
buckled  on  your  Armour,  and  led  us  through  the  vale  of  tears 
to  that  good  Shepherd  in  Whose  fold  alone  security  &  rest  can 
be  found.^ —  It  is  the  prayer  of  our  hearts,  that  you  may  long 
be  spared  in  the  Master's  vineyard,  and  that  we  may  receive 
your  words  of  encouragement  in  the  performance  of  our 
christian   duty. —  Very  Respectfully  Yours 

A.  McD.  BROWN. 

for  the  Congregation. 
Rev.  Thos.  Smyth  D.  D. 


^Yellow  fever  had  raged  in  Charleston  during  the  Summer  of 
1871,  with  a  death  rate  of  213.  On  Sept.  i,  the  Session  sent  Dr. 
Brackett  away,  as  he  was  not  acclimatized;  and  Dr.  Smyth  took 
entire  charge  of  the  church,  the  Session  only  stipulating  for  short 
services. — Ed. 


699 

CHARLESTON,  January  13,   1872. 
To  the  Congregation 

of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 

Many  reasons  concur  to  render  your  letter,  en- 
His  Answer,  closing  a  chcck  for  $500.00,  &  the  kind  words  ac- 
companying it,  very  grateful  to  my  heart.  Beyond 
the  mone}^  value  of  the  gift  I  prize  it,  as  enabling  me  to  cherish 
all  kind,  reciprocal,  good  will  &  good  cheer  as  we  enter  to- 
gether upon  another  year. 

Present  therefore  my  thankful  acknowledgement  to  all  who 
united  in  this  offering  of  love,  &  my  earnest  prayer  for  the 
spiritual  &  temporal  prosperity  of  the  church,  with  which  we 
are  connected. 

Faithful  unto  death,  I  remain  your  chosen 

Pastor  Emeritus, 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

The     congregation    of    the    Second     Presbyterian 

A   Baptismal      Church    witnessed    a    most    touching    service    at    this 
service. 

time   in   the   baptism   on    March   31,    1872,   by   the   old 

Doctor,  of  three  infants,  the  children  of  his  three  sons.     The  ten- 
der, loving  address  which  he  made  on  this  occasion  is  among  his 
published  works.^ 
^     ,  In  April  Dr.  Smyth  was  able  to  attend  the  meet- 

i  rcsbyterv. 

ing  of  Charleston  Presbytery  in  Columbia.  A  very 
interesting  account  of  this  visit  is  given  elsewhere.' 

The  needs  of  the  children  of  the  congregation 
Children's  v^^ere    always    important    to    Dr.    Smyth    and    he    now 

service  and        suggested   the   resumption   of   the    children's    service; 

Missionary  ,,  .    .  .        ^  .,       ,,.      .  _ 

Society  ^^  well  as   revivmg  the  Juvenile   Missionary   Society 

in  December,  1872.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  and 
published  his   "Sunday   School   Teaching   Service." 

On  June  16,  Dr.  Brackett  was  installed.  Dr. 
Dr.  Brackett  Girardeau  preaching  the  sermon,  Dr.  Smyth  deliver- 
installed    as  .  ,  ,  ,  i     -r-^        /-i       i  r- 

p^g^Qj.  mg    the    charge    to    the    pastor,    and    Dr.    Charles    S. 

•Vedder,  of  the  Huguenot  Church,  the  charge  to  the 
congregation.  In  his  address  Dr.  Smyth  spoke  of  a  great  painter 
who,  unable  to  complete  a  picture,  called  his  apprentice,  who  had 
learned  greater  skill  than  his  master,  and  entrusted  the  completion 
of  the  painting  to  his  brush:  At  this  point,  Dr.  Smyth  turned  to 
Dr.  Brackett,  and  motiohing  to  the  listening  congregation,  said  to 
him,  "This  is  my  picture,  I  paint  no  more!"  And  as  one  aged 
member  of  the  Church  feelingly  says,  Dr.  Brackett  was  worthy  of 
the  charge:  The  story  of  his  thirty  years  of  life  as  the  pastor  of 
the  Second  Church  is  only  written  in  full  in  God's  record  books, 
but  the  pages  thereof  are  many  and  beautiful. 

^See  "Dew  Drops  of  Humanity,"  vol.  IX,  p.  525. — Ed. 
"See  p ^Ed. 


700 

Dr.    Smyth  Relieved  from  the  pressure  of  active  pastoral  duty, 

resumes    his      j^^    Smyth  again  turned  his  attention  to  w^riting,   as 

work   as   an 

author.  "^^  ^^^  ^^  t^^  following  letters. — Editor. 

FLUSHING,  28  February,  1872. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH, 

I  have  now  received  the  sermons  mentioned  in 
your  letter.  Concerning-  Professor  Hitchcock's 
Analysis;  it  is  a  very  judicious,  complete,  and  convenient 
arrangement  of  inspired  texts  under  well  chosen  heads.  *  * 
Hoping  that  this  is  about  what  you  want,  I  am  ever  affection- 
ately Your  friend  &  brother, 

W.  B.  SPRAGUE. 


FLUSHING,  March  19,  1872. 
*  *  Your  letters  are  more  interesting  to  me  than  I  can 
possibly  make  you  understand.  I  miss  somewhat  that  grand, 
noble,  old  script  in  which  they  used  to  be  written ;  but  the  very 
tremulousness  of  your  hand  makes  them  the  more  interesting, 
because  it  shows  that  you  are  willing  to  use  a  hand  that  trem- 
bles, for  ni}-  gratification.     *     *     I  remember  distinctly  when 

I   first  saw  you,   in   Chapel   Street,   Albany,''   and 
Dr.  Sprague's   your  appearance  when  I  met  you. 
wUh  ^^^^'"^         Your  letter  contains  much  in  respect  to  yourself 
Smyth,    1830.    that  is  new  to  me.     I  did  not  know  before  that 

you  were  a  native  of  Belfast — I  always  thought 
that  you  were  an  Englishman.  I  knew  that  you  were  at 
Highbury  College,  where  I  first  met  Dr.  Henry  Forster  Br.r- 
der,  with  whom  I  corresponded  for  many  years.  I  went  to 
your  native  place,  Belfast,  but  saw  nobody  there  whom  I 
remember,  except  Dr.  Edgar,  with  whom  I  formed  a  pleasant 
and  lasting  acquaintance.  I  believe  my  visit  there  occurred 
in  the  college  vacation.  I  have  some  pleasant  recollections 
T^    c  '    too,  of  vour  present  residence.     In  18^0,  the  year 

Dr.    Sprague  s  '  -  ^  o    ■<  j 

visit   to  after  I  went  to  Albany,  I  was  sent  to  Savannah 

Charleston,        fgr  j-py  health.     On  my  return  I  spent  nearly  a 
^°'  week,  including  a  sabbath,  in  Charleston  ;  and  my 

recollections  of  that  visit  are  as  fresh  as  if  it  had  been  yester- 
day. I  preached  in  the  morning  in  the  church  in  which  my 
friend  Artemas  Boies  had  been  accustomed  to  minister, — the 
church  standing  on  high  ground,  (I  suppose  it  is  now  yours), 

^We  have  no  other  record  of  Dr.  Smyth's  visit  to  x^-lbany,  N.  Y. 
From  the  date  and  incidents  mentioned,  it  must  have  been  imme- 
diately  after  his   entering  Princeton   Seminary. — Ed. 


701 

and  in  the  afternoon  for  Dr.  Palmer,"  who  was  absent — *  "^^ 
Not  one  unpleasant  circumstance  occurred,  except  that  the 
multitude  of  darkies  around  me  was  really  a  terror  to  me. 
I  never  saw  the  time  when  I  would  not  do  them  a  kindness, 
but  neither  did  I  ever  see  the  time  when  I  was  willing  to  have 
them  around  me. 

I  thank  you  very  much  for  all  that  you  have  told  me  in 
your  letter  in  respect  to  yourself ;  and  now  will  you  pardon  me 
if  I  ask  for  a  few  crumbs  more  from  the  same  loaf?  You 
know,  I  suppose,  that  I  have  written  the  "Annals  of  the 
American  Pulpit."  Though  I  never  expect  to  write  any  more 
myself,  I  do  expect  that  the  work  will  be  continued  by  some 
other  hand,  and,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  enterprise,  I  am 
gathering  from  the  individuals  themselves  sketches  of  the 
lives  of  such  persons  as  will  naturally  be  included.  Will  you 
Dr  s  ra  ue  *^°  ™^  ^^^  favor  to  fumish  me,  by  some  other 
asks  a  sketch  hand  than  your  own,  a  brief  narrative  of  your 
of  Df.^  own  life.     If  you  say  yes,  I  will  send  you  a  num- 

"^^    ^    ^^'    ber  of  questions,  that  will  guide  you  in  writing, 
or  rather  in   dictating,  the   sketch.     All  that   I   should   need, 
might  be  written  on  a  single  sheet  of  letter  paper.     *     *     * 
Your  affectionate  friend, 

W.  B.  S  PRAGUE. 

Questions  When   and   where   were   you   born ;   what   was 

enclosed  your  father's  occupation,  and  to  what  church  did 

^^^"-  your  parents  belong?     Where  were  }'0U  fitted  for 

college?  When  did  you  graduate  at  Belfast?  Did  you  not 
study  Theology  in  England?  When  and  where  were  you 
licensed  to  preach?  In  what  year  did  you  come  to  this 
country?  How  long  were  you  a  student  at  Princeton?  When 
were  you  settled  at  Pensacola,  and  what  led  you  thither,  and 
when  did  you  resign  your  charge  there?  When  did  you  begin 
your  ministry  at  Charleston,  and  what  remarkable  events 
have  attended  it  ?  When  and  to  whom  were  you  married ; 
how  many  children  have  you  had ;  and  to  what  extent,  if  at 
all,  has  death  been  in  your  family? 

;  ■  PRINCETON,  April  5,  1872. 

Invitation   to  MY  DEAR   SIR, 

Hodge's  '  Sometime    ago    I    learned    from    Dr.    Wm.    H. 

semi-centen-  Green,"  that  he  hoped  you  would  be  here,  at  the 

"'^'-  closing  exercises  of  the  present  term  of  our  Sem- 

''Of  the  Circular  Church. — Ed. 

"Professor    of    Oriental    and    Old    Testament    Literature;    after- 


703 

inary,  on  the  24th  of  this  month.  I  have  requested  hifn  to 
say  to  you,  that  it  would  give  me  much  pleasure  to  have  your 
company  at  my  house,  during  your  visit  at  Princeton,  on  that 
occasion.  And  I  now  write  to  add,  that  I  am  looking  forward 
with  much  interest  to  a  visit  from  you ;  and  I  trust  you  will 
not  only  come  to  Princeton  on  some  day  before  the  24th 
instant ;  but  that  upon  your  arrival,  you  will  come  at  once  to 
my  house.  Should  Mrs.  Smyth,  or  any  member  of  your 
family,  accompany  you ;  so  much  the  better :  as  this  will  add 
to  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  yourself. —  Should  you  be  able 
to  come,  as  I  hope  you  will,  please  to  let  me  know  at  what 
time  I  may  expect  to  see  you. 

With  kindest   regards  to   Mrs.    S.   and  your   family,   I   am 
most  sincerely  and  with  great  respect. 

Yours — 

JOHN  MACLEAN.' 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth. 

FLUSHING,  May  9,  1872. 
*  '^  Most  gladly  would  I  have  met  you  at  Princeton,  if 
you  could  have  been  there,  but  it  was  quite  impossible,  not 
only  because  I  have  no  teeth  that  I  dare  trust  on  any  publick 
occasion,  but  because  my  daughter's  death  was  then  so  recent, 
that  I  could  not  consistently  have  mingled  in  so  joyous  a  scene. 
By  the  way  you  seem  not  to  know  that  I  was  an  alumnus  of 
the  institution.  I  was  in  the  same  class  with  Professor  Hodge, 
and  I  delivered  the  Semi-centennial  Address  in  1862  ;  and  it 
was  an  occasion  of  deep  regret  to  me  that  I  could  not  be  pres- 
ent at  the  late  celebration.^     *     *     * 

W.  B.  S PRAGUE. 

July  10,  1872. 
*  '■'  Yours  has  been  a  truly  eventful  life,  and 
the  history  of  it  ought  to  be,  and  I  cannot  doubt, 
will  be  preserved.  *  *  My  own  health  has 
been,  for  some  time,  at  a  low  ^ebb.  *  *  Remember  that  I 
was  bprn  in  1795,  thirteen  years  before  1808. 

Afifec.  vours, 

'  W.  B.  SPRAGUE. 


Sketch    of   Dr. 
Smyth's    life. 


wards  Chairman  of  the  American  Old  Testament  Revision  Com. 
One  of  Princeton's   greatest  men. — Ed. 

'John  McLean,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D.,  Ex-President  of  Princeton  Col- 
lege.— Ed. 

'The  close  of  the  fifteenth  year  of  Dr.  Hodge's  professorship 
was  the  reason  of  this  unusual  celebration. — Ed. 


703 

Sept.  19,  1872. 
■"_  ■■■  I  am  now  in  possession  of  everything  pertaining  to 
the  history  of  your  past  life  that  I  need;  and  I  trust  that, 
sooner  or  later,  the  world  will  be  the  better  and  the  wiser  for 
your  having  given  it  to  me.'  I  thank  you  a  thousand  times 
over  for  taking  such  pains  to  gratify  and  accommodate  me. 
*     *     *  Ever  affectionately  yours, 

W.  B.  S  PRAGUE. 

Presbyterian  Comniittee  of  Publication,  loii  Main  St. 
RICHMOND,  VIRGINIA,  July  8,   1872. 
RE\'.  DR.  THOMAS  SMYTH, 

Articles  in  Dear  Brother: — '*     *     The  only  point,  I  felt  it 

Earnest  ncccssary   to   advise   with   the    Committee   about, 

Worker.  ^^g  ^g  ^^  ^^^  future  issuiug  of  the  articles  you 

propose  furnishing,  in  book  or  tract  form,  and  the  preserving 
of  the  type,  from  week  to  week  for  that  purpose.  The  Com- 
mittee think  it  best  not  to  adopt  that  method  for  two  reasons. 
1st,  We  are  expressly  forbidden  to  publish  any  book  or  tract, 
until  it  has  been  examined  and  approved  by  three  members  of 
the  Committee.  2d.  The  typographical  appearance  of  it  would 
not  be  made  so  good,  if  the  plates  were  cast  from  the  news- 
paper type.  But  as  to  the  use  of  the  columns  of  the  Earnest 
Worker  for  the  purpose  you  desire,  there  was  expressed  a 
unanimous  willingness  on  the  part  of  the  Committee,  that  the 
articles  in  question  on  both  the  subjects  named  should  be 
published ; —  but  it  declined  to  act  on  it  formally — because 
under  my  appointment  as  Editor  by  the  General  Assembly, 
the  Committee  thought  it  wholly  belonged  to  me  to  determine. 
In  this  view  of  the  case,  permit  me  to  offer  you  the  use  of 
the  columns  of  the  Earnest  Worker,  for  the  discussion  of  the 
Lord's  commission  to  the  church,  and  the  stewardship  which 
Christians  should  exercise  in  making  their  wills.  I  must  re- 
mind you,  however,  that  the  paper  is  small,  and  it  will  be  nec- 
essary to  make  the  chapters,  or  weekly  portions,  correspond- 
ingly brief.  I  think,  moreover,  it  will  be  best  to  publish  your 
views  of  the  "Lord's  commission."  first-^and  to  follow  it  with 
the  other  subject.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  discussion  will  be 
both  interesting  and  profitable — and  after  the  whole  is  pub- 
lished, the  Committee  will  consider  the  question  of  the  issuing 
of  them  in  a  permanent  form. 

I  am,  very  truly,  etc. 

E.  T.  BAIRD. 

"The  sketch  of  Dr.  Smyth's  life,  made  by  him  for  Dr.  Sprague, 
has  been  sought  in  vain;  every  possible  clue  has  been  followed, 
but  without  success. — Ed. 


704 

In  October  Dr.  Smyth  was  able  to  be  out,  but  the 
ncreasmg  November   Communion   was   celebrated  without   him. 

weakness. 

No  more  certam  sign  of  his  feebleness  of  body  could 
have  been  given. — Editor. 

COLUMBIA,  S.  C,  Nov.  26,  1872. 
MY  DEAR  DR.  SMYTH: 

Revision  of  "'-  ^^^^  3"°"^  favor  of  the  22d,  which  would  have 

the  Book  of     been  answered  sooner,  but  I  was  absent  in  Will- 
Church  iamsburg. 

I  am  exceedingly  pressed  for  time.  I  never 
was  more  busy.  I  have  promised  a  volume  on  Pastoral  The- 
ology, by  the  middle  of  next  month,  &  I  have  yet  three  chap- 
ters to  write  &  the  whole  to  revise.  It  is  impossible  for  me 
this  year  to  undertake  more  than  I  have  on  hand.  Nor  have 
I  conferred  with  Dr.  S.  R.  Wilson."  Suppose  you  write  to 
him.  I  deeply  regret  the  agitation  brought  into  the  church  on 
this  subject.  You  have  leisure  &  learning  &  can  write.  Will 
you  not  mend  your  pen  &  go  to  work?  I  regard  your  letter 
as  in  confidence,  you  may  so  regard  this.  We  have  55  students, 
&  hope  for  a  few  more.  The  Seminary  has  just  reed,  notice 
of  a  bequest  of  from  $30,000  to  $40,000,  left  by  Dr.  Ritchie 
of  New  Orleans.  We  get  very  little  now ;  but  hope  soon  to 
receive  all.  Pray  for  us.  We  are  in  great  straits  at  times. 
But  we  are  very  cheerful,  yes  thankful. 

My  love  to  all  your  house.  My  "Hebrews"  is  out.  It  has 
been  well  received.        paithfullv  vours, 

WM.  S.  PLUMER. 

The  political  condition  of  South  Carolina  in  gen- 
Political  sui-  gj.^j  ^^^  Charleston  in  particular,  was  a  subject  of 
roundings.  .  .  _  *        ,      .        .  ,      , 

intense  anxiety  to  Doctor  Smyth,  for  it  touched  every 

phase  of  his  life; — his  church   (as  shown  in  the  anonymous  letter 

^°Dr.  Samuel  R.  Wilson,  pastor  of  the  First  Church  of  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  and  author  of  the  "Declaration  and  Testimony" 
of  1866,  in  which  the  discussion  of  political  topics  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  O.  S.  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  North  was 
vigorously  protested  against.  He  agreed  fully  with  Dr.  Plumer 
and  Dr.  Smyth  in  the  matter  of  the  Eldership,  as  well  as  other 
points  involved  in  the  Revision  of  the  Book  of  Church  Order. 
The  committee  charged  with  this  revision  had  been  under  Dr. 
Thornwell's  chairmanship,  and  since  his  death  Dr.  John  B.  Adger 
filled  that  position.  As  already  shown,  Dr.  Smyth  differed  with 
Dr.  Adger  on  Eldership,  and  he  also,  disagreed  with  certain 
changes,  as  being  subject  to  the  interpretation  of  making  Church 
Government  equal  with  Doctrine  in  importance.  See  Dr.  Brack- 
ett's  memorial,  p.  695. — Ed. 


705 

given  on  p.  735); — his  sons'  business  hopes;  and  the  actual  safety 
of  their  lives  and  homes.  Negro  and  carpet-bagger  ruled,  follow- 
ing and  supported  by  the  military  despotisim  of  the  Federal 
garrison.  Dr.  Smyth  did  not  live  to  see  the  vi^orst,  the  darkness 
that  preceded  the  dawn  of  1876.  His  old  Irish  friend,  Dr.  Ham- 
ilton, writing  in  1874,  of  his  having  differed  with  Dr.  Smyth, 
concerning  slavery,  says:  "I  am  sorry  to  learn  that  so  great 
troubles  have  followed  what  I  thought  was,  on  the  whole,  desirable 
for  all  classes.  *  *  Republican  principles  seem  to  afford  no 
remedy.  Despotism,  if  conducted  by  Christian  principles,  would 
be  far  better.  No  tyranny  is  more  detestable,  or  ruinous,  than 
that   of  multitudinous   ignorance." — Editor. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  January  17,  1873. 
''MY  VERY  DEAR  FRIEND  AND  BROTH- 
f  m  Tth*""^  ^^-  ^  ^^^  greatly  touched  to-day  in  taking  a 
letter  from  the  postoffice,  and  upon  breaking  the 
seal,  recognizing  the  familiar  hand-writing,  crampt  now  and 
trembling  with  disease,  so  unlike  the  bold  and  easy  pen  with 
which  you  wrote  in  former  days.  It  was  kind  in  you  to  think 
of  me  at  all,  especially  to  take  the  trouble  of  writing  a  letter, 
so  affectionate  and  tender ;  I  thank  you  for  it,  and  can  but 
feebly  express  the  gratitude  I  feel.  We  are  burdened  just 
now  with  a  great  sorrow,  and  our  hearts  are  strangely  tender.^ 
Every  word  of  sympathy  and  love,  sweeps  across  them,  and 
sets  the  chords  to  trembling.     *     *     * 

You  too,  my  venerable  brother,  have  felt  the  sore  discipline 
of  God,  in  another  form.  Heavy  reverses  of  earthly  fortune ; 
the  sudden  descent  from  affluence  to  dependent  poverty ; 
and  above  all,  the  premature  decay  of  physical  power, 
disabling  you  from  the  work  you  so  much  love,  while  the 
mental  faculties  retain  all  their  original  activity  and  freshness. 
This  last,  cannot  but  be  a  peculiar  trial,  drawing  as  deeply,  as 
any  other,  upon  the  submission  and  patience  of  the  soul.  We 
have  all  admired  the  cheerfulness  with  which  you  have  borne 
it,  the  constancy  of  your  faith  in  the  Redeemer,  the  zeal  for 
His  glory  which  burns  yet  beneath  the  ashes  of  your  decaying 
energies,  and  the  unsurpassed  power  of  will  which  has  kept 
you  alive  till  now.  We  have  not  only  admired,  but  we  have 
magnified  God  through  you  ;  and  it  should  be  a  large  con- 
solation to  you  in  the  midst  of  these  trials,  that  perhaps  never 

^His  youngest  daughter  was  dying.  Miss  Longstreet  describes 
one  of  Dr  Smyth's  letters  of  sympathy  thus:  "You  have  folded 
yourself  up  in  a  letter,  and  come  to  speak  words  of  comfort  and 
consolation." — Ed. 


[45] 


706 

in  the  day  of  your  eloquence  and  power,  did  you  so  effectually 
proclaim  the  riches  of  divine  grace,  as  by  these  passive  Chris- 
tian virtues,  which  have  made  the  close  of  your  life  so  illus- 
trious. It  would  be  a  partial  word  to  say  merely,  that  you  have 
the  constant  sympathy  of  all  your  friends ;  you  have  immeas- 
urably more,  their  warm  affection,  and  their  boundless  ad- 
miration, in  their  acceptance  of  you,  in  all  these  tribulations,  as 
a  faithful  witness  for  our  common  Master,  a  splendid  exemplar 
of  endurance,  through  the  power  of  a  holy  and  increasing  love. 
May  God  continue  to  bless  you  to  the  end,  and  grant  to  you 
the  great  privilege  of  closing  the  scene  by  a  final,  and  clear 
testimony  to  the  abounding  riches  of  His  grace.  I  pray 
fervently  that  your  life  may  run  out  clear  to  its  very  last  drop, 
and  that,  in  the  full  exercise  of  all  your  faculties,  you  may  tell 
us  at  the  last,  how  unspeakably  precious  Jesus  is  to  His 
Saints."     *     *     * 

B.  M.  PALMER. 


i68  Welliii^toii  Street, 
MEMPHIS,^  TENNESSEE. 
To  Dr.  Thomas  Smyth  Feby.  19,  1873. 

MY  DEAR  DOCTOR, 

No.   HI  of  your  Articles"  came  in  vesterday's 

Revistn.''"  ^^'^^-  ^°-  ^  ^^^  arrived  on  Saturday  P.  M.,  & 
Chichester  forwarded  No.  II.  I  took  them  up 
promptly  to  the  Memphis  Presbyterian  Office  (238  Main  St.) 
&  placed  them  in  the  hands  of  Bro.  Shotwell.  Dr.  Kew,  the 
Associate-Editor,  was  not  in,  so  that  no  definite  answer  was 
made  to  your  proposal. 

The  M.  P.  has  hitherto  discouraged  discussion  on  the  pro- 
posed Revision  on  the  ground  of  its  tending  to  interfere  with 
the  pending  negotiations  for  union  with  the  Synod  of  Mis- 
souri and  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church.  It  may  be,  how- 
ever, that  the  pieces  appearing  now  in  other  journals  may 
overrule  the  objection. 

You  remember  that  my  judgment  in  this  question  inclines 
decidedly  to  the  proposed  Revision,  but  I  do  sincerely  admire 
the  spirit  and  energy  exhibited  by  one  who  has  toiled  so  long 
amid  bodily  infirmities  for  what  he  believes  the  truth.  May 
the  Lord  give  you  comfort — and  so  far  as  right,  victory  too. 

Thanks  for  your  kind  messages  to  my  wife.  Give  my  love, 
please,  to  Cousin  Margaret  and  the  family. 

"Concerning  the  revision  of  the  Book  of  Church  Order. — Ed. 


707 

With  a  grateful  recollection  of  the  many  kind  words  that 
you  have  given  me,  unmarred  by  a  single  discordant  note, 
even  when  duty  seemed  to  array  me  against  your  opinions,'' 
1  remain,  dear  Doctor, 

as  ever  yours, 

WM.  E.  BOGGS. 
Rev.  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 
Charleston,  S.  C. 

WINNSBORO,  S.  C.  June  9,  1873. 
REV.  THOS.  SMYTHE,  D.  D. 
REV.  &  DEAR  SIR  :— 

I  have  delayed  writing,  in  answer  to  yours  to 
fo"^a^Hs't"of  i"6  ^t  Columbia,  containing  list  of  books,  until  I 
books  suitable  should  be  Settled  down  quietly  in  my  new  charge, 
for  Theoiog-  j  ^^^  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  your  kindness 
in  making  out  so  complete  a  list  as  the  one  you 
did  for  me,  but  reproached  myself  for  having  made  the  re- 
quest, when  I  learned  that  you  had  worked  two  whole  nights 
upon  it  when  there  was  no  immediate  haste  in  the  matter. 
I  have  written  twice  to  the  book  firm  in  Toronto,  whose  card 
you  gave  me,  but  have  not  heard  from  them  in  reply.     *     * 

Since  you  have  prepared  this  list  of  books  I  am  reminded  of 
the  fact,  that  the  students  at  the  Seminary  each  year,  are 
anxious  to  procure  a  list  of  the  most  suitable  books  for  them 
to  purchase,  in  their  various  departments  of  study;  and  also 
for  practical  use  afterwards  in  the  active  work.  I  have  known 
them  to  apply  to  the  different  professors  for  lists  in  their  sev- 
eral departments,  but  generally,  if  not  always,  unsuccessfully ; 
as  the  want  of  time  prevents  the  compliance,  on  the  part  of 
the  Professor  with  so  many  requests.  I  have  often  thought 
that  if  such  a  list  were  carefully  prepared,  containing  the  best 
books  in  the  different  branches  of  study  &  labor,  the  most 
important  first,  and  those  less  important  following  in  their 
order ;  and  if  that  list  be  carefully  copied  in  a  suitable  blank 
book  &  deposited  in  the  Library  at  the  Seminary,  as  one  of 
the  regular  books,  not  to  be  taken  out,  the  students  could  all 
hiave  access  to  it,  and  take  a  copy  for  their  own  use,  &  thus 
the  list  would  serve  its  purpose  continually,  in  the  future. 

Now  there  is  probably  no  person  in  the  church  more  com- 
petent to  perform  this  labor  of  selecting  the  books,  than  your- 

'Dr.  Boggs,  a  son  of  the  missionary,  held  to  the  opinions  of 
Dr.  Adger.  A  young  man  at  the  time  of  this  letter  he  has  since 
become  very  prominent  in  the  Southern   Church. — Ed. 


708 

self,  providing  you  would  do  it  leisurely,  and  at  your  own 
ease ;  jotting  down  from  time  to  time,  as  they  occur  to  your 
mind,  or  come  under  your  notice,  in  a  little  blank  book  divided 
off  into  appropriate  headings,  the  names  of  such  books  as  you 
know  to  be  good,  &  would  recommend  for  such  a  purpose. 
Six  months  or  a  year  would  be  time  enough  for  its  completion. 
After  you  had  thought  of  all  such  books,  then  a  fair  copy  could 
be  taken  in  another  book,  to  be  placed  when  finished  in  the 
Library.  If  you  feel  like  undertaking  the  work,  I  will  see  to 
having  it  copied  &  placed  properly  in  the  Library  at  the 
Seminary.  But  your  part  must  only  be  done,  if  done  at  all,  in 
your  leisure  moments,  if  you  ever  have  any  such,  or  when  you 
can  do  so  with  perfect  comfort  to  yourself.  If  I  thought  that 
you  would  take  one-half  hour  for  this  work,  from  your  hours 
of  repose,  I  should  never  cease  reproaching  myself  for  having 
even  mentioned  the  subject.     *     *     * 

My  wife  joins  with  me  in  love  to  yourself  &  kindest  re- 
gards to  all  the  family  &  friends. 

Yours  with  very  great  respect, 

C.  E.  CHICHESTER.* 

GETTYSBURG,  PA. 
May  7.  1873. 
REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.  D. 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C. 

Dear  Dr. — My  attention  has  often  been  directed 
Request  for      ^     leiiQTs  &  Speakers  &c.  to  a  paper  called  The 

information.  -  ^        .  .  . 

MecklenHirg  Articles,  (or  something  like  that) 
as  a  basis, — perhaps  the  basis, —  in  the  hands  of  Thos.  Jeff- 
erson, of  our  National  Government  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence &  Constitution.  This  information  has  come  to  me  in 
fugitive  forms,  &  I  am  at  a  loss,  on  occasion,  for  documentary 
evidence  of  these  statements.  I  have  examined  y'r  work  on 
Ecclesiastical  Republicanism,  with  the  greatest  satisfaction, 
but  I  have  not  found  any  allusion  to  this  paper  in  any  definite, 
or  specific  way.  I  have  been  led  to  suppose,  however,  that  in 
yr.  other  works  on  Presbyterianism  &c.  the  knowledge  I  desire 
may  be  found.^  Now,  believing  that  you,  if  any  one,  w'd.  be 
thoroughly  informed  touching  this  whole  matter,  I  take  pleas- 

*Mr.  Chichester  went  into  the  Seminary  soon  after  the  war. 
He  had  attained  the  rank  of  Captain  and  had  especially  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  the  defense  of  Wagner.  An  account  is  given 
of  him  in  Maj.  R.  C.  Gilchrist's  pamphlet  on  that  subject. — Ed. 

""The  Mecklenburg  and  National  Declaration  of  Independence," 
preached  July  4,  184-7.     See  vol.  Ill,  p.  407,  Smyth's  Works. — Ed. 


709 

ure  in  asking  yr.  aid,  that  I  may  be  put  in  possession  of  what- 
ever accurate  information  there  may  be  on  the  subject.  This 
I  ask  in  the  interests  of  Presbyterianism ;  for  use  here  &  wher- 
ever, I  can  make  it  useful  for  our  Chh.  &  the  Master.  An 
early  answer  will  much  oblige, 

Yrs.  very  truly 

W.  W.  CAMPBELL. 
Pastor  Presb'n.  Ch.  Gettysburg. 

ATLANTA,  GA.  May  19,  1873. 
Revd.  Thomas  Smyth  D.  D. 

Charleston  S.  C. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  &  BRO. 

*  *     We  are  just  now  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
pprecia  ion.    gp^^-^j  ^  gracious  visitation  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 

the  Church  is  greatly  revived  and  many  hopeful  converts  are 
already  numbered  as  trophies  of  Divine  Grace —  Among  these 
is  a  former  friend  of  yours,  the  Son  of  Mr.  Bowie.  He  has 
been  reading  with  great  interest  &  profit  that  precious  little 
book  from  your  pen  entitled,  "The  Well  in  the  Valley,"  and 
he  desires  me  to  ask  where  a  copy  can  be  had. 

Let  me  tell  you,  my  Brother,  that  the  copy  now  in  Mr. 
Bowie's  hands  has  been  a  most  potent  agent  in  the  conversion 
of  more  than  a  Dozen  Souls.     *     *     * 

J.  A.  ANSLEY. 

BOSCOBEL,  July  24,  1873. 
REV.  THOMAS  SMYTH 
DEAR  BROTHER, 

*  *     Let  no  one  speak  gloomy  words  at  the 
Encourage-       be^sidc  of  an   old   Minister,   looking   forward  to 

ment. 

the  time  of  his  departure.  Indeed  all  those 
gloomy  thoughts  of  death  which  Christians  generally  indulge 
in,  so  often  are  unworthy  of  the  hopes  we  cherish. 

I  must  close.     If  I  did  not  dread  so  much  the  long  ride  to 
Columbia  for  my  eyes,  I  would  run  down  &  pay  you  a  visit. 
Accept  this  brief  note  instead  &  believe  me 
As  ever, 

afifectionatelv  yours,  in  brotherlv  bonds, 
JNO.  B.  ADGER. 

January,    1873.    found    the    Doctor    able    to    be    at 
Church;  and  in  March,  he  was  present  at  two  meet- 
ings of  the  session,  with   the  preceding  services.     On  June    i,  he 
baptized  a  baby  grand-daughter  in  church,  and  in  May,  he  had  been 


710 

able  to  attend  the  Anniversary  meetings  and  assist  in  administer- 
ing the  Communion,  but  he  rapidly  grew  weaker  and  was  never 
again  to  meet  with  his  people  in  that  most  solemn  service.  The 
session  book  tells  us  that  when  he  next  partook  of  the  sacrament 
it  was  on  August  lo,  ten  days  before  his  death,  when  it  was  borne 
to  his  sick  room  by  Dr.  Brackett  and  the  elders. 

But  Dr.  Smyth's  death  was  as  wonderful  as  his 
d'^'h^T*'^  life:  the  last  heroic  battle  with  mortality  was  suc- 
ust  20,  1873.  cessfully  waged  by  him  during  the  dragging,  weari- 
some days  of  that  Summer.  The  daughter'  whose 
tender  office  it  was  to  remain  with  her  father  and  mother  in  that 
time  of  trial,  and  the  physician  who,  with  wonder  at  the  truly 
remarkable  command  of  the  spirit  over  the  racked  and  tortured 
frame,  ministered  as  best  he  could  to  the  Doctor's  failing 
strength,  have  both  told  of  the  amazing  struggle.  Doctor  Smyth 
was  determined  to  examine  once  more  his  accumulated  sermons, 
and  destroy  such  as  he  did  not  consider  worth  publishing.  The 
large,  upright,  pigeon-holed  case  in  which  they  were  filed,  was 
put  close  to  the  reclining  chair  in  which  he  found  some  little  ease 
from  pain,  and  with  his  twisted  hands  the  sermons  were  drawn 
out,  examined  (towards  the  end,  alas,  how  slightly!),  thrown  on 
the  piles  to  right,  or  to  left,  which  were,  later  in  the  day,  to  be 
destroyed,  or  put  carefully  aside.  For  a  long  time  the  work  went 
on;  each  day  the  physician  receiving  as  an  answer  to  his  question, 
"Not  ready  yet.  Doctor."  Finally  one  morning  there  were  no 
more  sermons;  the  case  was  empty — the  floor  bare.  Dr.  Smyth 
answered  to  his  physicion's  query,  "I  have  finished,  I  am  ready." 
and  that  afternoon  at  5  o'clock,  the  brave  spirit  passed  to  rest. 
The  day  was  August  20,  1873. 

Dr.  Brackett,  in  the  discourse  preached  at  Dr.  Smyth's  funeral, 
says: — 

"It  was  my  happiness  to  be  his  companion  when  he  took 
his  last  daily  drive,  and  I  cannot  be  sufficiently  grateful  to  a 
kind  Providence  that  I  was  permitted  to  comfort  him  during 
the  last  hour  of  his  life ;  to  read  to  him  those  favourite  hymns 
which  so  fully  express  the  believer's  triumphant  faith  and 
hope.  His  utterance  was  almost  gone  and  he  could  answer 
our  questions  only  in  fragmentary  words.  When  asked  which 
aspect  of  Heaven  had  been  most  prominent  in  his  Christian 

"Augustine  was  with  his  family,  and  his  sisters.  Sue  and  Janey, 
who  were  in  Canada  for  the  Summer;  he  had  just  left  home, 
thinking  that  his  father  would  live  for  some  time  yet.  Dr.  Smyth 
had  fully  expected  his  end,  and  had  been  writing  most  touching 
letters  to  his  family  and  friends,  not,  however,  preserved  in  this 
collection.  Adger  Smyth  was  at  the  White  Sulphur  Springs  of 
Virginia  for  his  health,  his  family  on  Sullivan's  Island.  Sarah 
Annie,  and  Ellison,  with  his  wife,  were  at  home. — Ed. 


Mr.   J.    Adger    Smyth   was    not   in   Virginia   at   the   time    of   his 
father's    death,    but    temporarily    absent    from    the    house. — Editor. 


711 

experience :  Baxter's  Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,  Howe's  Bless- 
edness of  the  Righteous,  of  Owen's  Personal  Glory  and  Fel- 
lowship of  Christ,  he  replied,  "if  I  thought  I  was  near  my  end, 
I  would  like  to  read  all  these.' 

"Seeing  that  his  end  was  approaching,  we  asked  him  what 
farewell  message  he  would  leave  to  the  people  to  whom  he 
had  so  long  ministered,  and  who  would  so  affectionately  cher- 
ish his  memory.  A  sudden  change  came  over  his  countenance, 
an  expression  of  intense  emotion,  as  if  his  heart  were  too  full 
for  utterance ;  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  dear  faces  of  his  congre- 
gation came  up  before  him ;  as  if  all  the  tender  and  precious 
associations  of  the  past  were  clustering  around  him ; 
and  a  deep  rushing  tide  of  feeling  was  overwhelming 
his  soul.  He  called  for  water,  evidently  with  the 
intention  of  clearing  his  throat,  preparatory  to  a  clear,  full 
utterance.  But  he  never  spoke  again.  His  silence,  to  those 
who  witnessed  the  death  struggle,  was  more  eloquent  and 
impressive  than  any  spoken  words  could  have  been.  He  died, 
dear  friends,  with  his  church  upon  his  heart  and  tongue.  His 
last  thoughts  were  of  the  people  of  his  love.  The  last  throb  of 
his  great,  generous,  loving  heart,  was  for  you.  His  last  dying 
effort  was  to  speak  to  you.     *     *     *" 


MEMORIAL  NOTES 
AND  LETTERS 


715 


MEMORIAL  NOTICES  AND  LETTERS. 

Dr.  Smyth  O^    August  22,   1 873,  at    twclvc    o'cloclc,    the 

buried  Aug-  worn-out  bodv  was  borne  to  the  grave  by  a  great 
"^*  ^^-  assemblage;  the  pall-bearers,  all  clergymen,  being 

chosen  to  represent  the  different  Protestant  denominations, 
and  the  service  conducted  by  Dr.  Brackets  and  Dr.  Girardeau 
in  the  black-draped  church.  The  coloured  people,  in  whose 
service  Dr.  Smyth  had  never  tired,  were  present  in  large 
numbers,  and  one  old  woman  with  streaming  tears,  ejaculated 
as  the  coffin  passed  her,  "Go  to  Jesus,  faithful  preacher!"  The 
Orphan  House  children,  in  memory  of  his  many  kindnesses 
to  them,  covered  the  mound  with  flowers. 

This  interment  took  place  in  the  Adger  lot,  east  of  the 
Church.  Later,  as  the  scattered  congregation  returned  home, 
it  was  arranged  by  them  that  Dr.  Smyth  should  lie  in  the  spot 
of  his  own  choosing;'  and  there  his  monument  rises,  with  that 
of  his  faithful  wife  beside  him,  and  many  of  his  descendants 
near. 

The  following  letters  and  papers  tell  their  own  story.  Very 
many  others  are  in  the  old  portfolio ;  letters  from  his  two 
sisters  and  his  brother  James,  from  nephews  and  nieces,  friends 
and  kinfolk ;  resolutions  and  obituaries.  Those  that  follow 
are  chosen,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  show,  not  only  that  he 
was  mourned,  but  why ;  and  that  the  mourning  was  not  limited 
to  his  family  and  his  people ;  that  the  broken  invalid  was  still 
a  power  in  the  church  at  large. 

DR.  B.  M.  PALMER  wrote  on  August  27,  1873 :— I  think 
God  put  a  two-fold  honour  upon  his  servant — ^first,  in  allow- 
ing him,  through  a  long  life  of  rare  industry,  to  preach  with 
eloquence  and  power  the  gospel  of  His  grace ;  and  then,  at  its 
close,  to  illuminate  his  own  teachings  by  the  exhibition  of  those 
passive  virtues  which  most  adorn  the  Christian,  and  which 
can  only  be  acquired  under  the  discipline  of  sorrow  and  pain. 
He  has.  then  been  a  double  witness  for  his  Master. 


'Of   Dr.    Brackett's   eloquent   sermon   portions   have   been   given 
already. — Ed. 

'The  change  was  made  in  March,  1874. — Ed. 


716 

From  JOHN  B.  ADGER,  D.  D. 
COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

Dr.  Smyth  was  truly  a  great  man.  He  had  his  weaknesses, 
(and  who  has  not?)  but  they  were  only  specks.  He  was  great 
intellectually,  great  morally,  and  great  religiously.  He  had  a 
clear,  vigorous,  active  understanding;  a  warm,  brave  heart;  a 
strong  will ;  an  eloquent  tongue ;  his  industry  was  untiring ; 
his  energy  never  flagged ;  difficulties  never  appalled  him ;  op- 
position only  made  him  the  more  determined  to  carry  out 
what  he  thought  was  right,  and  the  greater  the  odds  against 
him  in  any  struggle  for  what  he  considered  to  be  the.  truth, 
the  higher  would  his  courage  rise  to  do  all,  and  dare  all  for 
the  vindication  of  his  principles.  As  an  author,  he  has  cer- 
tainly not  written  in  vain.  Such  works  as  "Why  do  I  live," 
and  the  "Well  in  the  Valley,"  are  both  books  that  will  live. 
But  nature  designed  him  for  an  orator,  and  beyond  most  men 
of  my  acquaintance  was  he  endowed  richly  by  nature  with 
all  the  qualifications  of  the  most  consummate  orator.  He  was 
not  so  great  in  the  pulpit,  where  he  generally  (during  most  of 
his  life,)  read  his  sermons,  as  he  was  in  the  lecture  room;  nor 
was  he  so  great  in  the  lecture  room  as  he  was  on  the  platform ; 
nor  was  he  so  great  on  the  platform  as  he  was  on  the  floor  of 
the  deliberative  assembly ;  nor  was  he  so  great  on  the  floor 
of  the  deliberative  assembly  when  he  was  on  the  strong  side, 
as  when  he  was  on  the  weak  one.  But  in  reply,  and  for  a  lost 
cause,  as  it  seemed,  and  when  there  was  no  hope  left  for  his 
side  apparently,  then  was  Dr.  Smyth  strong,  and  then  was  he 
dangerous  to  his  opponents. 

I  have  said  that  he  was  a  great  man  religiously ;  I  mean 
that  he  was  an  experienced  and  ripe  believer,  an  old  and  long 
tried  soldier  of  the  Cross,  who  had  passed  through  fire  and 
water,  both  oftentimes,  'and  been  hurt  by  neither,  He  was 
saved  by  hope ;  he  was  a  cheerful,  heartsome,  confiding  fol- 
lower of  his  Master. 

I  love  to  think  of  him  now  as  perfected ;  and  I  love  to  look 
forward  to  reunion  with  him.  and  with  Thornwell.  and  with 
other  beloved  brethren,  all  of  us  perfected  forever.  What  a 
great  and  goodly  company  when  it  is  all  filled  up.  one  by  one ! 

From  ROBERT  IRVINE.  D.  D. 

AUGUSTA.  GA..  August  25.  1873. 

I  have  been  familiar  with  his  name  since  my  boyhood,  and 
during  the  rage  of  the  Puseyite  controversy,  from  1834  to 
1841.  every  one  in  our  Irish  Church  was  compelled  to  take 
some  interest  in  the  question. 


717 

One  of  the  first  books  I  read,  after  furnishing  myself  with 
'the  Tracts  for  the  Times,'  was  Dr.  Smyth's  work  on  Episco- 
pacy. From  the  day  of  my  arrival  in  British  America,  I 
longed  to  meet  him;  but,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  never 
secured  the  opportunity  until  your  kind  invitation  accorded 
me  the  never-to-be-forgotten  privilege. 

From  REV.  G.  R.  BRACKETT, 
August  24,  1873. 

I  did  not  know  how  much  I  was  leaning  upon  your  dear 
father,  until  he  was  taken  from  us.  It  is  not  generally  known 
that  the  'improvement'  in  my  preaching,  Avhich  I  have  heard 
frequently  remarked,  during  the  past  year,  is  entirely  due  to 
his  suggestions.  He  has  done  more  for  me,  in  this  respect, 
than  the  Theological  Seminary. 

From  JOHN  D.  MATTHEWS,  D.  D. 

LOUISVILLE,  KENTUCKY,  August  26,  1873. 

I  saw  this  morning  the  brief  obituary  of  my  lifelong  friend 
and  brother  beloved.  I  had  feared  this  result,  but  his  letter  of 
a  recent  date  indicated  that  his  general  health  had  improved. 

He  was  my  intimate  friend,  from  the  first  day  he  came  to 
Princeton,  till  "he  fell  on  sleep."^ 

From  a  sermon  by  the  REV.  D.  L.  BUTTOLPH, 

MARIETTA,  GEORGIA,  August  31,  1873. 

And  here  I  must  pay  him  a  heart  tribute.,  which  I  would  be 
most  ungrateful  to  withhold,  for  I  owe  him  more  than  my 
poor  tongue  can  tell.  My  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Smyth  runs 
back  twenty-seven  years.  I  landed  in  Charleston  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1846,  without  a  single  acquaintance  or  friend.  A 
stranger  in  a  strange  city,  he  took  me  by  the  hand  and  gave 
me  his  large  confidence  in  such  a  manner  as  immediately  won 
my  heart's  love.  His  house  was  open  to  me  at  all  times,  his- 
valuable  library  was  at  my  service,  and,  what  I  prized  more 
than  all,  his  friendship  was  bestowed  upon  me  in  no  stinted 
measure.  It  was  his  faithful  presentation  of  the  truth,  as  it  lay 
in  the  line  of  my  duty,  which  led  me  to  consecrate  my  life  to 
the  gospel  ministry,  and  it  was  his  Church  which  generously 
supported  me  during  the  years  of  my  preparation  for  this 
office. 

^Dr.   Matthews   had   received   a   "cheerful   and  agreeable   letter" 
from  Dr.  Smyth,  dated  June  23. — Ed. 


718 

After  leaving  the  Seminary  at  Columbia,  S.  C,  I  was  as- 
sociated with  him  for  two  years,  at  the  call  of  his  Church,  as 
Assistant  Minister.  During  these  two  years,  never  was  thc-e 
a  word  or  act  from  him  which  was  not  kind  and  generous.  T 
loved  him,  and  I  know  that  that  love  was  reciprocated  by  him. 
My  respect  rose  higher,  and  my  attachment  even  stronger,  the 
more  I  saw  of  him.     *     *     * 

From  THOMAS  HOUSTON,  D.  D.* 

Knockhracken  Manse,  BELFAST,  IRELAND, 

September   12,    1873. 

When  I  reflect  upon  the  tender,  lengthened  intercourse 
that  I  was  privileged  with  Dr.  Smyth,  and  think  that  this  is 
now,  as  far  as  earth  is  concerned,  at  an  end,  I  assure  you  that 
I  feel  a  sense  of  deep  loneliness,  and  I  can,  therefore,  cordi- 
ally sympathize  with  his  bereaved  family.  This  intercourse 
commenced  when  he  was  a  boy  in  the  household  of  his  excellent 
parents,  and  when  he  was  under  my  care  as  a  pupil  in  one  of 
our  best  educational  establishments  in  Belfast.  At  that  early 
age,  he  gave  marked  indications  of  many  of  the  high  mental 
and  moral  qualities,  for  which,  in  future  life,  he  was  so  dis- 
tinguished. He  was  systematic  in  the  arrangements  of  his 
time  and  studies,  ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  as  he 
readily  distanced  competitors  in  the  race  for  academical  dis- 
tinctions. Above  all,  I  marked  in  him  the  manifestations  of 
deep,  early  piety,  as  I  admired  greatly  his  gentle,  amiable, 
loving  disposition.  Having  been  led,  in  the  grace  and  prov- 
idence of  my  Lord  and  Master,  to  originate  a  Juvenile  Mis- 
sionary Association,  and  some  other  schemes  of  Christian 
benevolence,  which  were  then  rare  among  students  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  generally,  Dr.  Smyth,  then  in  the  opening 
vigor  of  his  mental  powers,  threw  himself  into  them  with  all 
his  heart,  and  rendered  me  and  the  cause  most  efficient  service. 
At  this  long  distance  of  time,  I  have  a  vivid  remembrance  of 
our  consultations  on  subjects  connected  with  the  advancement 
of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  of  some  of  the  thrilling 
speeches  which  he  spoke  at  our  public  meetings,  convened 
for  this  object. 

Dr.  Houston  wrote  again,  on  September  23  : — 
With    reference   to   the    wish    expressed   by   your   beloved 
father,  that  I  might  be  led  to  sympathize  with  the  position  of 

^On  August  16,  Dr.  Smyth  had  dictated  a  letter  to  Dr.  Houston, 
who  calls  him,  "the  most  faithful  and  tried  brother  that  I  had  on 
earth." — Ed. 


719 

your  Southern  Presbyterian  Church,  and  to  pray  for  them — 
as  far  as  I  have  the  means  of  judging,  as  holding  with  greater 
fulness  to  the  Westminster  Standards,  and  as  contending  for 
the  Church's  spiritual  independence,  they  have  my  cordial 
sympathy. 

From  WM.  HAMILTON,  D.  D. 

NORTHFIELD,  SUMMIT  CO,  OHIO,  October  6,  1873. 

To  the  Family  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D. : 

Dear  Friends — You  may,  perhaps,  have  heard  your  excel- 
lent and  lamented  father  mention  the  name  of  an  old  Belfast 
classmate,  Wm.  Hamilton.  You  will,  therefore,  I  hope,  excuse 
the  intrusion  of  this  letter. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Alexander  Macklin,  of  the  Scotch  Church, 
in  Philadelphia ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Blackwood,  of  the  same  city ; 
the  Rev.  James  Lewers,  once  a  pastor  near  Charleston,  were 
our  contemporaries.  Dr.  Blackwood  and  I  are  now  the  only 
remaining  ones  of  those  who  emigrated. 

Nearly  thirty  years  ago,  I  saw  Dr.  Smyth  in  Belfast.  He 
had  then  published  several  important  works,  chiefly  on  church 
government.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  him  as  a  guest 
at  my  house  in  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey,  about  the  year 
i860.  He  had  then  been  stricken  with  partial  paralysis,  but 
his  mind  had  lost  none  of  its  enthusiasm  or  activity. 

Since  then  we  have  never  met,  but  we  often  exchanged 
correspondence.'  I  have  before  me  now  on  my  desk  three  of 
my  old  friend's  precious  letters.  The  first  was  written  in  1869, 
with  a  firm,  bold  hand;  the  second,  dated  1871,  exhibits  signs 
of  age  and  feebleness  ;  the  third,  traced  with  a  lead  pencil  is 
very  shaky  and  irregular.  It  seems  dated  in  February  of  the 
present  year. 

The  second  is  much  more  spiritual  than  the  first.  The 
third,  in  its  simple,  earnest,  kindly  advices  to  myself,  and  its 
fervid  aspirations  after  Heaven,  gives  most  interesting  and 
comforting  evidences,  that,  with  failing  powers,  the  writer  was 
ripening  for  glory. 

My  first  recollections  of  your  father  go  back  to  our  school 
days.     We  read  Horace  and  Homer  together  in  the  schools  of 

"There  are  several  interesting  letters  in  existence,  from  Dr. 
Hamilton,  who  was  at  one  time  doing  home  missionary  work  in 
Ohio.  In  one  he  says::  "This  region  of  the  Western  Reserve  is 
in  a  very  low  religious  condition.  It  has  been  burned  over  with 
isms."  He  also  says  that  the  only  point  on  which  he  ever  dis- 
agreed with  Dr.  Smyth  was  Secession. — Ed. 


720 

the  Royal  Belfast  Institute.  I  have  a  mental  daguerreotype 
of  my  class-mate  taking  short  notes,  in  very  small  blank  books, 
which  he  carried  in  his  vest  pocket,  so  early  did  his  character 
for  learned  research  begin  to  assert  itself. 

It  was  to  me  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  Dr.  Smyth  suffered 
to  severely  during  the  war,  by  the  loss  of  property.  Perhaps, 
after  all,  it  was  the  discipline  my  dear  friend  required,  to 
prepare  him  for  a  world  of  unbroken  happiness.  What  does 
it  now  signify  to  him  that  he  died  in  comparative  poverty? 
He  was  heavily  pressed  by  great  public  and  private  calamities, 
but  he  still  retained  the  love  of  Jesus.  He  still  felt  an  ardent 
desire,  and  still  was  permitted,  with  some  of  his  once  pre- 
eminent ability,  to  preach  the  Gospel ;  and  he  was  still  busy 
with  his  pen  in  literary  labors  on  religious  subjects.  He  now 
rests  in  peace  after  all  his  troubles.       *     *     * 

Sincerely  sympathising  in  your  loss,  which  indeed  is  also 
my  own,  I  remain  in  the  concluding  words  in  one  of  your 
father's  letters,  his  "quondam  class-mate,"  and,  for  his  sake, 
your  sincere  friend  in  the  bonds  of  the  Gospel. 

WILLIAM  HAMILTON. 

NORTHFIELD,  SUMMIT  CO.,  OHIO. 

ELLISON  A.  SMYTH,  ESQ.  ^''^'  ^'  '^"^^ 

MY  DEAR  SIR, 
*  *  I  should  be  delighted  to  hear  that  a  fuller  and  more 
formal  life  was  to  be  published.  There  are  considerable  ma- 
terials in  these  letters  and  his  correspondence,  which  might  be 
gathered  in,  would  be  still  more  interesting.  Suitable  reviews 
of  his  numerous  works,  with  choice  extracts  from  them,  would 
increase  the  value  of  the  work.  Please  to  let  me  know  whether 
you  are  about  to  carry  into  effect  the  design  of  publishing 
a  Biography.     *     *     * 

WILLIAM   HAMILTON. 

From  the  Christian  Union,  of  New  York,  HENRY  WARD 
BEECHER,  Editor',  September  lo,  1873. 

Another  recently  departed  Minister  is  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas- 
Smyth,  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  for  more  than  forty  years  Pastor 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  in  that  city,  and  long 
known  in  the  Church  at  large.  He  was  a  man  of  wide  at- 
tainments, having  published  in  his  lifetime  over  thirty  works 
on  theological  subjects.  Unhappily,  in  the  fullness  of  his 
manhood  he  was  smitten  with  paralysis,  but  though  ever  after- 


721 

wards  a  cripple,  he  continued  his  ministerial  work  with  firm 
faith  and  indomitable  energy.  He  died  at  the  age  of  sixty-five, 
justly  entitled  to  profound  respect  for  the  bravery  of  his  spirit 
under  trials  which  would  have  prostrated  most  men. 

From  the  Southern  Presbyterian,  Columbia,  S.  C,  September 
lo,  1873. 

Mr.  Editor : —  You  will  much  oblige  the  family  of  the  late 
Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  by  allowing  the  correction  of  the  statement 
in  the  notice  of  his  death,  in  your  issue  of  27th  ult.,  that  "life 
had  become  an  almost  insupportable  burden,  which  he  longed 
inexpressibly  to  lay  down."  Far  from  being  a  burden,  life 
was  full  of  joy  and  happiness  to  him.  Always  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer of  nature,  in  all  her  varying  moods,  he  enjoyed  intensely 
communion  with  her,  and  to  the  very  last,  only  three  days 
before  his  death,  after  returning  from  his  daily  ride  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city,  he  spoke  of  the  pleasure  he  had  received, 
and  the  beautiful  scenes  he  had  witnessed.  In  the  home  circle, 
he  entered  into  all  the  joys  and  cheerfulness  of  the  family, 
and  delighted  to  draw  his  grandchildren  around  him,  and  took 
pleasure  in  sharing  their  mirth  and  merry  laughter.  He  never 
gave  way  to  despondency  about  himself,  and  would  always 
answer  the  inquiries  as  to  his  welfare  with  a  bright  and  happy 
smile.  His  religion  was  a  joyous  service,  into  which  his  soul 
entered  with  all  its  energies,  and  there  were  no  repinings,  but 
cheerful,  willing  submission  to  all  his  Father's  will. 

Nor  'did  he  long  to  lay  down  the  burden  of  life.  Only  some 
two  weeks  before  his  death,  on  Communion  Sabbath,  when 
the  Pastor  and  Elders  of  his  Church  attended  upon  him  in  a 
body,  and  administered  the  Sacrament  in  his  chamber,  he 
said,  "Pray  for  me,  if  it  is  the  Lord's  will,  that  like  Hezekiah, 
he  may  raise  me  up,  and  spare  me  yet  longer  to  serve  him." 
To  his  famil}^  and  friends  his  constant  request  was,  "Do  not 
forget  to  pray  for  me,  always  of  course  in  entire  submission  to 
God's  will,  that  he  may  spare  me  longer,  as  I  have  much  to 
do,  and  want  to  finish  many  works  yet  incomplete." 

He  longed  to  live,  to  devote  his  time  and  energies  to  the 
service  cJf  his  Saviour,  and  to  labor  for  the  advancement  of  his 
cause. 

From  the  Southern  Presbyterian,  September  18,   1873. 

As  a  friend,  he  was  always  true,  ever  ready  to  perform  any 
act  of  kindness  which  lay  in  his  power.  He  delighted  espec- 
ially in  seeking  out  the  young  and  aiding  them  by  his  counsel 

[461 


723 

and  advice.  Many  a  young  man,  who  has  sought  a  home  in 
Charleston,  owes  his  first  start  in  Hfe  to  his  encouraging  words 
and  fatherly  advice  and  attention.  Well  does  the  writer  of 
this  feeble  tribute  remember  the  day  he  landed  in  the  City  of 
Charleston,  and  stepped  upon  the  shore  of  his  new  home,  a 
total  stranger,  without  one  whom  he  could  call  a  friend. 
According  to  his  custom,  he  sought  the  prayer-meeting,  and 
was  directed  to  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  one  memor- 
able Thursday  evening,  where,  for  the  first  time,  he  saw  and 
heard  Dr.  Smyth,  from  whose  lips  dropped  such  sweet  and 
earnest  words,  that  he  felt  irresistibly  drawn  to  him.  That 
night  a  friendship  was  formed  which  grew  in  strength  and 
fervor  from  year  to  year,  and  which  death  has  now  interrupted 
for  the  first  time,  but  which,  in  God's  mercy,  will  be  renewed 
in  heaven,  never  again  to  be  broken. 

Before  the  war,  it  was  the  writer's  privilege  to  aid  Dr. 
Smyth  in  copying  and  preparing  for  publication  a  number  of 
his  sermons,  discourses,  essays,  and  other  literary  produc- 
tions, which  were  to  have  been  given  to  the  public  after  his 
death.  All  of  these  manuscripts,  copies,  and  originals,  were 
destroyed  in  the  burning  of  the  City  of  Columbia,  whither 
they  had  been  sent  for  safety,  and  thus  the  world  has  lost 
many  valuable  gems,  the  results  of  years  of  study,  and  toil, 
and  experience.  None  but  those  who  had  read  them,  will  ever 
know  of  their  beauty  and  power ;  the  world  is  that  much 
poorer  by  their  loss.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  msiy,  since  the 
war,  have  prepared  sermons,  and  other  articles,  which  will 
still  be  given  to  the  public,  for  they  would  be  rich  in  thought, 
earnest  in  expression,  and  valuable  for  the  truths  they  would 
contain  and  the  sentiments  they  would  utter. 
Charleston  ^^  April,  1872,  Dr.  •Sm3th  attended  the  spring 

Presbytery,        scssion  of  Charleston  Presbytery,  which  convened 
^^72-  in  the  City  of  Columbia.    By  special  invitation,  he 

became  a  guest  of  some  of  the  students  in  the  Theological 
Seminary,  and  made  his  home  while  in  Columbia  within  those 
walls,  so  dear  to  the  memory  of  a  large  proportion  of  the 
ministers  of  our  Church.  Those  were  happy  days,  only  too 
few  in  number,  and  too  rapidly  passed.  The  infirm  servant  of 
Christ  seemed  to  almost  renew  his  youth,  as  surrounded  by 
those  hopeful  young  learners,  he  talked  to  them  in  his  most 
earnest  manner,  giving  all  who  called  upon  him  valuable  advice, 
cheering  them  on  in  their  labors  and  studies,  pointing  out  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  in  their  pathway  and  warning  them 
how  to  avoid  them^  impressing  upon  them  the  important  re- 
sponsibilities soon  to  be  laid  on  their  shoulders  as  ministers 


723 

of  the  Gospel,  and  counselling  them  to  be  found  much  in 
prayer,  and  to  draw  near  to  the  Saviour  and  live  beneath  the 
shadow  of  his  wings.  None  who  heard  him  then  can  ever 
forget  his  impressive  manner,  he  seemed  like  one  of  the  proph- 
ets who,  about  to  be  carried  home,  was  leaving  his  mantle  to 
those  who  should  take  up  the  work  which  he  had  so  faithfully- 
performed,  and  carry  it  on  to  the  end.  The  writer  cannot 
recall  those  delightful  days  which  shall  never  return,  spent  in 
the  intimate  society  of  that  blessed  man  of  God,  and  then 
realize  the  fact  that  he  shall  never  meet  him  on  earth  again, 
without  crying  out  in  anguish,  "My  father,  my  father,  the 
chariot  of  Israel,  and  the  horsemen  thereof." 

Dr.  Smyth  had  memorized  that  beautiful  Rhythm  of  Ber- 
nard De  Morlaix,  Monk  of  Cluny,  on  "The  Celestial  Country," 
and  it  was  his  delight  often  to  quote  copious  extracts  from  it. 
When  returning  home  from  church  in  Columbia  to  the  Sem- 
inary at  night,  leaning  upon  the  arms  of  the  writer  and  his 
companion  for  support,  he  would  frequently  pause,  and  with 
his  eye  fixed  on  the  twinkling  stars,  repeat  line  after  line  of 
the  poem  he  loved  so  well.  The  time,  the  circumstances,  and 
all  the  surroundings  tended  to  give  solemnity  to  the  words  as 
he  would  suddenly  break  forth  Avith : — 

"Jerusalem  the  golden, 

With  milk  and  honey  blest. 
Beneath  thy  contemplation, 

Sink  heart  and  voice  oppressed. 
I  know  not,  O  I  know  not, 

What  social  joys  are  there. 
What  radiancy  of  glory, 

What  light  beyond  compare! 
And  when  I  fain  would  sing  them 

My  spirit  fails  and  faints  ; 
And  vainly  would  it  image 

The  assembly  of  the  saints. 
They  stand,  those  halls  of  Syon, 

Con  jubilant  with  song. 
And  bright  with  many  an  angel 

And  all  the  martyr  throng. 

"O  holy,  placid  harp-notes 

Of  that  eternal  hymn ! 
O  sacred,  sweet  refection 

And  peace  of  Seraphim, 
O  thirst  forever  ardent 

Yet  evermore  content! 


724 

O  true  peculiar  vision 

Of  God  cunctipotent ! 
Ye  know  the  many  mansions 

For  many  a  glorious  name, 
And  divers  retributions 

That  divers  merits  claim : 
For  midst  the  constellations 

That  deck  our  earthly  sky, 
This  star  than  that  is  brighter — 

And  so  it  is  on  high." 

In  April,  of  the  present  year,  it  was  the  writer's  privilege  to 
meet  Dr.  Smyth  again,  in  the  City  of  Charleston,  and  spend 
much  time  in  his  society.  Those  were  precious  hours.  The 
affectionate  counsel  and  advice,  the  admonitions  and  warn- 
ings then  given  by  one  who  was  just  laying  off  the  harness, 
to  one  who  was  just  girding  it  on,  will  never  be  forgotten. 
God  grant  that  they  may  be  always  heeded  and  obeyed.  It 
was  at  the  close  of  this  period  of  intercourse  that  we  drove 
together  one  pleasant  afternoon  up  the  road  above  the  city 
into  the  country,  as  we  had  often  done  before  in  years  that 
are  past  and  gone.  Dr.  Smyth  seemed  on  this  occasion,  which 
was  to  be  our  last  earthly  interview,  to  be  peculiarly  impressed 
with  the  thought  of  our  parting,  as  it  had  been  his  sincere  and 
earnest  desire  that  the  writer  should  labor  in  the  City  of 
Charleston,  but  Providence  had  otherwise  ordered,  and  he 
submissively  yielded.  Never  did  a  loving  father  counsel  son 
more  tenderly  and  affectionately  than  did  he,  during  that 
memorable  drive ;  and  as  he  would  warm  up  with  the  theme 
on  which  he  was  discoursing,  the  work  of  the  Gospel  Ministry, 
his  whole  soul  would  seem  aglow  with  enthusiasm.  In  the 
midst  of  a  sentence  he  would  drop  the  reins,  raise  his  emaci- 
ated hands  and  in  his  strong  but  faltering  accents,  so  well 
remembered  by  all  who  have  ever  listened  to  his  fervent 
utterances,  burst  forth  with  some  lines  from  his  favorite 
poem : — 

"Jerusalem,  the  glorious ! 
The  glory  of  the  elect ! 

O  dear  and  future  vision 
That  eager  hearts  expect : 

Even  now  by  faith  I  see  thee : 
Even  here  thy  walls  discern :   - 

To  thee  my  thoughts  are  kindled. 
And  strive  and  pant  and  yearn : 

Jerusalem  the  onely. 

That  look'st  from  heaven  below ; 


725 

In  thee  is  all  my  glory; 

In  me  is  all  my  woe : 
And  though  my  body  may  not 

My  spirit  seeks  thee  fain. 
Till  flesh  and  earth  return  me 

To  earth  and  flesh  again." 

Again  would  he  renew  the  conversation,  only  to  interrupt  it 
by  exclaiming-  as  we  rode  past  the  green  fields  and  fertile 
gardens : — 

"O  fields  that  know  no  sorrow ! 
O  State  that  fears  no  strife ! 

0  princely  bowers  !     O  land  of  flowers  ! 

0  realm  and  home  of  life!" 

With  peculiar  emphasis  and  yet  with  affectionate  tender- 
ness he  repeated  the  following  lines : — 

"Jerusalem,  exulting 

On  that  securest  shore, 

1  hope  thee,  wish  thee,  sing  thee, 
And  love  thee  evermore ! 

I  ask  not  for  my  merit, 

1  seek  not  to  deny 
My  merit  is  destruction, 

A  child  of  wrath  am  I ; 
But  yet  with  faith  I  venture 

And  hope  upon  my  way ; 
For  those  perennial  guerdons 

I  labor  night  and  day. 
The  best  and  dearest  FATHER, 

Who  made  me  and  who  saved. 
Bore  with  me  in  defilement, 

And  from  defilement  laved. 
When  in  his  strength  I  struggle, 

For  very  joy  I  leap, 
When  in  my  sin  I  totter, 

I  weep,  or  try  to  weep : 
But  grace,  sweet  grace  celestial 

Shall  all  its  love  display. 
And  David's  Royal  Fountain 

Purge  every  sin  away." 

As  the  day  drew  near  to  its  close,  we  drove  down  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  sat  quietly  looking  out  over  the  beautiful 
bay,  and  enjoying  the  pleasant  sea  breezes,  which  proved  so 
invigorating  to  his  weak  body.  All  nature  around  was  clothed 
in  its  beautiful  spring  attire ;  the  waves  were  murmuring  at 


736 

our  feet,  as  they  advanced  and  receded ;  the  sun  was  setting 
gorgeously  in  the  west,  Hghting  up  the  entire  scene  with  a 
mellow  golden  tint.  After  drinking  in  the  lovely  scene  for  a 
time,  the  faithful  servant  of  God  again  broke  forth : — 

"O  mine  my  golden  Syon ! 

O  lovelier  far  than  gold ! 
With  laurel-girt  battalions, 

And  safe  victorious  fold. 
O  sweet  and  blessed  country, 

Shall  I  ever  see  thy  face? 

0  sweet  and  blessed  country, 
Shall  I  ever  win  thy  grace? 

1  have  the  hope  within  me 
To  comfort  and  to  bless ! 

Shall  I  ever  win  the  prize  itself? 
O  tell  me,  tell  me,  YES !" 

And  then,  in  exultant  strains  he  cried  out,  in  almost  pro- 
phetic words ;  and  these  were  among  the  last  the  writer  was 
ever  permitted  to  hear  him  utter : — 

"Exult,  O  dust  and  ashes ! 

The  Lord  shall  be  thy  part. 
His  only,  his  for  ever, 

Thou  shalt  be  (and  thou  art! 
Exult,  O  dust  and  ashes ! 

The  Lord  shall  be  thy  part : 
His  only,  his  for  ever 

Thou  shalt  he  and  thou  artV 

Truly  the  Lord  has  been  his  part,  and  he  is  now  forever 
with  the  Lord. 

"Servant  of  God,  well  done! 

Rest  from  thy  loved  employ, 
The  battle  fought,  the  victory  won, 
Enter  thy  Master's  joy. 

"The  pains  of  death  are  past; 
Labor  and  sorrow  cease ; 
And  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last, 
His  soul  is  found  in  peace. 

"Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done ! 

Praise  be  thy  new  employ: 

And  while  eternal  ages  run, 

Rest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy." 

C.  E.  CHICHESTER. 
Winnshoro' ,  S.  C,  September  8,  1873. 


727 

Extract  from  a  paper  presented  by  Elder  R.  C.  Gilchrist, 
and  unanimously  adopted  at  a  meeting  of  the  Court  of  Dea- 
cons of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church:- — • 

The  one  whose  wisdom  for  many  years  has  guided  our  de- 
liberations, and  whose  zeal  and  piety  gave  tone  and  energy  to 
our  labors  for  Christ's  Church,  has  heard  the  summons  to  go 
up  higher,  and  left  us  to  mourn  our  irreparable  loss.  From 
the  earliest  youth  of  most  of  us,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D. 
D.,  has  been  associated  with  every  experience,  entering  into 
our  joys ;  and  by  his  warm  and  gushing  sympathy  made  us 
feel  that  he  was  one  with  us.  From  his  lips  we  heard  of 
Jesus'  love,  and  his  was  the  hand  that  led  us  to  His  feet;  and 
when  called  to  pass  through  seasons  of  affliction,  to  him,  more 
than  any  other  earthly  comforter,  we  fondly  turned ;  and  up- 
borne in  the  arms  of  his  faith,  we  have  been  enabled,  even 
while  passing  through  the  valley  of  Baca,  to  find  a  well  for  our 
mourning  souls.  He  was  inexpressibly  dear  to  all  his  people, 
as  a  friend,  a  counsellor,  and  a  pastor;  to  us,  as  co-laborers 
with  him,  and  officers  in  the  Church,  he  was  one  in  whose 
steps  we  could  walk  unfalteringly ;  and  with  his  wisdom  to 
guide,  and  his  zeal  and  earnestness  to  incite,  we  have  been 
strengthened  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  devolving  up- 
on us.  Now  no  longer  will  we  be  shepherded  by  him.  We 
miss  his  ready  sympathy,  his  wrestling  at  the  throne  of  Grace, 
the  bright  example  of  his  steadfast  faith  and  patience,  and 
submission  to  his  Father's  will ;  but,  following  him,  as  he 
walked  in  the  footsteps  of  Jesus,  we  pray  that  his  mantle  may 
fall  on  the  Church  he  loved  so  well,  and  for  which  he  labored 
so  long  and  faithfully. 

From    the    Christian   at    Work,    T.    DeWITT    TALMAGE,' 
Editor,  Neiv  York,  Thursday,  October  30,  1873. 

THOMAS  SMYTH. 

The  gates  of  heaven  have  just  closed  after  the  entrance  of 
this  good  and  great  man  into  rest.  There  must  have  been  a 
stir  amid  the  glad  populations,  as  he  joined  the  multitude,  who, 
by  his  voice  and  books,  under  God,  were  brought  there.  What 
a  place  heaven  must  be  to  one  who  has  been  working  hard  for 
forty  years,  and  been  sick  much  of  the  time. 

The  name  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D.,  of  Charleston, 
through  all  of  the  South  meant  courage,  purity  and  highest 

°The  great  Dr.  Talmage,  whose  sermons  were  published  in 
newspapers  all  over  the  United  States. — Ed. 


728 

style  of  evangelism.  He  had  a  terrible  grip  for  the  Lord's 
enemies,  but  the  sweetness  and  balm  of  a  Southern  grove  for 
a  bleeding  heart. 

About  three  years  ago,  while  seeking  health  in  Charleston 
for  one  of  our  family,  we  called  upon  him.  He  sat  bolstered 
up  in  his  sick  room,  happy,  eccentric,  strong  for  God,  glori- 
ously expectant  of  release.  We  have  seen  but  few  men  like 
him,  his  piety  of  the  stalwart  order,  with  a  Cromwellian 
courage  and  positiveness.  The  chairs  about  him  covered  with 
newspapers  and  books,  he  was  fully  abreast  of  the  times,  and 
looked  as  if  anxious  to  get  on  his  crutches  again,  to  go  forth 
to  give  the  sins  of  the  world  another  sound  pommelling. 

For  his  sake,  we  are  glad  he  is  gone.  Nothing  could  cure 
his  bodily  ailments, — but  a  bath  in  the  river  from  under  the 
throne.  But  neither  his  family  nor  the  Church  could  afford 
to  spare  him.  The  world  wants  not  less,  but  more,  of  his 
style  of  Christianity. 

Much  of  our  modern  religion  begins  with  an  eulogy  of  hu- 
man nature,  instead  of  an  exposition  of  its  utter  downfall.  It 
makes  us  sick  to  hear  all  this  talk  about  the  dignity  of  man- 
hood, which  is  a  heap  of  putrefaction,  unless  Saint  John  lied 
when  he  described  it  as  "wretched,  and  miserable,  and  poor, 
and  blind,  and  naked."  Oh!  for  more  THOMAS  SMYTHS, 
with  foot  on  the  eternal  rock,  and  hand  on  a  whole  Bible, — 
daring  to  tell  the  whole  truth,  and  always  making  pulpit  and 
printing  press  speak  out  in  behalf  of  an  uncompromising 
Christianity. 

A  TRIBUTE 

In  Loving  Remembrance  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smyth,  D.  D. 

I. 

A  noble  mission  is  fulfilled, 

The  dear,  brave,  faithful  lips  are  stilled. 

The  great  heart's  dumb; 
The  busy  hands  find  rest  at  last. 
The  work  is  o'er,  the  conflict's  past, 

And  peace  is  come ! 

II. 

Gazing  down  on  that  quiet  face, 
Did  not  your  loving  instincts  trace 

Chis'ling  divine? — 
The  scripture  of  a  hidden  gain? — - 
The  mystic  aftermath  of  pain? — 

God's  solemn  sign. 


729 
III. 

That  we  might  see  in  some  dim  wise, 
How  underneath  this  mortal  guise 

The  soul  grew  fair — 
The 'stronger  virtues  grandly  blent, 
With  child-like  love  and  meek  content, 

In  concord  rare ! 

IV. 

Those  white  still  lips  beneath  the  sod 
Many  a  soul  have  won  for  God; 

And  who  may  tell 
How  many  hearts  that  patient  pen 
Has  blessed,  and  soothed,  and  cheered  again 

At  Baca's  "Well"? 

V. 

Loving  seeds  by  the  wayside  sown. 
Many  an  erring  one  has  borne 

To  Jesus'  feet. 
And  in  our  homes  his  words  of  prayer 
Have  made  the  sorrow  seem  less  drear. 

The  joys  more  sweet. 

VI. 

Then,  when  the  Master's  chast'ning  hand 
Had  smitten  with  the  sore  command, 

The  brief— "Be  still!" 
With  steadfast  faith  and  courage  high, 
The  cross  was  borne,  the  work  laid  by. 

At  Jesus'  will. 

VII. 
So  day  by  day  the  faint  feet  trod 
The  path  that  led  him  nearer  God, 

And  nearer  "Home" ; 
And  then  his  footsteps  touched  the  brim 
Of  Jordan's  waters  chill  and  dim 

With  dashing  foam. 

VIII. 
A  solemn  peace  was  on  the  face. 
The  pale  lips  smiled  with  saintly  grace, 

And  then  grew  still ; 
And  sunset's  parting  glory  shone 
On  features  white  as  graven  stone, 

And  deathly  chill. 


730 

IX. 

The  "faith"  was  "kept,"  the  "course"  was  riin, 
The  final  vict'ry  grandly  won ; 

And  now  the  King 
Doth  grace  that  brow,  all  seamed  with  scars, 
With  wondrous  "crown"  of  many  stars, 

While  anthems  ring ! 

ANNIE  R.   STILLMAN.' 
Charleston,  October  20,  1873. 

DEAR  MRS  SMYTH, 
^     „  The  kindness  of  your  note,  has  caused   emo- 

Dr.    Huger.         , .  i  •    i      t       i     i, 

tions,   which   I   shall   not  attempt  to   commit   to 
paper,  &  I  will  only  say  that  I  have  been  much  moved  by  it. 

The  Books  will  always  be  valued  as  a  "Souvenir"  of  one 
whose  ability  &  erudition  commanded  my  admiration,  whose 
sufferings  elicited  my  deepest  sympathy,  &  whose  esteem  & 
friendship  I  shall  always  recur  to  with  feelings  of  pleasure  & 
pride. 

With  Respect  &  Esteem, 

I  am  yours  truly, 

W.  H.  HUGER.* 
Charleston,  Nov  5,  '73. 

Mrs.  Margaret  M.  Adger  Smyth. 

Memorial  services  were  held  by  a  congregation  composed  of 
persons  from  most  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  city  on 
the  evening  of  December  14,  1873,  in  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church.  Dr.  Brackett's  address  on  this  occasion  was  printed  un- 
der the  title  "The  Christian  Warrior  Crowned,"  the  text  being 
2  Tim.  4:17.  The  following  extracts  are  taken  from  it,  but  much 
is  of  necessity  omitted,  as  already  told  in  Dr.  Smyth's  own  words. 
— Editor. 


Dr.   Smyth's  erect  attitude,  lofty  carriage  and 

ett's  memorial 


'■     ^^^  '       dignified  bearing,     *     *     made  the  impression  up- 


on his  audience  that  they  were  in  the  presence 
of  a  princely  orator,   in  whom  intelligence,   manliness,   self- 

'The  daughter  of  Mr.  Charles  Stillman,  an  Elder  in  Second 
Church;  a  young  girl  in  whom  Dr.  Smyth  took  a  very  special 
interest.  This  was  her  first  essay  in  print — in  which,  however, 
she  has  since  won  her  laurels. — Ed. 

*Dr.  Smyth's  physician,  and  a  faithful  friend  to  him  and  to  all 
the  family,  until  God  took  him  from  his  labours  of  many  years. 
—Ed. 


731 

reliance   and   courage,   were   already   foreshadowing  the   sur- 
passing eloquence  that  was  -about  to  flow  from  his  lips.  *  *  * 
Like  the   Poet   of   Rydal   Mount,   he   was   "A 
ove  o  lover  of  the  meadows  and  the  woods,  and  moun- 

nature.  ... 

tains."  During  his  vacations  he  almost  lived  in 
communion  with  nature,  *  *  and  in  Charleston,  *  * 
sometimes  for  hours,  at  night,  he  sat  beneath  the  quiet  stars, 
looking  out  upon  the  moonlit  sea  and  listening  to  its  solemn 
roar.     *     *     * 

His    capacious    memory    became    a    gallery    of 
Prea^cher  natural  imagery.     *     *     From  this  inexhaustible 

storehouse  he  fed  his  exuberant  imagination,  and 
adorned  his  sermons  with  its  riches  and  magnificence.  His 
style  could  not  be  described  as  ornate  or  florid.  Nothing  was 
added  for  the  sake  of  rhetorical  embellishment,  or  to  round 
a  period.  But  such  was  his  marvellous  affluence  of  diction, 
his  thesaurus  of  language,  and  overflowing  fulness  of  ideas, 
that  when  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  of  his  soul  were 
broken  up,  and  the  windows  of  his  mind,  like  the  bursting 
cisterns  of  the  skies,  were  opened,  his  thoughts  'poured  forth 
like  a  deluge.  The  sequacious  waves  followed  one  another 
with  a  tumultuous  rush  and  unabating  flow,  that  must  have 
oppressed  and  fatigued  the  hearer,  but  for  the  illuminating 
splendor  of  his  ever-radiant  imagination.     *     *     * 

But  the  crowning  excellence  of  this  illustrious  preacher,  the 
chief  inspiration  of  his  eloquent  discourses,  which  charmed 
away  the  weariness  that  his  extreme  prolixity  would  other- 
wise have  occasioned,  was  his  absorbing  love  to  the  Saviour. 
The  tongue  of  the  preacher  was  kindled  with  a  live  coal  from 
the  altar  of  Calvary.  His  discourses  abounded  with  doctrinal 
discussion.  They  were  often  controversial,  as  well  as  argu- 
mentative. They  were  sometimes  scholastic,  replete  with 
erudition,  laying  severe  tax  upon  the  understanding  of  the 
hearer;  and  yet  his  lecture  room  was  crowded,  overflowing, 
with  interested  and  enthusiastic  audiences,  to  listen  to  an 
hour's  discussion  of  the  principles  of  Presbyterianism.  It  was 
not  the  intellect  that  towered  like  a  mountain,  nor  the  imagi- 
nation that  shone  like  the  sun,  but  the  heart  that  heaved  like 
the  ocean  with  the  love  of  Jesus — that  caught  the  sympathy 
of  his  hearers,  and  bore  them  away  upon  its  rolling  waves. 
Christ,  and  His  cross,  were  all  his  theme.  He  presented  the 
doctrine  as  the  mirror  of  Christ,  and  the  creed  as  a  breakwater 
to  roll  back  the  tide  of  error,  that  would,  if  unchecked,  sweep 
away  the  cross  and  its  sacrificial  Victim.  He  preached  Pres- 
byterianism, because  he  believed  that  no  other  polity  preserved 


732 

in  its  integrity  the  Calvinistic  system,  and  no  other  system 
does  full  honor  to  "Christ  and  him  crucified."  *  '■'  He 
never  left  the  guilty,  condemned  sinner  at  the  bar  of  judg- 
ment, or  on  the  brink  of  hell ;  but  always  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  or  at  the  household  door,  within  the  sound  of  the 
Saviour's  inviting  voice  and  the  Father's  extended  arms  of 
love  and  mercy.  He  could  not  preach  without  pleading  with 
sinners.  He  could  not  reason  and  argue  without  pouring  out 
his  heart  in  the  most  tender  and  melting  expostulations.  *  *  * 

Another  element  of  the  success  of  his  preaching,  was  its 
remarkable  appropriateness,  its  studied  adaptation  to  the  times 
in  which  he  lived,  and  to  the  immediate  wants  of  his  people. 
No  public  event  from  which  he  could  draw  a  useful  lesson 
•escaped  his  notice.  *  *  No  spiritual  want  of  any  member 
of  his  congregation  was  overlooked.  He  would  preach  a 
series  of  discourses  to  relieve  a  single  anxious  soul  of  doubt 
or  distress.  *  *  But  we  cannot  leave  the  consideration  of 
his  labors  as  a  preacher,  without  adverting  to  his  zeal  in  the 
cause  of  Missions.  If  love  to  Jesus  was  his  crowning  ex- 
cellence, his  missionary  spirit  was  the  crowning  form  of  this 
excellence.  H  the  former  furnished  the  material,  the  latter 
determined  the  position  and  shape  of  the  crown.     *     *     * 

This  great  and  good  shepherd  knew  all  his 
flock,  and  could  call  them  by  name ;  and  he  en- 
tered, by  a  personal  and  heartfelt  sympathy,  into  all  their 
temporal  and  spiritual  trials.  He  was,  as  a  pastor,  no  respec- 
ter of  persons,  and  showed  no  partiality  save  that  which  was 
imperatively  demanded  by  the  poor,  the  lowly,  and  the 
ignorant  of  his  flock.     *     *     * 

It  was  in  the  family  circle,  that  he  exhibited  that  rare  gift 
of  prayer,  which  was  at  once  an  opulent  endowment  of  nature 
and  grace.  *  *  Everything  with  him  seemed  to  crystalize 
into  prayer.  Every  vicissitude  of  the  weather,  and  every 
changing  aspect  of  the  times ;  the  smallest  as  well  as  the  great- 
est events,  furnished  him  with  material  for  devotion,  and 
imparted  an  endless  variety,  an  inexhaustible  copiousness,  and 
an  exceeding  richness  to  his  prayers. 

His  extraordinary  conversational  powers  and  social  quali- 
ties, eminently  fitted  him  for  pastoral  usefulness.  With  all 
his  absorbing  love  of  study,  his  sympathies  took  a  deeper  hold 
upon  men,  than  upon  books.  *  *  It  was  here,  also,  that  his 
ready  wit,  and  genial  humor  found  an  easy,  and  a  happy  vent, 
in  interesting  and  instructive  anecdotes,  and  personal  remi- 
niscences, of  which  he  had  gathered  a  vast  store,  in  his  ex- 
tensive reading  and  foreign  travels. 


783 

His  genial  and  exuberant  nature  overflowed  on  all  occasions, 
even  when  greatly  depressed,  and  tortured  with  pain.  He 
was  often  most  companionable  and  entertaining  when  his 
sufferings  were  greatest.  Nor  did  he  ever  regard  his  bodily 
infirmities  and  weaknesses  as  an  excuse  for  pastoral  inactivity, 
but  seemed  to  forget  his  own  sorrow  in  bearing  the  burdens  of 
others.     *     *     * 

Both  as  a  preacher,  and  as  a  pastor,  Dr.  Smyth 
^  J°  °^^^  ever  felt  and  manifested  a  deep  and  affectionate 
interest  in  the  colored  people,  who  filled  the  gal- 
lery of  his  Church,  and  largely  composed  his  membership. 
He  prepared  his  sermons  with  reference  to  their  instruction, 
held  a  special  service  for  them  during  the  week,  and  as  a 
pastor,  kindly  ministered  to  their  spiritual  wants  and  bore  to 
their  humble  homes  the  cup  of  consolation  in  seasons  of  sick- 
ness and  affliction.  He  was  a  warm  supporter  of  the  Zion 
Colored  Church,  in  Calhoun  street,  Charleston,  which  at  its 
inception  was  chiefly  composed  of  members  of  his  own 
Church.  He  spoke  of  it  as  "a  noble  and  glorious  enterprise 
in  which  he  heartily  rejoiced."  The  crowd  of  colored  people 
who  attended  his  funeral  attested  their  continued  and  unabated 
love  for  him.  One  aged  woman  exclaimed,  as  his  coffin  was 
borne  into  the  Church,  with  streaming  eyes  and  choked  utter- 
ance:    "Go  to  Jesus,  faithful  preacher!" 

But    our   portraiture    of   the    pastor   would   be 

The    children.      .  ■,    ^  ,  -j     i   ■       j_         i 

mcomplete,  were  we  to  omit  his  tender,  passion- 
ate fondness  for  the  children  of  his  congregation,  and  his 
zealous  interest  in  their  welfare.  He  enjoyed  with  a  keen 
relish  the  sports  of  childhood  around  his  own  fireside,  and 
heartily  participated  in  their  juvenile  merriment.  He  gathered 
the  children  around  him  in  his  visits  from  house  to  house,  and 
by  his  gentle  and  affable  familiarity,  won  their  hearts.  Their 
names  were  all  engraven  on  his  heart,  as  well  as  his  memory, 
and  they  knew  it.  No  one  was,  to  these  little  ones,  a  more 
welcome  guest  at  the  familv  fireside.  They  ran  to  meet  him 
at  the  open  door,  and  folloAved  him,  regretfully,  as  he  took  his 
departure. 

His  frequent  presence  at  the  Sabbath  School  excited  their 
eager  and  delighted,  attention.  He  always  remembered  the 
lambs  of  his  flock  in  his  study,  and  was  constantly  collecting 
materials  from  every  source,  that  he  might  be  ever  prepared 
to  interest  them  in  the  Sabbath  School,  and  on  anniversary 
occasion,  with  appropriate  and  pleasing  addresses.  The  pain- 
ful sacrifices  which  he  made  to  attend  the  last  annual  festival,* 

'These  festivals  were  held  on  the  mall,  in  front  of  the  church. — 
Ed. 


734 

and  the  evident  delight  with  which  he  entered  into  their  youth- 
ful pleasures,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  children.  It 
will  linger  in  their  memories  as  they  advance  in  years,  as  one 
of  the  last  affecting  tokens  of  their  aged  and  infirm  Pastor  to 
the  dear  lambs  of  his  fold. 

The  affection  which  he  felt  for  the  children  of  his  own 
Church  was  shared,  in  all  its  depth  and  tenderness,  by  the 
children  of  the  Orphan  House.  He  always  delighted  to 
officiate  in  his  turn,  in  the  Chapel  of  that  Institution,  and  by 
his  condescending  manner,  his  affectionate  earnestness,  and 
his  happy  art  of  illustration,  rivetted  i their  attention  and 
gained  their  hearts.  Numbers  of  them  gathered  around  his 
casket  as  it  was  about  to  be  lowered  in  the  grave,  and  covered 
it  with  wreaths  of  flowers.     *     *     * 

Dr.  Thornwelh  who  often  encountered  him  in 
the    deliberative    assembly,    said    of   him    that   no 

man.  _  -^  ' 

one  had  a  kinder  heart  and  a  more  forgiving 
spirit  that  Dr.  Smyth.     He  never  nursed  a  grudge.     *     *     * 

As  an  ecclesiastic,  Dr.  Smyth  was  thoroughly  qualified  to 
be  a  leader  in  the  courts  and  councils  of  the  Church.  Dr.  R.  J. 
Breckinridge  said  of  him,  that  "no  one  was  better  versed  in 
our  Church  polity."     *     *     * 

As  a  churchman,  Dr.  Smyth  might  be  described  as  intensely 
denominational  and  intensely  unsectarian.  This  distinction, 
so  admirably  drawn  in  his  memorable  discourse  on  "Denom- 
inational Education,"  was  so  gratifying  to  Dr.  Chalmers,  who 
heard  him  deliver  it,  that  he  afterwards  remarked  that  "he 
could  never  cease  talking  about  it."  A  loyal  son  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  he  loved  her  denominational  peculiarities  with 
a  patriotic  fervor.  But  while  he  cherished  her  glorious  history 
and  precious  traditions,  with  an  almost  idolatrous  reverence,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  an  utter  stranger  to  the  narrow-minded- 
ness of  party,  or  the  exclusiveness  of  bigotry.  The  Apostolic 
benediction,  "Grace  be  with  all  those  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity,"  was  inscribed  upon  his  Church  Banner. 
"Let  brotherly  love  continue,"  was  his  motto.  In  his  chapter  on 
the  "Catholicity  of  Presbytery,"  he  remarks,  "Christ  must  be 
first,  fellowship  next,  and  then  as  much  uniformity  as  will 
follow  from  the  two."  Of  naturally  a  Catholic  spirit,  the  lib- 
eralizing influence  of  a  wide  culture  and  extensive  travel  led 
him  to  recoil  from  all  extreme  views  of  doctrine  or  Church 
polity.  He  was  never  happier  than  when  he  united  with 
brethren  of  other  denominations  in  Christian  fellowship  and 
associated  activity,  and  had  he  lived,  he  would  have  entered 
heart  and  soul  into  the  Evangelical  Alliance — a  movement  of 


735 

which  he  spoke  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  for  the  success  of 
which  he  fervently  prayed.  One  object  he  had  in  view,  in 
visiting  Europe  in  1846,  was  to  be  present  at  the  EvangeHcal 
AlHance  at  its  first  great  World  meeting;  "When  the  plat- 
form, creed,  and  basis  of  union  was  discussed  and  adopted,"  he 
remarked,  "I  was  truly  delighted  to  find  how  patriotic  feeling 
extinguished  all  sectional  jealousies,  and  united  various  de- 
nominations in  one  compact,  solid  phalanx." 

It  was  to  him  one  of  the  glorious  features  of  Presbyterian- 
ism,  as  an  Ecclesiastical  system,  that  it  was  "at  once  capable 
of  extension  to  the  widest  circumference  of  humanity,  and 
contains  within  itself  the  germinant  principles  of  vitality,  dif- 
fusion, unity,  universality."  Under  the  term  Presbytery,  he 
was  wont  to  "include  those  generic  principles  which  are  com- 
mon to  Congregationalists,  Presbyterians,  Reformed  Dutch, 
Lutherans,  Baptists  and  Methodists,"  and  rejoice  that,  while 
he  differed  from  them  in  some  points,  "he  would  be  found 
agreeing  with  the  liberal-minded  of  them  all."  He  would 
thus  hope  "to  draw  closer  the  bonds  of  Christian  truth,  har- 
mony, and  affection,  by  which  we  are  leag'ued  together." 

It  was  for  this  liberal.  Catholic  type  of  Presbyterianism  that 
he  contended,  toiled,  suffered,  and  consecrated  all  his  talents 
and  acquisitions.  He  strenuously  opposed  the  "Revised  Book 
of  Discipline,"  because  he  honestly  believed  that  it  was  sus- 
ceptible of  an  interpretation  subversive  of  these  grand  prin- 
ciples. According  to  his  view,  Presbyterianism  was  jure 
divino  in  this  sense,  "that  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  are 
given  by  Christ  in  inspired  words ;  the  government  in  general 
rules  and  principles,  in  the  actions  and  examples  of  the 
Apostles,  and  in  the  exercise  of  a  wise.  Christian  expediency, 
based  on  natural  and  social  law,  as  expressly  declared  in  the 
confession  of  faith.  The  one  is  given  to  us  as  a  system  of 
doctrine  taught  in  the  scriptures ;  the  other  as  agreeable  to 
Scripture,  and  yet  both  de  jure  divino."  He  believed  that  the 
"Revised  Rules"  virtually  identified  the  form  of  Government, 
Discipline,  and  Worship,  "with  Doctrine ;  and  claimed  for 
them  the  same  conscientious  belief  and  conformity;  which 
"tends  to  make  Presbyterianism  High  Church,  intolerant,  and 
illiberal,  robbing  it  of  its  crown- jewels,  love,  charity,  and 
brotherly  kindness,  towards  all  Evangelical  Churches  who 
hold  Christ  in  all  his  glorious  divine  offices,  as  Prophet,  Priest, 
and  King  of  his  blood-bought  people."  The  Scriptures,  and 
not  Church  standards,  are  the  ultimate  appeal  in  all  matters 
of  controversy. 


736 

The  revision  movement  roused  all  his  old  martial  spirit. 
The  veteran  warrior  girded  on  his  armor  and  through  many  a 
long  and  weary  night,  in  the  midst  of  sufferings  that  would 
have  unmanned  a  spirit  of  ordinary  mold,  he  prepared  a 
series  of  articles,  in  which  the  dying  Hercules  seemed  to  be 
gathering  up  all  his  remaining  strength  to  strike  one  more 
effectual  blow  for  the  principles  for  which  he  had  contended 
all  his  life. 

He  would  not  have  felt  that  he  had  "finished  his  course,  and 
kept  the  faith,"  had  be  remained  silent  during  this  controversy, 
even  on  the  verge  of  the  grave.  The  scarred  and  weather- 
beaten  soldier  fell  on  the  field  of  battle,  with  his  armor  on 
and  with  his  drawn  sworn  in  his  hand. 

'On  another  occasion,  pending  a  heated  discussion  upon  this 
theme  in  Presbytery,^  when  a  motion  was  made  to  adjourn 
on  account  of  his  failing  strength,  he  replied,  with  his  panting 
breath,  that  he  was  willing  to  go  on,  he  could  not  die  in  a 
better  cause. 

At  the  time  of  the  great  disruption  in  1843,  Dr.  Smyth 
urged,  with  a  glowing  zeal  and  eloquence,  the  claims  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland  to  the  sympathy  of  American  Chris- 
tians. It  was  for  these  very  principles,  so  dear  to  his  heart, 
that  the  Church  of  Scotland  separated  from  the  Establish- 
ment, viz :  "the  utter  renunciation  of  all  the  bigoted  and 
exclusive  views  which  prevented  free  intercourse  among  true- 
hearted  Christians  of  every  name."  He  saw  in  the  foundation 
of  that  Church,  ''the  first  link  in  the  golden  chain  which  is  to 
bind  together  in  one  body  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  sincerity  and  truth."     *     *     * 

He  would  go  to  the  stake  for  Calvinism  or  Presbyterianism, 
and  on  the  way  to  martyrdom,  he  would  gather  faggots  to 
burn  bigots  and  sectaries.  As  a  philanthropist  he  would  re- 
form the  evils. of  society,  with  an  almost  iconoclastic  severity, 
while,  like  the  tender  and  compassionate  Saviour,  he  visited 
the  widow  and  the  fatherless  with  a  sympathetic  heart  and 
tearful  eye.     =:=     *     * 

Slavery.  It  was  in  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  philanthropist 

that  he  cordially  favored  and  zealously  defended  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery,  for  "however  it  may  be  denounced  as  imper- 
fect and  attended  with  evil,"  he  held  that  "it  had  been  em- 
ployed by  unerring  wisdom  and  an  overruling  Providence,  as 
an  instrument  for  the  preservation,  elevation,  and  conversion 
of  millions  who  would  have  lived  and  died  in  heathen  igno- 

'In  1872.— Ed. 


737 

ranee,  superstition,  and  cruelty."  He  believed  that  in  so  far 
as  masters  r.endered  unto  their  slaves  that  which  is  "just  and 
equal,"  in  their  condition  and  sphere  of  life,  that  involuntary 
servitude  was  for  them  that  which  is  best  fitted  to  promote 
their  well-being  and  happiness.  But  while  all  his  learning 
and  ability  were  enlisted  on  the  side  of  slavery,  he  was  equally 
earnest  and  bold  in  denouncing  the  unnecessary  evils,  and 
reforming  the  abuses  and  perversions  of  that  domestic  insti- 
tution. His  celebrated  work  on  the  "Unity  of  the  Human 
Races"  was  written  in  the  interests  of  philanthropy,  as  well 
as  science  and  religion.  The  denial  of  unity  he  regarded  as 
uncharitable,  as  it  is  unphilosophical.  To  degrade  the  African 
below  the  standard  of  the  human  species,  is  to  exclude  him 
from  the  benefits  of  redemption,  and  justify  his  barbarous  and 
cruel  treatment.  The  critical  reviewers  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland,  gave  him  the  credit  of  being  "the  first  to  come 
forward  in  this  controversy,  to  assert,  in  behalf  of  the  black 
man  the  unity  of  the  race,"  and  commended  his  "fearless  vin- 
dication of  this  doctrine,  which  was  calculated  to  render  him 
unpopular  and   odious   in  the  midst  of  a   slave   population." 

;;:         *         * 

Dr.  Smyth  was  too  sound  a  Presbyterian  to  be 
anything  but  a  whole-soul  Patriot,  when  patriot- 
ism involves  the  spirit  of  loyalty,  or  the  principles  of  true 
Republicanism  and  a  readiness  to  defend  them  at  any  sacri- 
fice. It  was  because  he  believed  the  principles  of  our  con- 
stitutional, representative,  republican  government,  were  de- 
rived from  Presbyterianism,  and  are  the  only  safeguards  of 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  that  he  became  in  this  land  of  his 
adoption,  an  enthusiastic,  patriotic,  'American  citizen.  He 
wrote  a  volume  of  several  hundred  pages,  the  result  of  weary 
months  of  laborious  study  and  research,  to  demonstrate  the 
identity  of  the  origin  of  our  ecclesiastical  and  civil  govern- 
ment. I  use  his  own  language :  "The  more  decidedly  a  man 
is  a  Presbyterian,  the  more  decidedly  he  is  a  republican." 

He  espoused  the  cause  of  the  South  in  the  late  war,  because 
he  believed  she  was  contending  for  these  very  principles  of 
civil  liberty  and  free  government.     *     *     * 

About  four  years  before  his  tireless  energies 
Paralysis,  ^^e^:e  released  from  the  fetters  of  the  flesh,  his 
organs  of  speech  were  suddenly  paralyzed  in  the 
midst  of  his  midnight  studies.  He  rose  to  call  a  servant  and 
was  surprised  to  find  that  he  was  incapable  of  articulating  a 
word.  Doubtless  believing  that  his  speech  was  hopelessly 
gone,  or  that  he  was  near  his  end,  he  wrote  on  a  slip  of  paper 

[471 


738 

to  his  wife,  "Perfect  peace."  But  finding  that  his  general 
health  was  not  seriously  affected  by  this  local  paralysis,  he 
immediately  addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  regaining  his 
lost  speech,  with  a  resolute  will  that  was  never  paralyzed  by 
discouragement  or  despair ;  and  never  did  he  appear  greater 
in  all  his  grand  career,  than  when  reciting,  hour  after  hour, 
and  week  after  week,  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  advancing 
from  vowels,  and  consonants,  and  sentences ;  until-  upon  the 
anvil  of  his  iron  will,  he  broke  link  by  link,  the  chains  that 
bound  his  eloquent  tongue,  and  at  length  shouting,  like  David 
of  old,  "Awake  up  my  glory,"  his  voice  rang  again  with  the 
praises  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  "glad  tidings  of  salvation." 
For  many  years,  every  one  had  spoken  of  him  as  "the  won- 
derful man;"  but  when  his  mute  tongue  was  unloosed,  when 
this  Samson  had  rent  asunder  his  fetters  with  the  sheer  force 
of  his  giant  will,  his  friends  were  themselves  dumb  with 
amazement.  From  this  time,  he  continued  his  vocal  exercises, 
repeating  the  scriptures  and  pages  of  sacred  poetry,  which 
his  memory  retained  with  astonishing  accuracy. 

After  the  lapse  of  a  year  or  more,  he  felt  it  his  duty  on 
account  of  growing  weakness  and  an  imperfect  utterance,  to 
resign  his  pastoral  charge ;  but  he  did  not  resign  his  determi- 
nation to  work  for  his  Master,  as  long  as  life  lasted.  Although 
in  the  estimation  of  all  but  himself,  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged from  warfare,  he  refused  to  lay  down  his  arms  and 
retire  from  the  field  of  active  service.  Without  the  slightest 
abatement  of  his  former  energy  and  zeal,  he  continued  to 
preach  whenever  called  upon,  either  in  his  own  Church,  or  the 
Churches  of  other  denominations ;  and  by  his  presence, 
prayers,  counsel,  and  active  service,  to  help  forward  every 
good  work;  in  the  Bible  Society,  the  Clerical  Union,  the 
weekly  prayer-meeting,  (which  he  attended  regularly  in  all 
kinds  of  weather,)  in  the  higher  and  lower  judicatures  of  the 
Church ;  until  within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death,  he  was  regu- 
larly present  every  Sabbath  in  his  own  pulpit,  generally  offer- 
ing the  closing  prayer,  the  unction  of  which  still  lingers  in 
our  memory,  like  a  sweet  savor ;  and  on  communion  occasions 
he  always  made  the  sacramental  address  at  the  Lord's  Table, 
when  he  often  seemed  to  be  literally  looking  within  the  veil, 
and  holding  visible  communion  with  the  Saviour.  *  *  * 
The  most  prominent  trait  of  his  character,  that 
-power.  ^hich  most  distinguished  him  from  ordinary  men 
- — that,  without  which  Dr.  Smyth  could  not  have  been — was 
an  indomitable  will,  that  was  never  conquered  save  by  the 
Omnipotent  Being  who  made  him.     He  never  interpreted  any 


739 

apparently  insurmountable  obstacle,  or  appalling  danger,  as 
a  providential  call  to  lay  down  his  arms  and  retire  from  the 
field.  Diffitulties  never  terrified  him.  Opposition  only 
goaded  his  determination  to  more  resolute  and  persevering 
endeavor ;  and  the  greater  the  odds  against  him,  the  higher 
would  his  courage  rise  to  do  all — and  to  dare  all  for  the 
vindication  of  his  principles.  This  giant  will,  that  was  never 
shorn  of  its  locks,  that  laughed  at  impossibilities,  that  mocked 
at  disease  and  suffering,  inspired  him  with  untiring  industry 
and  unflagging  energy.  He  often  remarked  that  the  will  can 
conquer  pain,  and  command  the  shattered  nerves  to  hold  their 
peace.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  night  was  dark  and  inclem- 
ent, and  his  whole  frame  writhing  with  agony,  he  assumed  a 
posture  of  defiance,  and  emphasizing  his  words  with  his  crutch, 
while  his  chamber  rung  with  the  echo,  he  rose  with  determi- 
nation declaring  that  he  would  not  "stand  it  any  longer." 
Pushing  out  into  the  dismal  darkness,  against  the  earnest 
remonstrances  of  the  members  of  his  household,  he  returned, 
after  several  hours  of  gymnastic  exercise,  and  exclaimed,  with 
an  air  of  triumph :  'T  told  you  so.  Any  man  may  subdue 
pain,  if  he  only  has  the  will  to  do  it."     *     *     * 

Living  as  he  did  for  so  many  years,  a  mechanical  existence, 
artificially  supported,  his  life  exhibits  the  most  remarkable 
instance  which  we  have  ever  known,  of  the  sublime  triumph 
of  mind  over  matter — of  the  indwelling  spirit  over  the  exter- 
nal body.  Here  is  a  problem  for  the  materialist ;  a  mysterious 
exception  to  the  theory  that  mind  is  the  result  of  organization, 
and  depends  for  its  vigor  and  energy  upon  bodily  health  and 
strength. 

When  he  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs,  he  still  continued  to  take 
his  daily  drives,  being  lifted  into  and  out  of  his  carriage ;  and 
propped  up  in  his  old  study-chair,  he  was  still  surrounded  with 
all  the  leading  papers  and  magazines  of  the  day,  both  of 
American  and  European  publication.  He  kept  fully  abreast 
of  the  age,  and  up  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life  he  could  have 
traced  out  a  complete  map  of  modern  thought,  with  all  its 
broad  currents  and  tributary  streams.     *     *     * 

Since   the   beginning  of  his   ministry   in    1832, 
His  success  in     ^^  ^^^  received  more  than  five  hundred  additions 

his    cnurcn. 

(to    the    membership    of   the    Church)    many    of 
whom  are  now  useful  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

During  the  period  from  1832  to  1846  there  were  added 
three  hundred  and  fifty-four  white,  and  one  hundred  coloured 
members,  of  whom  nine  became  ruling  elders  and  seven 
entered  the  ministry.     *     *     * 


740 

That  he  was  ambitious,  without  vain-glory,  is 
His  ambition,  demonstrated  by  his  whole  ministerial  life,  dur- 
ing which,  in  every  measure  to  which  he  laid  his 
hands,  he  adopted  the  very  course  that  imperils  reputation 
and  the  very  last  that  vanity  would  have  chosen;  at  the  same 
time  declining  complimentary  and  enticing  calls  in  every  direc- 
tion, almost  any  one  of  which  would  have  been  advantageous 
to  his  reputation  and  fame.     *     *     * 

SOOCHOW,  CHINA,  Dec.  27,  1873. 
My  Very  Dear  Mrs.  Smyth : 

The  last  papers  have  brought  me  the  tidings 

that  your  honoured  husband  has  been  called  away 

from  the  scene  of  his  earthly  labours.     From  this  distant  land 

I  would  desire  to  drop  a  tear  upon  the  grave  of  departed 

worth. 

You  remember  when  it  was  I  first  saw  Dr.  Smyth.  I  hon- 
oured him  then  as  he  stood  amid  the  wreck  of  his  bodily 
powers  in  all  his  grandeur.  I  cannot  find  words  to  tell  you 
what  an  impression  he  made  upon  me.  His  few  words  to  me, 
from  time  to  time,  made  more  impression  upon  me  than  the 
mightiest  sermon.  He  seemed  to  inspire  me  with  the  thought 
of  trying  to  do  mighty  things  for  the  Church  by  the  force  of 
hard  work,  and  oh !  that  sublime  position  of  holy  adoration 
his  soul  had  attained.  The  Master  took  him  home  full  of 
glory.  He  has  been  a  giant  in  the  Church.  Oh,  that  God 
would  raise  up  an  army  of  preachers  with  his  spirit.  *  *  * 
Most  sincerely  and  truly, 

Yours,  in  a  heathen  land, 
HAMPDEN  C.  DuBOSE. 

Extract  from  the  address  of  the  REV.  C.  C.  PINCKNEY, 
before  the  Bible  Society  of  Charleston,  S.  C,  at  their  63d 
Anniversary,  January  19,  1874. 

Our  next  oldest  Vice-President,  Dr.  Smyth, 
mc  ney.  j^^^  ^j^^  finished  his  course  of  suffering.  He  has 
borne  about  a  body  of  death  for  many  years ;  but  his  tottering 
steps  constantly  brought  him  to  our  quarterly  and  annual 
meetings.  Yet  with  this  diseased  body  and  enfeebled  mind,' 
his  energy  of  will  made  him  abundant  in  labors  unto. the  end. 
His  familiarity  with  all  current  theological  literature  often 
surprised  me,  and  I  have  never  felt  more  self-condemned  than 

'Enfeebled  because   of  the   diseased   body;   not   otherwise. — Ed. 


741 

when  coming  out  of  the  study  of  that  indomitable  man.  Mere 
wreck  that  he  was,  he  knew  more,  especially  of  English 
writers,  than  any  other  minister  of  my  acquaintance. 

"For  my  name's  sake  thou  hast  labored,  and  hast  not 
fainted,"  might  be  his  truthful  epitaph. 

NARRAGANSETT  PIER, 

RHODE  ISLAND.— 
Aug'  10.  1874. 
MY  DEAR  SIR, 

Your  letter  of  the  4"  inst.  was  forwarded  from 
°  &e-  Princeton  to  this  place,  &  has  just  been  received. 
The  son  of  a  friend  is  himself  a  friend.  As  I  knew  your 
lamented  father  during  his  whole  ministerial  life  and  always 
held  him  in  high  esteem,  it  was  a  real  gratification  to  me  to 
receive  a  letter  from  his  son.  I  recently  had  a  similar  gratifi- 
cation in  getting  a  friendly  communication  from  the  son  of 
D^  C.  C.  Jones,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  your  father. 

The  Faculty  of  the  Theological  Seminary  will  be  very  happy 
to  place  the  bust  of  which  you  speak,  in  the  Library  of  the 
Institution.  When  the  Seminary  opens  and  the  Professors 
are  again  together,  you  may  expect  to  receive  the  formal  ex- 
pression of  their  thanks.  In  the  mean  time,  I  thank  you  in 
their  name. 

I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  perusing  the  memorial  of  your 
father's  active  and  useful  life.     Few  men  exhibited  such  in- 
domitable energy  in  endeavouring  to  serve  the  cause  of  his 
Divine  Master  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances. 
Very  sincerely  your  friend, 

CHARLES  HODGE. 
M'.  Augustine  Smyth.  ■ 

S.  c' 

Theological  Seminary. 

PRINCETON  N.  J. 

Sept.  28.  1874. 
A.  T.  SMYTHE,  ESQ. 
DEAR  SIR, 
Two  or  three  weeks  since,  on  my  return  from  an  absence 
of  several  months  Dr.   Hodge  informed  me  of  the  donation 
which  he  had  received  from  you  for  our  Library.     The  bust 
shall  be  set  at  an  early  day  against  one  of  the  alcoves  of  the 
Library,  as  you  desire,  &  the  memorial  volume  placed  in  their 
shelves. 


742 

In  behalf  of  the  Trustees  I  hereby  make  formal  acknowl- 
edgment of  your  gift,  and  assure  you  of  the  gratification 
which  all  connected  with  the  Seminary  feel  on  being  assured 
that  the  Institution  was  so  remembered  by  your  honored 
father. 

In  accordance  with  a  vote  of  the  Directors,  sanctioned  by 
the  Trustees,  we  are  setting  apart  an  Alumni  Alcove  into 
which  we  wish  to  gather  the  publications  of  all  alumni  of  the 
Seminary. 

I  am  about  soliciting  of  the  living  alumni,  &  of  all  accept- 
able representatives  of  deceased  alumni,  the  material  that 
should  find  a  place  in  that  alcove.  Some  of  your  father's 
writings  I  am  sure  we  have ;  others  I  am  equally  sure  we 
cannot  have.  We  wish,  where  it  can  be,  to  secure  fresh  copies 
of  volumes  and  pamphlets  (bound  or  unbound),  that  shall  find 
their  first  &  only  place  in  this  alcove.  Other  copies  that  we 
may  have  will  be  for  use  in  their  appropriate  departments. 
Can  you  get  together  for  us  anything  like  a  complete  collection 
of  what  your  father  published  during  his  busy  &  ^useful  life? 
I  remain,  dear  Sir, 

Yours  very  truly 

CHAS.  A.  AIKEN. 

Librarian. 

The  small  porcelain  bust,  made  in  Edinburgh  in  1851,  stands 
in  a  prominent  place  in  the  library  of  Princeton  Seminary,  near 
the  portraits  of  Dr.  Miller,  Dr.  Hodge,  and  other  old  friends.  The 
newly  printed,  complete  edition  of  his  works  will  shortly  find  a 
place  on  the  shelves  in  belated  response  to  the  foregoing  letter. 
There  are  other  and  later  enquiries  for  Dr.  Smyth's  writings  among 
the  old  papers,  the  most  important  being  a  request  from  the 
PresbyteVian  Historical  Society,  in  1877;  there  are  also  calls  for 
copies  of  his  portrait  to  be  used  in  various  publications;  but,  at 
the  present  time,  his  books  are  most  valued,  as  he  himself  prophe- 
sied, "in  an  encyclopedical  light." 

With  this  letter  from  his  beloved  Princeton,  this  volume  ends. 


7^:3 


APPENDIX 

SMYTH  GENEALOGY. 

Extracts   from   the   family   bible   of  JOSEPH    SMYTH    I,   of   Bel 
fast,   Ireland;   grandfather  of  DR.   THOMAS   SMYTH. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Joseph  II,  May  14,  1759.  April   15,  1809. 

SAMUEL,  1  a.  m.  August  11,  1763.  September  24    1847 

William,  June  26,  1766. 
John,  December  25,   1768. 
Thomas,   May  5,    1772. 
Jane,  June  19,  1774. 
Jean,  April  16,  1776.  July  28,  1779. 


SAMUEL  SMYTH  or  SMITH,  married  Ann,  or  Agnes,  Magee, 
of  Saintfield,  Ireland,  January  18,  1793.  She  was  born  July  27, 
1772;  died  August  23,  1832. 


Births. 
Joseph    III,    December,    1794. 

m.  Jane    Carleton. 
Elizabeth,  February   15,   1796. 
Child  unnamed,   May  5,   1798. 
James,  September  20,  1799. 
Samuel   II,   April  20,   1804. 
Ann,    December   19,    1801. 
William   II,  July  15,   1806. 
THOMAS  II,  at  6^  a.  m.  June  14,  1808. 
Robert  Magee,  March  20,  1810. 
Anna,  May  9,  1812. 

m.   James    Plunket. 
Isabella,  February   16,   1814. 

m.  Henry  Fauntleroy. 


Deaths. 
October,   1853. 

October  16,  1799. 

January  18,   1876. 
April  19,  1834. 
August,   1803. 
Disappeared. 
August  20,  1873. 
August  30,  1840. 
December   7,   1877. 

December  6,   1876. 
1896. 


THOMAS  SMYTH,  was  married  to  Margaret  Milligan  Adger, 
on  July  9,  1832,  by  William  A.  McDowell,  D.  D.,  in  the  Sec- 
ond Presbyterian  Church  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  at 
sunset.  She  was  born  in  Charleston,  July  7,  1807;  died  July 
23,  1884,  at  Woodburn,  Pendleton,  South  Carolina. 


Births. 
Sarah  Ann  Magee,  November  20,  1833. 
Susan  Adger,  March  22,  1835. 
James  Adger,  Tuesday,  June  8,   1837. 
Augustine,   December   10,   1840. 
Augustine    Thomas,    Wednesday,    October    5 

1842. 
Susan   Dunlap  Adger,   Friday,   May   17,   1844. 


Sarah  Ann,  Tuesday,  February  3,  1846. 
Joseph    Ellison   Adger,   Monday,    October  26, 

1847. 
Jane  Anne  Adger,  Sunday,  March  4,  1849. 


Deaths. 
November  27,  1837. 
December  2,   1837. 

November   17,   1841. 


October  22,  1886,  at 
Blackwell  Springs, 
North    Carolina. 


May  9.  1914. 


744 

JAMES  ADGER  SMYTH,  m.   (1)   March  14,  1860,  Annie  Ransom 
Briggs,  b.  October  5,   1838;   d.  June  20,   1901. 
(2)    November   17,   1903,  Ella   Calvert  Campbell,  b.  October  1, 
1864. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Sarah  Ragin,   November   10,   1861. 
Ellison  Adger  II,  October  26,   1863. 
Robert  Adger,  July  25,   1871.      . 

Margaret  Milligan  Adger,.  February  17,   1873.  June  22,   1877. 
Richard  Briggs,  October  28,  1875.  September    2,    1912. 

Margaret  Milligan  Adger  II,  March  9,  1879. 


Ellison   Adger   Smyth   II,   m.    December   29,    1897,    Grace    Catherine 
Allan,  b.  August  9,  1869. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Thomas  III,  October   IS,   1898. 
Amey  Allan,  December   1,   1900. 
Joseph   Ellison  Adger  V,  October  28,  1903. 
Grace  Allan,  June  18,  1907. 
James  Adger  IV,   October  25,   1909. 


Robert  Adger  Smyth,   m.   April    10,    1902,    Ella  Anais    McGahan,   b. 
February  4,   1874. 


Richard  Briggs  Smyth,  m.  January  22,   1902,  Florence  M.   Gadsden, 
b.  June  8,  1877. 

Births.  Deaths.  . 

Phoebe   Gadsden,   October  21,   1902. 
Ann  Ransom,  September  16,   1904. 
Florrie   Morrall,  April  8,   1908. 
Elizabeth   Caldwell,  July  6,   1909. 


Margaret  Milligan   Smyth,   m.   June   27,    1905,   John    S.   A.   Johnson, 
b.  August  10,  1878. 

.Births.  Deaths. 

Sarah  Smyth,  October  10,  1906. 
James  Adger  Smyth,  December  27,   1907. 
Katherine   Morris,   August   13,    1912. 


AUGUSTINE    THOMAS    SMYTHE,    m.    June    27,    1865,    Louisa 
Rebecca  McCord,  b.  August   10,   1845. 

Births  Deaths. 

Louisa  Cheves,  July  31,  1868. 

Augustine   Thomas   II,   December  21,   1871.       August   1,   1884. 

Hannah  McCord,  June  15,  1874. 

Susan   Dunlap  Adger  II,  March  20,   1878. 

Langdon  Cheves  McCord,  February  7,  1883. 

Augustine  Thomas  III,  January  25,  1885. 


745 


Louisa  Chcves  Smythe,  m.  October  29,  1890,  Samuel  Gaillard  Stoney, 
b.  September  18,  1853. 


Births. 
Samuel  Gaillard  II,  August  29,  1891. 
Augustine   Thomas   Smythe,   October   12,   1894. 
Harriet   Porcher,   November  6,   1896. 
Louisa  McCord,  September  8,   1898. 


Dea  ths. 


Hannah  McCord  Smythe,  m.  December  5,  1900,  Anton  Pope  Wright, 
b.  August  24,  1872. 


Births. 
Anton  Pope  II,  October  1,  1901. 
Augustine  Smythe,  October  8,  1903. 
Bryan   Henry,   December  5,   1905. 
David  McCord,  August  1,  1909. 


Deaths. 


December  10,  1909. 


Susan   Dunlap   Adger  Smythe,   m.   April   2,    1902,   John    Bennett,   b. 
May  17,  1865. 


Births. 
Jane  McClintock,  May  11,   1903. 
John  Henry  van  Sweringen,  January  1,  1907. 
Susan  Adger,  January  20,  1910. 


Deaths. 


(JOSEPH)    ELLISON   ADGER   SMYTH,   m.   February   17,    1869, 
Julia   Gambrill,  b.   November   18,   1849. 


Births. 
Margaret  Adger,  January  3,  1870. 
Julia  Gambrill,  August  15,  1871. 
James  Adger  II,  August  IS,  1873. 
Annie  Pierce,  April  13,  1875. 
Thomas   III,  February  14,   1877. 
Lovick  Pierce,  June  26,  1878. 
Sarah  Ann  II,   February  29,   1880. 
Jane  Adger,  September  8,  1882. 

Katie   Finlay        Uugust  26,  1887. 
Louisa  McCord  \        ^ 
Ellison  Adger  III,  June  18,  1889. 
Maria  Gambrill,  March  1,  1892. 


Deaths. 
January  28,   1876. 


October  26,  1879. 
December  20,   1879. 


June,  1888. 

November    10, 
June  23,  1893. 


1895. 


Margaret  Adger  Smyth,  m.  December  17,  1891,  Anthony  Foster  Mc- 
Kissick,  b.  June  10,  1869. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Ellison  Smyth,  September  14,  1892. 

Sarah  Foster,  May  20,  1902.  September    3,    1903. 

Mary  Perrin        }  ^^^.^^^^^^  ^g    1904.  November   20,    1904. 
Julia   Gambrill     ) 

Edward  Perrin,  June  6,  1908.  June  6,   1906. 


746 

James  Adger  Smyth  II,  m.  November  7,  1900,  Mary  Conrow  Hutch- 
inson, b.  March  31,  1876. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Mary   Hutchinson,   September   13,   1901. 
Joseph  Ellison  Adger  IV,  December  16,  1902. 
James  Adger  III,  March  13,  1906. 
Thomas  Lebby,  January  16,  1908. 
Julia   Gambrill,   May  10,   1910. 
Lovick    Pierce,   Jtme   23,    1912. 


Annie  Pierce  Smyth,   m.   April    17,    1895,    Lewis   deVeaux   Blake,   b. 
July  20,   1870' 

Births.  Deaths. 

Ellison   Smyth  January  21,   1896. 
Julia  Lewis,  March  17,  1897. 
Annie  Pierce,  Nov.  8,  1900. 
Edward,  March  12,  1903. 
Julius   Augustus,   March    19,    1905. 
Sadie,  December  19,  1907. 
Lewis  de  Veaux  II,  October  29,  1909. 


Sarah  Ann  Smyth,  m.  April  17,  1907,  John  A.  Hudgens,  b.  Septem- 
ber 28,  1872. 

Ilirths.  Deaths. 

John  A.  II,  August  26,  1908. 
Ellison  Smyth,  June  4,  1910. 
Sarah   Smyth,   December  24,   1911. 


JANE    ANN    ADGER    SMYTH,    m.    December    20,    1876,    John 
William   Fiinn,  b.  July   11,   1847,  d.   December  28,   1907. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Margaret  Smyth,   March  30,   1878. 
Jane  Adger,  January  8,  1880. 
Sarah  Wilson,   May  28,  1882. 
Nelly   Crawford,  January   1,   1885. 
Sue  Smyth,  July  24,  1889. 
Thomas  Smyth,  May   17,   1891. 


Margaret    Smyth    Flinu,    m.    October    27,    1903,     George    Howe,    b. 
Oct.  3,  1876. 

Sarah   Wilson  Flinn,  m.  July   18,   1907,  McDavid  Horton,  b.   March 
16,  1883. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Sarah   Smyth   Flinn,   January   1,   1909. 


Nelly  Craivford  Flinn,  m.  April  18,  1906,  Louis  W.  Gilland,  b.  May 
23,   1880. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Jane   Smyth,   March  4,   1907. 
William   Flinn,  July  30,   1909. 


747 


J^ue  Smyth  Flinn,  m.   January    1,    1912,    Kenneth   Mclver   James,   b. 
Novemb-er  28,  1886. 


Births. 
Sue  Flinn,   November  6,   1912. 


Deaths. 


Ancestry    of  Margaret   MilUgan   Adger,   zuife    of    Tlioinas   Smyth. 

ADGER    FAMILY. 

JAMES  ADGER  I  was  born  in  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  1742; 
died  March  25,  1783,  and  is  buried  in  Dunean,  Ireland.  He 
married  in  1760  (?),  Margaret  Crawford,  of  Toome,  County 
Antrim;  born  September,  1744;  died  December  1,  1827,  in 
Charleston,   S.   C. 


Births. 

Robert   I,    1762. 

m.  Ann— b.   1784;   d.  April   1821. 
William   1,   November  6,   1772. 

m.  Susan  McCrary,  1790— b.  Sept.  6,  1770 

d.  June  9,  1862. 
JAMES  II,  November  2,   1777. 

m.   Sarah   Elizabeth   Ellison. 
Betsy,  m.   C.   Whitlaw. 
Jane,  m.  Kidd. 


Deaths. 
August  20,   1820. 

August  21,  1836. 

September  24,   1855. 

1803. 
died    in    Ireland. 


Margaret    Craivford    Adger,    m.    2,    Robert    Rogers    of    Moneynick, 
Ireland,   foreman   of  the   Adger  mill. 


Births. 
Esther,  m.  — Herron;  lived  Winnsboro,  S.  C. 
Margaret   or    Peggy,   m.   — -Whiting;    lived   in 

Kinderhook,    N.    Y. 
Mary,  m.  — Clark;  lived  in  Kinderhook,  N.  Y. 
Isabella. 


Deaths. 


Died  three  days  after 
the  arrival  of  the 
family  in  New 
York,  in  January, 
1794. 


JAMES  ADGER  II,  b.  November  2,  1777,  at  Moneynick,  near 
Randalstown,  County  Antrim,  where  his  father  bad  a  linen 
mill  and  bleaching  green.  He  left  Ireland  with  his  mother 
and  her  younger  children  in  September,  1793,  landing  in  New 
York,  January  1794;  died  September  24,  1858.  Married.  Sarah 
Elizabeth  Ellison,  September  6,  1806.  She  was  born  on  Aug- 
ust 27,  1783,  d.  October  18,  1856. 

Births.  Deaths. 

MARGARET  MILLIGAN,  July  7,   1807.  July' 23,  1884. 

m.  Thomas  Smyth,  July  9,  1832. 

Susan   Dunlap,  December  25.  1808.  March  8,   1884. 

John  Bailey,  December  2,   1810.  January  3,    1899. 

m.  June  29,  1834,  Elizabeth  Keith  Shrews- 
bury; b.   1812;  d.   October  11,  1890. 

James   III,  August  22,  1812.  June  28,   1881. 


748 

Robert  II,  July  17,  1814.  May  8,  1891. 

m.  July  26,   1836,  Jane  Eliza  Fleming;  b. 

May  21,  1815;  d.  December  22,  1871. 
William  II,  September  4,   1816.  December  14,   1853. 

m.   Margaret   Hall   Moffett,    1840. 
Sarah  Elizabeth,  May  15,  1820.  August  15,  1835. 

Jane  Ann,  October  14,  1822.  February  7,  1899. 

Joseph  Ellison,  October  26,  1824.  September   14,    1898. 

m.  June  27,  1848,  Susan  Cox  Johnson;  b. 

January  21,  1829;  d.  January  6,  1905. 


ELLISON  FAMILY. 


WILLIAM  ELLISON,  (the  Laird),  after  the  death  of  his  wife, 
left  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  1742  and  settled  in  Chester, 
Pennsylvania.     Of  his  five  sons: — 

The   eldest   remained,   and   was   executed   during  the    Irish 

Rebellion. 
Andrew,  remained  in   Chester,   Pennsylvania. 
William,   remained   in   Chester,   Pennsylvania. 
ROBERT,   b.    1742,    (Major   in    Revolutionary   Army),   re- 
moved   when    19    years    of    age,    to    Fairfield    District, 
South  Carolina. 
John,  removed  to   Fairfield   District,   South   Carolina. 


ROBERT  ELLISON,  born  in  Ireland  in  1742,  d.  March  8,  1806; 
m.  May  6,  1772,  (1)  Elizabeth  Potts  (daughter  of  Thomas 
Potts,  who  came  from  Ireland  to  Fairfield  District  in  1732.) 
d.  January  15,   1793.     m.    (2)   Jennie   Seawright. 

Births.  Deaths. 

Susannah,  January  12,  1774.  September    10,    1804. 

m.    May   7,    1793,    Rev.    D.    E.    Dunlap,   b. 

April  7,   1768,   d.   September   10,   1804. 
William    Holmes,    September   2,    1775. 

m.   Mary   Harrison. 
John,  March  6,   1777. 

m.    (1)    Susannah   Milligan. 
(2)    Elizabeth  Patterson. 
Robert,  June  27,  1779.  Lost  at  sea. 

Mary,  June  27,   1780.  1787. 

SARAH  ELIZABETH,  August  27.  1783.  October  18,   1856. 

m.  James  Adger,  September  6,   1806. 
Andrew,  March  1.   1786.  1799. 

James,  June   1,   1788.  June  30,   1874. 

Moved   to   Talbot,    Georgia,    1809.     m.   in 

1813,  Jane  Patterson,  b.  in  County  Derry, 

Ireland,  June  9,  1795. 
Joseph,    October  6,    1790.  September    10,    1844. 

m.    April    26,    1810,    Margaret    Adger,    b. 

October  24,  1791;  d.  May  12,  1854;  daugh- 
ter of  William   Adger   I. 

ARMS. 

The  heraldic  description  of  the  Smyth  arms  is  as  follows: — 

Argent,    on    a    Bend,    between    two    Unicorns'    heads    couped, 
azure,  3  lozenges  or. 

Crest',  A  unicorn's  head  erased,  azure. 

Motto:     EXALTABIT  HONORE. 

One  tradition  is  that  the  family  was  originally  from  Yorkshire. 


r49 


"THE  ADGAR  FAMILY 

"James  Adgar  was  from  another  County  &  moved  to  County 
Antrim.  Married  Margaret  Crawford  of  the  'Crawfords  of  Ran- 
dalstown.'  She  was  of  good  family  &  inherited  the  beauty  & 
pride  of  her  race.  Her  Father  was  Andrew  Crawford,  a  wealthy 
landholder  for  those  times,  &  was  an  Officer  on  the  Protestant 
side  at  the  Seige  of  Derry.  She  was  fond  of  relating  stories  of 
the  part  taken  by  her  Father  in  that  war.  He  was  noted  for  his 
bravery  and  gallantry." 

Extract  from  memoranda  by  James  Adger. 

The  following  letters  were  found  too  late  to  be  placed  with 
those  of  a  corresponding  date  under  the  head  of  "Authorship," — 
Editor. 

Cargill   by   Perth, 

20th  Aug.   1850. 
My  Dear  Sir, 

Your  note  has  just  come  to  hand.  In  reply  I  hasten  to  say 
that  it  would  indeed  have  afforded  me  sincerest  pleasure  to  have 
met  with  you  in  person.  Some  of  your  works  I  perused  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ganges, — especially  the  voluijies  on  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession &  Presbyterianism.  And  it  may  gratify  you  to  know  that 
some  of  our  more  advanced  Hindu  Christian  young  men  have 
perused  these  volumes  with  interest  and  profit.  What  a  noble 
instrument  is  the  press,  when  rightly  employed — in  thus  securing 
a  communion  of  spirit  with  spirit  even  at  the  uttermost  ends  of 
the  earth. 

Inclosed  is  a  very  brief  recommendatory  note,  addressed  to 
the  publishers,  Messrs  Johnstone  &  Hunter;  who  may  make  of  it 
what  they  deem  proper. 

I  regret  that  I  have  not  the  volume  by  me;  else  I  might  be 
more  specific  in  writing  in  the  confidence  of  friendship  to  your- 
self. 

It  occurred  to  me,  when  reading  it,  that,  in  a  new  edition,  it 
would  be  well,  to  throw  the  critical  review  of  Genesis  forward 
into  its  proper  place  in  the  body  of  the  work.  It  is  rather  a  rough 
hedge  to  climb  over  at  the  outset — at  least  for  the  unlearned 
many. 

The  first  chapter  might  perhaps  more  usefully  consist  (for  the 
sake  of  the  miany)  of  a  brief  statement  of  the  nature  of  the  sub- 
ject or  question  to  be  treated  of,  &  its  importance  to  the  cause 
of  humanity  &  revelation.  This  would  enable  the  unlearned  reader 
to  enter  on  the  perusal  with  greater  zest  and  intelligence. 
Originally  written  for  serial  publication,  the  present  arrangement 
received  its  peculiar  caste.  But  now  when  collected  into  a  volume, 
perhaps   the   natural    order   would   be    (after   announcing   the   pre- 


750 

cise  nature  of  the  subject  in  the  first  chapter)  to  make  the  8th 
chapter  on  presumptive  arguments  the  second — to  throw  chap. 
Ill,  IV  &  V  into  chap.  XVI  thus  making  it  three  or  four  chapters 
—to  connect  chaps:  VI  &  VII  with  chaps.  XVIII  &  XIX— to 
combine  chaps.  I  &  II  with  chap.  XVII — thus  crowning  the  whole 
column  of  evidence  with  the  apex  of  Scripture  testimony. 

Then,  the  resume  with  answer  to  objections,  as  now.  Pardon 
me  for  this  hurried  crudity  &  believe  me  with  sincere  esteem 
yours  very  truly, 

ALEXANDER    DUFF. 


Brechin,   16  Sep.   1850. 
My  Dear  Sir, 

The  researches  of  Prof.  E.  Forbes  are  I  believe,  understood  to 
contain  the  most  accurate  generalizations  which  have  been  gained 
as  to  the  distribution  of  plants  and  fishes.  First  of  all  he  has 
attained  certain  generalizations  as  to  the  distribution  of  plants  in 
the  British  islands.  You  will  find  a  reference  to  these  generaliza- 
tions in  Mrs  Somerville's  Physical  Geography  and  also  in  the  last 
winter's  number  of  the  London  Quarterly  Review  as  well  as  in  the 
"Aspects  of  Nature"  by  Humboldt — But  I  cannot  say  where  the 
original  paper  is  to  be  found.  Then  by  dredging  the  seas  he  has 
arrived  at  certain  laws  in  reference  to  the  distribution  of  fishes. 
He  has  made  a  survey  of  the  Egean  sea  and  has  a.  Mr.  M.  Andrew 
employed  in  dredging  the  British  seas.  The  results  have  been 
given  in  at  various  meetings  of  the  British  Association  and  will 
be  found,  I  presume,  in  the  printed  transactions. 

I  do  not  think  that  these  generalizations  settle  the  question 
you  discuss  one  way  or  other.  Still  they  furnish  the  most  correct 
knowledge  we  possess  of  the  distribution  of  the  flora — and  of  a 
portion  of  the  fauna  of  a  part  of  our  earth.  All  that  it  is  needful 
for  you  to  do  is  to  show  that  they  do  not  interfere  with  your 
positions.  They  all  point  to  certain  centres  from  which  the 
dififerent  animals  &  plants  have  proceeded.  Prof.  Henslow  of 
Cambridge  has  also  generalizations  on  this  subject.  He  divides 
the  Vegetable  Kingdom  into  forty-five  provinces. 

In  taking  in  these  British  investigations  you  do  not  require 
to  add  any  nezv  view  or  argument. —  The  argument  is  already  in  your 
work.  All  that  is  needful  is  to  show  that  it  is  so, — and  that  the 
fact  that  plants  and  fishes  have  proceeded  from  certain  local 
centres — does  not  show  that  man  must  have  done  so. 

I  am  here  away  from  a  good  public  library,  I  am  much  taken 
up  with  a  dying  relative,  and  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give  more 
specific  information.  Besides  I  am  not  a  naturalist,  and  so  am  not 
ready  on  these  topics.  Any  naturalist  could  direct  you  to  the 
work  in  which  you  could  have  the  information  I  point  to. 

Generally  I  know  that  Prof.  E.  Forbes  has  read  papers  to  the 
British  Association,  that  he  has  had  a  work  published  by  the  Roy  [?] 
Society,  that  he  writes  at  times  in  Jameson's  Journal — but  I  can 
not  point  to  particulars. 


751 

Mr.  Carter  of  New  York  has  written  to  Sutherland  &  Knox, 
Edinburgh,  stating  that  he  was  just  about  to  issue  a  stereotype 
edition  of  my  work.  My  publishers  are  not  particularly  well 
pleased.  I  am  glad  &  grateful,  as  it  promises  usefulness  in  a  new 
and  important  field.  I  am  not  sure  whether  Carter  will  now 
distribute  the  copies  we  sent  of  the  British  edition  to  the  reviews. 
He  will  probably  send  his  own  instead. 

As  soon  as  your  work  is  issued  in  Scotland  I  will  review  it  in 
our  local  paper.  I  presume  that  able  persons  will  be  employed  to 
review  it  in  the  Edin.  Organs  of  the  Free  Church. 

I  do  not  think  that  my  opinion  will  forward  the  sale  of  your 
work  in  any  way  but  you  are  right  welcome  to  quote  any  sentence 
or  half  sentence  of  the  letter  I  sent  you —  I  am 

Yours    truly, 

JAMES  McCOSH. 

N.  B,     Please  remember  me  to  Prof.   Gibson. 


753 


INDEX 


Page 
Abbott,    Gorham,    Rev : , 362 

manager  of  Charleston  Theatre 316 

Abolition,  107,  157,  158,  173,  175,  215,  22S,  234,  241,  254,  352,  360-363, 
365-378,  562,  565,  567,  573,  575,  584,  587,  593,  595,  596,  599,  600, 
602,  608-610,  620. 

anti,    Society    in  N.   Y ...„ .....595,599-603,    611,    612 

ex'citement  in  Brooklyn 593,  595,. 610,  620 

Academy  of  Music '. 623 

Act  of  1818.... ...174,  234,  607-609 

of    1845 607,    608 

Adair,  Wm.  Fred.,  Capi 655 

Adams,  William,  D.D 122 

William  Hooper,  Rev... 587 

Adger  Andrew  MofFett,.... 650,  664-666 

Clari.ssa,  see  Bovven 

Elizabeth,  (Mrs.  Wm.  Ellison),  104,  105,  152,  314,  321,  323,  324,  326- 
328,  330,  392,  434,  436,  440,  467 

Elizabeth  Keith,   (Shrewsbury),  Mrs.  J.  B 98,  103,  152,  167,  668 

genealogj' 747-749 

Isabella  Ellison,  see  Boggs 

James,  61-65,  73-77,  81,  98,  105-108  115,  116,  146,  152,  158,  164, 
165,  172,  184,  230,  252,  277,  286,  306-312,  314,  315,  320-330,  333, 
334,  337-340,  343,  344,  347,  348,  353,  378-381,  383-395,  412,  413, 
434.  436,  449,  450,  453,  457,  459,  463-465,  467,  468,  474,  475, 
483,  493,  498,  526,  651,  747-749;  comes  to  America,  61,  438;  pur- 
chases books  for  Dr.  Smyth,  115;  builds  addition  to  Dr.  Smyth's 
house,  116,  359,  380,  383-385,  387,  413;  ad.  to  church,  75,  389;  pays 
half  ch.  alterations,  106,  149;  Com.  of  Cross  Roads,  329;  del. 
Augusta  Convention,  327;  death,  463-465,  747;  in  England,  1838, 
353,  467;  mem.  of  Leg.,   76;  in  Paris,    1838,   340 

James,  Jr.,  98,  99,  105,  115,  152,  168,  204.  239,  359,  386,  450,  458, 
468,  470,  747 

James,  infant  of  J.  E.  A 434,  435,  452 

James,  son  of  Wm ......635,  664,  668,  672,  674 

Jane  Ann,  105,  108,  168,  187,  219,  520,  340,  347,  382,  387,  388,  433- 
443,  450,  458,  459,  463-465,  467,  468,  523,  554,  623-631,  638,  640 
646,  647,  649,  652-656,  660,  662,  663,  748 

Jane  EHza,  (Fleming,',  Mrs.  Robert,  314,  328-331,  333,  338,  340, 
341,   466,   467,   626,   638,    748 

John,  of  Winnsboro 328 

John  Bailev,  D.D.,  60  62,  65,  66,  74-80,  98,  99,  105,  115,  140,  159, 
195,  198,  199,  201,  204,  243,  250,  278-281,  283,  286,  292,  306, 
314,  359-362,  367,  386,  388,  431,  437,  459,  460,  468,  527,  583, 
584,  596,  613,  618,  625,  633,  638,  643,  650,  661,  662,  668,  671, 
672,  684,  704,  707.  709,  716,  747;  missionary,  77-80,  144,  152,  306, 
362,   629;  prof.    Coltunbia  Sem.,    188,  584,  596 

John  Bailey,  Jr ^.... 672 

Joseph,  of  Winnsboro ....393 

Joseph  Elhson,  105,  108,  199,  342,  348,  354,  355,  383,  388,  390,  434- 
443.  452-454,  468,  558,  641,  644,  646,  647,  686,  649,  650,  654,  656, 
664-666,    668,    675,    748 

Liz7ie,  d.  of  J.  B.  A..... 650 

Margaret,  d.  of  Andrew  Crawford.... 61,  747,  749 

Margaret  Milligan,  see  Smyth 

Margaret,  see  Ellison 

Margaret  Hall,   (Moffett),  wife  of  Wm.,  280,  382,  385,  457,  482,  748 

148] 


754 

Robert,  105,  149,  167,  185,  187,  196,  199,  314,  328,  334,  341,  346, 
355.  383,  388,  390,  438,  466,  468,  469,  620,  623,  626,  632,  633, 
638,   642,  646,   647,   671,  672,   675,   748 

Robert,  &  Co.,  "Big  Store," 623,  633 

Sarah  E..  wife  of  James,  62,  77,  98,  102,  103,  105-108,  143,  152,  158, 
168,  184,  312-315,  320,  322-329,  333-335,  338,  340-342,  347,  353, 
354,  380,  386,  395,  434,  436-440,  447,  450,  451,  457-459,  466,  467, 
493,   747,  748 

Sarah,   d.  of  James ....98-104,    107,    108,   748 

Sarah,  d.  of  Robert 620 

Susan  Dunlap,  75,  97-105,  158,  166-168,  219,  303-315,  320-335, 
337-341,  346,  347,  381,  386,  388,  395,  436,  437,  439,  440,  448- 
450,  457,  459,  463-468,  623-633,  638,  646-656,  659,  660,  662,  686, 
747. 
Susan  Cox,  (Johnson)  wife  of  J.  Ellison,  434-443,  452,  559,  645,  661, 
665,  748 

Susan  R.,  d.  of  Robert ..683 

William    (I), 61,    62,    747,    748 

William  (II),  75,  105,  143,  166-168,  315,  321,  326,  328,  330,  334, 
337,  340,  354,  355,  389,  393,  434,  436,  439,  464,  468,  510,  748 

Adger's   Wharf ......434,    436,    623,    646 

Africa,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 

Agassiz,  J.  L.  R .- 265,   267,  268 

Agnew,  C.  R.,  M.  D : .601,  612 

Aiken,  Charles  A.,  Rev 741,  742 

Alabama  claims 554 

Alabama  in  secession, 571,  585,  590 

Alexander,    Addison,    D.D 268,    270,    271,    278,    285,    531 

Archibald,  D.D.,  61,  69,  70,   104,   105,   142,   177,   183,  226,  230,  235, 

268,  269,  539 
James  W.,  D.D.,    165,    183,    226,  268-271,  285,   360,    455,  461,    467 

J.  W.,  Mrs 461 

Allan,  James,  and  family 249 

Allegheny  Theo.  Sem. ,  see  Seminary 

Allen,   Counsellor,  of  Dublin, ..15,   16 

Alliance, S.S.. 632 

Alston,  Joseph 135 

American  Bible  Society,  see  Bible  Soc. 

Board  of  Com.  of  Foreign  Missions,  see  Missions. 
Home  Mission  Society,  see  Missions. 
Sunday  School  Union,  see  S.  S.  Union. 
Tract  Society,  see  Tract  Soc. 
Amherst  College,  see  College. 

Amusing    Incidents 483-488 

Anderson,  Robert,  General,  367,  561,  567,  570,  597,  614,  615 

Robert,  of  Sec.  Ch 206 

Robert  S.,  of  DubHn, .413,  419 

Andover  Theo.  Sem.,  see  Seminary. 

Andrews,  O.  A.,  see  Y.  M.  T.  S - 142 

Ansley,  J.  A 709 

Anson  vSt.   Chapel,  see  Church,  negro. 

Anthony,  I.  C... -.- -..- 182 

Anti-slavery,   55,    173,   241,   257,  "219,   360-363,   365,   378,   562,   598,   605 

slavery   Committee,   Belfast.... 223,   352,   373,   376 

.slavery  in  Kansas 565 

slavery  Society,  Scottish.... 257,  352,  366,  371,  377,  378 

Antonica,  S.  S -.-.- -655 

Anxious    stand.. — - 1 04, 183 

Apostolical  Succession,  work  on,   214-217,   220,   221,   241-243,   260,   296, 
364,  717,  749 

Appleton,  D.  &  Co..... 598,  611,  634 

Archer,  Thomas,  D.D -444 


Armstrong,  Samuel  T.,  Gov.  of  Mass .211 

Arnold,  Benedict 569 

Articles  and  Sermons,  on  Adger,  J.,  296,  463,  483;  Adger,  Mrs.  j.,  458; 
Advent,  296,  680;  Anniversary,  1832,  4,  65,  297;  Assurance,  296, 
437;  Astronomy,  296,  521;  Atonement,  661,  662;  Bacchus,  296, 
437;  Baptism,  248-250,  260,  281,  294-296;  Benevolence,  247; 
Bibliog.,  296-300;  Calvin,  260,  296;  Chas.  Union  Pres.,  75,  211,  296, 
347,  467;  Children,  297,  384;  Christian  Stewardship,  703;  Church, 
Design  and  Duty  of,  4,  65,  297;  Church  divide,  604-610;  Church 
of  Scotland,  217,  237,  240.  241,  297;  Collections,  248,  297,  682; 
Commission  to  Ch.,  703;  Confirmation,  183,  246,  260,  297,315, 
444;  Ciildees,  297,  680;  Dew  Drops,  699;  Doxologies,  etc..  247,  298; 
Denominational  Ed.,  252,  256,  297,  363,  734;  Ecclesiastical  Cate- 
chism, 216,  219,  231,  232,  237,  243,  292;  Ecclesiastical  Republi- 
canism, 236,  237,  243-245,  247,  708,  737;  Eldership,  155,  229,  246, 
247,  260,  283-294,  297,  298,  490,  557,  558;  Fellowship,  258,  300; 
Heathen,  298,  490;  Home,  loss  of,  230,  328;  Imputation,  155, 
298;  Infants,  335;  Installation,  298,  490,  491,  534;  Instruments, 
use  of,  298,  681:  Bibertv,  299,  663;  Literature,  244,  299,  Lord's 
Supper,  29S,  356;  Mammon,  etc.,  232,  298;  Manassas,  299,  640; 
Mecklenburg  Declaration,  289.  708;  Minister  and  his  people, 
69,  299:  Ministry,  297,  299,  490;  Missionary  character,  298,  306; 
Missions.  298,  299,  437;  Natural  History  299,  521:  North- 
ern Christians,  299,  571-573,  588,  592,  593,  596,  600,  601,  604, 
617;  Orphan  House,  230,  299;  Presbyterianism,  211,  216,  299, 
347,  467,  749;  Psalmodv,  277,  299;  Reid's  History,  Review  of, 
232,  233,  299;  Revision,  704,  706;  Revivals,  188;  vSeminaries, 
257,  300,  306;  Mrs.  vSimonton,  332;  Sin  and  the  Curse,  299,  562, 
564,  566.  573,  589,  592,  598;  Slaverv,  592,  637;  Soldiers'  Prayer 
Book,  299,  649;  Storm,  298,  398-403;  Sunday  Schools,  300, 
386,  393;  Teaching  Service,  299,  699;  Temperance,  143,  296; 
Theatre,  176,  216,  230,  300,  349;  Tract  Soc,  280,  296;  Trees, 
300,  521;  Trinity,  280.  281,  300;  Union  to  Christ,  300,  315;  War, 
300,  621,  633;  Westminster  Assembly,  260,  300,  471,  531;  Wo; Id, 
conversion  of,  297,  491;  Yeadcn,   300,   483, 

Ashmead,  WiUiam,  Rev 164 

Assembly,  General,  4,   155-159,   174-176,   180,   193,  230,  233,  234,  270-273, 
277,  284,  289-291,  389,  504,   558,  598,  604,  605,  607,  608,  616-619, 
688,  703,  704 
General,  of  Ireland,   362,   363.   376,   408-410,   414,   416,   422-427,485 

General,  of  Rochester 289-291 

General,  Southern 621,   633,   635,   662 

Assembly's  Theo.   College,  see  College 

Scot.,  Hist,  of.,  see  Scottish. 
Associate   Reformed  Presbyterian,   see   Church. 

Association  for  advancement  of  science,  British  and  American 296,  750 

Atheism 681 

Atlantic,  S.  S 315,  439,  443,  467,  476 

Audubon,  J.  J .....143 

Auld,  Donald  J.,  Rev : 204 

Ax.son,  I.  S.  K..  D.D 281,  294,  564 

Babbington  Lectures ....494 

Bachman,  John,  D.D 143,  211,  242,  265,  630 

Backus,  J.  C,  D.D ...269,  315,  688 

Bacon,  Leonard,  D,  D 264,   444 

Bailey,  Att.-Gen /. 216 

John 61.   463 

Baird,  E.  T.,  Rev ...703 

N 350,  551 

.    Samuel  J.,  Rev 292 

Baker.  George  S 568 

Ball,   Dyer,  'Rev 72,    144 


756 

Balloon,  planned  by  Conf.  Signal  Corps . _ 663 

Bancroft,  of  Sec.  Ch ......149,  205,  587,  588,  620 

Banks,  Hugh  R 149.    185,  637 

Banner  of  Ireland 258 

Baptism 248-250,  269,  281,  295,  296,  480,  529,  558,  592,  607,  709 

Baptist,  see  Church. 

Barclay,  William 90 

Barnes,  Albert,  D.D = 156 

Barnwell,  Robert  W.,  Rev ....583,  627,  629,  630,  632.  633 

William  H.,  Rev 142,  143 

Baxter's   Church 444 

Baynes,  Richard. .......46,   55,  444,   445 

B—  catastrophe .....162,  189,  194 

Beaufort  and  Port  Royal,  fall  of,. 635 

Beauregard,  R   G.   T.,    General,  614,  625.    628,  632,  649,  650,  654,655, 

660,  663 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  D.D 367,  720,  721 

Mrs 367 

Lyman,  D.D ...156,  360,  399,  403 

Belfast,  3,  4,  7,  9,   10,   12,   14-19,  22-27,  37,  38,  40,  45,   47,  61,  228,  257- 
262,  362-366,  370-378,  414,  429,  431,  448,  452,  485-487,   743 

Academical  Inst,  and  College,  see  College, 

College  graduates,  in    United  States ..27,  719, 

College  library,   see  Library. 

anti-slavery  com.,  see  Anti-slavery. 

News  Letter.-.. 363 

Presbytery,  see  Presbytery. 

Protestant  Journal .'.....  375 

Bell,  Robert  J.,  D.D 47,  3/0,  371,  373,  374 

Bellinger,  John,  M.D., 314,  329,  330,  332,  334  ,  381,  387,  389,  392,  483 

Benbow,  Harry,  Colonel _ 667,  669 

Bennett's  Mill-wheel ..45 1 ,  452 

Bentivoglio,  Count,  see  Middleton. 

Bentonville,  battle  of 673 

Bernard, D.D 397 

Bible  Society,  American 460,  587 

Society,  Charleston ....460,  594,  595,  597,  629,  738,  740 

Society,  Princeton.. 486 

Biblical  Repertory,  see  Princeton  Review. 

Bibliography.. 296-300,  468,  469 

Biddle,  Nicholas 254 

Binney,  Thomas,  D. D 444 

Birch,  Thomas  Ledlie,  Rev.,  of  Saintfield 431 

Black,  Alexander . .77,    151,    167 

Island,  see  Island. 

Moses,   Rev 377,   378 

Blackwood,  WiUiam,  D.D 27,  584,  585.   589-592,  719 

Blair,  Robert,  of  Bangor 233 

Blarney  stone 559,    560 

Bledsoe,  Prof 598,  600 

Bliss,  Seth,  D.D .....598-603,  611,  612 

Blockade,  see  Charleston. 

runners. 632,  655 

Boards  of  Missions,  see  Missions. 

Boardman,  Henry  Augustus,  D.D .221,  284,  521,  603,  604 

Boggs,  George  W.,  Rev : ...79,  142,  144,  707 

Isabella  Ellison   (Adger) 79,    144 

Thomas.... 649,  650 

Samuel,  Rev .....653 

William  E.,  D. D .7 06,  707 

Bogue,  David,  D.  D. 445 

Boies,  Artemus,  Rev 164,  700 


757 

BoUes,  Edwin,  Rev... 205 

Bonaparte,   painting   of 77 

Bones,  John..... 77,  348,   453 

Bonham,  M.  L.,  General.... .....630 

Book  of  Discipline,  or  Church  Order 70,  607,    704,  706,  707 

Books,  see  Library. 

Boston,   Presbj  terianism  in,    see  Presbyterianism. 

Bowen,  Clarissa  Adger 329,  331.  333,  341,  468,  647,  662 

O.  A.. .640 

Boyce,  Samuel 98 

Boyd,  Benjamin. 135 

Brackett,  Gilbert  Robbins,  D.D.,  697-699,  710,   711,  715,  717,  721,    730 
Memorial  of  Thomas  Smyth,  quoted,   171,   177,  523,    549,  658,  684, 
685,    697,   698,    710,    711,    715,    730-741 

Bradbury,  Thomas,  Rev..... 445 

Bradford, Rev 205 

Bradham,  D.  J.,  Capt 670 

Bradlee,  Caleb  Davis,  Rev 282 

Brady,  James  Topham 584 

Brechin,  vScotland 263,  750 

Breckenridge,  John,  D.D .' ...172,  242 

John  Cabell 616 

Robert  J.,   D.D.,    105,    192,   220,   227,  241,  242,   246,  253,   256,  455, 
557,  558,  583,  606,  616,    734 

William.  D.  D 226,  242,  246 

Briggs,  Anne  Ransom,  see  Smyth. 

•    Charles  Augustus,  D.D ....505 

Richard  R., 667-680 

British  and  American  Association,  see  Association. 
Brooklyn,  abolition  in,  see  Abolition. 

Brougham,  Lord 55 

Brown,  Alexander,  of  Brown,  Shipley  &  Co ...438 

Alexander,  of  Sec.  Chun.h - -167,  341 

A.  McD 688,  698 

David,  D.D 227,  265,  446 

James 100 

John,  D.D.,  of  Edinburgh .....227,  264,  446 

John,  D,  D.,  of  Ireland 227,  409 

Joseph  E.,  Governor  of  Georgia 624 

Samuel,   D.D..... .470,  471 

Shipley  &  Co 412,  413,  418,  420,  421 

Thomas,  D.D . 23 

Sir  William,  M.  P 412,  418,  438,  439 

Brownlee,  John '. 135 

Brvan,  John,  Colonel 64,  215,  478 

Bruce,   WiUiam,  jr 15,   24,   25 

Buchanan,  Tames,  President 361,  567,  576,  596 

Buckeye,  S.S .-.. ...349,  350 

Buist,  Edward  T.,  D.D 81,  95-97,   102,   105,   109,  466,  467,  550,  583 

George.. 81 

Buffum,  James  N 366-368,  370 

Bulloch,  editor  of  Christian  at  Work 549 

Bullock, ,  D.D ...616 

Bunch,  Robert,  British  consul 649 

Bunhill  cemetery 445 

Burder.  Henry  Forster,   D.D 700 

Butler,  B.  E.,  General ..642 

Buttolph,  David  L.,  D.D 187,  201,  206,  207,  529,  636,  717,  718 

Cadets,  Arsenal ....670,  671 

Citadel.... ...570,    670,    671 

S.  C.  College 612-615,  635,  641 

Zouave 570.627,671 


758 

Caesar,   "Daddy,"  c ...625,  616,  628,  638,  653 

Cairns,  William 15,  26 

Calcutta,  free  Church  College,  see  College. 

Caldwell,  James  M 467 

Richard ..627,  629,  654 

Calhoun,  Duff,  Capt.. 672 

John  C 440 

Calvinism... 50,    51,    237,    736 

Cambria,  ,S.  S 391 

Campbell,  Archibald ..195 

Hugh,  D.D 443,  454,  455 

W.  W.,  Rev 708,  709 

Candlish,  Robert  S.,  D.D., 7,  217-219,  227,  228,  264,  369,  437,  446 

Carberry, ,  of  Sec.  Church 380 

Cardoza, ,  Rev.,  c, 206 

Carrere,  William  G .....646 

Carrickfergus 9 

Carroll,  J.  H.,  Rev 559,  560,  573,  620 

Carson,  Alexander,  D.D 482 

Carter,  Robert,  pubHsher •. 222,  398,  751 

Casement,, ,  of  Belfast _. 16 

"Catechism,   Ecclesiastical,"  see  Articles. 

Catto,  Thomas,  Rev.,  c... 205,  393,  394 

Central  City  Courier 552,  553 

Central  Presbyterian,  see  Presbyterian. 

Chalmers,  Thomas,  D.D.,   7,  217-219,  228,  241,  261,  351-353,  407,  4.16, 
446,   467,   734 

William,  Rev..... , 240,241 

Chambers,  John,  D.D .561,  562 

Chappel,  John  J .90 

Charleston,  6,  73,  77,  89,  135,  139,  141-144,  162,  171,  175,  181,  195,  198- 
200,  244,  306,  312,  314,  323,  325,  337.  344,  349,  367.  369,  370, 
468,  479,  544,  560,  561,  563,  567,  569,  570,  572,  579-581,  585-588, 
594-597,  605,  606,  610,  612-617,  637,  641-644,  670,  689,  722;  abo- 
lition in,  158,  367;  Assembly  in,  175,  193,  270;  bath-house  325, 
393,  509;  blockade  of,  648,  649,  655;  bombardment  of,  616,  658- 
660,  663,  665,  669;  brass  band,  627,  Episcopacy  in,  214-216,  239, 
483;  evacuation  of,  639,  641,  643,  644,  647,  658-660,  672,  673, 
675:  fire  of  1837,  298,  341;  of  1861,  625,  636,  643;  sympathy  with 
Free  Kirk,  240,  241,  278;  forts,  see  Forts;  Fourth  of  July,  388; 
persons  in  Gibbons'  wreck,  306,  308,  310-314;  race  week,  77;  in 
reconstruction,  675,  679,  694-696,  704,  705;  secession  in,  563, 
567,  568,  570,  572,  579,  585,  586,  588,  595-597,  605,  606;  Union 
prayer  meetings  in,  625;  Confederate  women  in,  623-633,  645- 
647,  649,  653,  655,  656,  665,  673 
Bible  Society,  see  Bible. 

City  Gazette. -64 

Courier...... 215,  327,  554,  586,  5  94,  596,  627,  673 

Jockey  Club — — 77 

Light  Dragoons 664,  672,  674 

Mercury 215,  250,  594,  653,  658,  665 

Observer, ..76,   139,   169,   175,   177,  240,  296,  298,,  299,  323 

Orphan  House 230,  380,  659,  661,  684,  715,  734 

Presbytery,  see  Presbyter^'. 
Tract  Society,  see  Tract  Society. 

Chase,  Salmon  P - - 6 ]  9 

Cheever,  George  B.,  D.D.... - -573 

Cheves,  Langdon... 75,  322,  327 

Langdon,  family - - -75 

Langdon,  Jr.,  Capt - -.-.. 654,  655 

Cheves,  Langdon,  S.  S - 322 

Chicamacomico,  see  Island. 


769 

Chichester,  C.  E.,  Rev.,   Capt .570,  627,   671,   706-708,   721-726 

Chicora,  S.  S.,  see  Confederate  gunboats. 
China,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 

Cholera _ 98-102,   104,  227,  317,  318,  466 

Christian  Sentinel... _ .._. 175 

Union -../. _.. 720,    721 

Watchman _... .....395 

at  Work 237,  549,  727,  728 

Chupein,  Lewis  Y.. .....314 

Church,   Apostolic ..294,   591 

North  African. .284 

Baptist :...286,  395,  438,  526,  658,  735 

Baptist,  of  Columbia ..563 

collections 162-164,     248 

Congregational,  18-20,  28,  47,  48,  50,  51,  60,  174,  179,  214,  288,  735 
Congregational    (Circular)   of   Charleston,    144,    154,    157,    162,    179, 
202,  211,  477-479,  482,  483,  490,  552,  594,  643,  684,  695,  697 

Dutch  Reformed...... 205,  706,  735 

of  England 396 

Episcopal,  see  Episcopalianism. 

Episcopal  in  the  Confederate  States 619 

Episcopal,  St.  Luke's 658 

Episcopal,  St.  Michael's 216,  367,  660,  661,  663,  666,  669,  670 

French  Protestant   (Huguenot).... 216,  587,  594,  661,  699 

government 214,  226,  289,  293 

Independence,  see  Congregational. 

Methodist,   18,  73,  205,  206,  357,  544,  634,  658,  679,  735 

Methodist,   Trinity..... 694 

Negro,  Anson.  Street  Presbyterian,  159,  195,  197,  200,  201,  279; 
Sec.  Baptist,  694,  695;  Bethel,  Meth.,  694;  Calvary  Epis.,  riot  of 
1849,  695;  Laurel  Street,  695,  696;  Wesley,  694,  695;  Zion  Presby- 
terian, 159,  194-201,  367,  552,  690,  694-696,  733 

Presbyterian,  Ass.  Reformed  or  Seceder ....271-273 

Presbyterian  of  Charleston,  St.  Andrews 194 

First  or  Scotch 64,  65,  70-72,  77,  78,  80,  81,  294,  627,  635,  636. 

Glebe  Street 194,  195.  263,  471,  644,  690,  6.94,  696 

Second  or  Flinn's, 61-66,  68,  70-72,  75,  77,  81-89,  91- 

98,  102,  105,  106,  108,  109,  135,  136,  143-154,  159-176,  178-189, 
194-207,  211,  213.  286,  290,  347,  353,  354,  359,  380,  385,  387, 
389,  390,  393,  394,  466,  467,  469,  478-483,  486,  491,  493,  527, 
544,  545,  552,  594,  597,  634,  635,  637,  642,  644,  645,  649,  652, 
653,  661,  664.  679-680,  683,  684,  687,  689-694,  697-700,  709-711, 
715,  717,  718,  720,  721,  727,  728,  730,  732-734,  738,  739,  743; 
alterations  of,  106,  145-151,  166-168,  184,  195,  203,  204,'  380; 
lecture  room,  62,  159,  166,  167,  195,  207,  325,  330,  333,  340,  341, 
380,  382,  684;  lotterv,  136,  137;  manual  of,  183,  249,  321;  ministers 
from  congregation,  204-206,  347,  478,  739 

Third   or  Central 66,  106,  152,  194,  199,  211,  229 

Westminster 194 

Presbyterian,   First,   of   Columbia .....65,    80,    86,    90-94,    141,    177 

Presbyterian,  in  England 50,  51,  443,  444,  454,  585,  622 

Presbyterian,  in  Ireland,  4,  6,  9,  19,  26,  43,  49,  50,  69,  214,  228,  294, 

403,  407-410,  420,  422,  423,  426,  585,  716. 
Presbyterian,  in  Scotland,  9,  217-219,  240,  241,  262,  287,  294,  352, 

353,  366,  367,  408,  629,  736,  751 
Presbyterian,  in  the  United  States  (Southern),    179,   189,  281,   283, 

559,  621,  622,  633,  635,  639,  640,  662,  681,  688,  689,  697,  719 
Presl-)yterian,  in  the  United  States  of  America,   (Northern),  60,  154, 
155,  162,  165,  176,  181-184,  230,  242,  243,  281,  371,  531,  545,  558, 
562,  566,  567,  569,  574,  587,  588,  597,  598,  603-610,  616-619,  679, 
681,   688,    704,    719 


Roman  Catholic,  see  Roman  Catholic. 

Syrian—- 445 

Unitarian 20,   143,   180,  363,  364,  396,  553 

Clapp, ,  Rev 349,  350 

Clarke,  Adam,  D.D 445 

Clark,  Elizabeth  Ellison 625,  627 

Isabella   Plunket    (Long) 59,   558 

Robert 328 

Clerical  Union 738 

Cliosopliic  Societ5   of  Princeton 487 

Cohen,  James,  Rev ....584 

College,   Amherst 697 

Assembly's,  Belfast _...._ 15,   257,   258,   408,   414 

Belfast,    11,    12,    14-17,    22-27,   48-50,    258-262,    396,   485,    486,    700, 
718-721. 

Free  Church,  of  Calcutta 216,  217 

Free  Church,  of  Edinburgh.... .436,  452 

Central. 165 

Charleston.. 206 

Davidson..... ....293,  296 

Highbury,  20,  26-29,  40-48,  50-56,  60,   115,   131,    177,  214,  266,  444, 
484,   486,   524,   700 

Missionary,  of  Hoxton 29,   31,   484 

Magee.. ....6,  7,   165,  185,  405,  407,  409,  414,  417,  418,  422,  427 

Medical,  of  Charleston 131,  246 

of  New  jersey   (Princeton  University),  227,  236,  238,  262,  263,  284, 

551,  702 
Queen's,  see  Belfast  College. 

St.  Louis. ...350 

Literarv  Societies .."- 296 

South  Carolina,  94,   165,   172,   177-179,  256,  284,  498,  583,  584.  593, 
596,  612-615,  620,  635,  640,  641 

Collins,  William : ......217 

Colonization  Society 78,    107,    157 

Colt,  RowellL 227,  238,  239,  248-250,  357 

Rowell  L. ,  Jr 248,  357 

Columbia 40,    106,    143,    172,    179,   563,   644,   671,   722 

Seminary,  see  Seminary. 

Comstock,    Elon ..553,  556,   557,  560,  561,  571-573,  576,  577 

Confederacy,  Daughters  of  the. 563 

Confederate  States  of  America,  549,   560,  604,  615,  619,   634,  635,  637, 

640,  652;   army,   567-569,   572,   598,   616,   618,   619,   624-635,   637, 

641,  643,  648,  649-657,  659-675;  gunboats,  646-649,  650,  653,  659, 
660;  hospitals,  625,  629,  630,  632,  645,  653,  664;  money,  504,  549, 
641,'  652,  665,  stamps,  634 

Home  and  College ..629 

War,  see  War  between  the  States. 

Confession  of  Faith,  61,  70,   120,   127,   155,  233,  249,  253,  293,  607,  719 

Congregational,  see  Church. 

Connelly,  H.,  D.D,... 272,  273 

Conner,  Caroline 631 

Mrs.  Henry  W...... - 624 

James,  General ....624 

Constitution,  see  U.  S.  Constitution. 

Convention,   National   democratic,   of    1860 ...287,    549-552,   554-557 

Prayer — - - -575 

S.  C.  democratic 554 

S.  C.  State  (secession)..... ...549,  560,  563,  567,  581,  586,  679 

Cooke,  Henry,  Rev,  LL.D.,  16,  50,  214,  227,  264-266,  363,  375,  376,  378 

Cooper  River  steamboat. — 245 

Institute — - 618 

Thomas,  LL.D -. ......106 


761 

Corbett,  William,  Rev 205 

Corinth,  battle  of.. 640 

Cotton,  King,  681;  planting o47,  350 

"Council  of  Safety,"  see  Executive  Council  ot  S.  C. 

Courtenay,   Thomas 205 

Courtney,  Mrs.  W.  C ......656 

Cox,  Samuel  H.,  D.D.. -. 360,  362 

Crawford,  Andrew,  father  of  Margaret  Adger yO,  459,  749 

Margaret,  see   Adger 

Ellen... 194,  380,  436-438,  584,  622,  638,  649,  653,  656 

John 394 

J.  A ......90 

Matthew 90 

Crittenden  plan ...577 

Crystal  Palace 443 

Cunardi:.^..... .....399 

Cunningham,  John 135 

Mary zO,      21,      363-366 

Mrs ....68 

William,  D.D ...217-219,  227,  228,  264,  352,  353.  436,  437,  446,  452 

Cushing,  Caleb 554 

Dabney,  Robert  L.,  D.D .283.  286,  293,  294,  591,  631 

Dale,  James  W.,  D.D 586,  587,  605,  606 

Dana,  William  C,  D.D ...174,  199,  211 

Danberry,  Prof 398 

Dargan,  Judge 380 

David's  painting  of  Napoleon.. . 77 

Davis,  Jefferson,  Pres 600 

Davidson  and  Torrens 371-377 

Deacons 130,    146.    162-165,  195,  204,  294,  536,  680,  684,  695,  727 

Deaconess... 294 

Debating  Society 16-17,  23,  530 

Declaration  of  Independence... 708 

Mecklenburg,  see  Mecklenburg. 

and  Testimony 704 

Democratic  party ..- 557,  562,  584 

Denmark,  King  of 282 

Dent,  John,  c 325,  338,  503.  626,  641,  670,  674,  675 

Sam,  c 325,  334.  381,  384.  641,  656,  667 

Depositorv   Building..... .....240,    627-629,    632,    646,    653,    655 

Derrj) 61,   294,  749 

DeSaussure,   Htnry   W.,    Chancellor ..65,    90,    93,    94 

W.  F ..90 

W.  G .579 

Dewees,  John ....185,  354,  656 

Dey,   Richard  Varick,   Rev 64,   72,    83,    88 

Dickerson,  Samuel,  c ..367 

Dickie,  G 258 

Dickson,  A.  Flinn,  Rev, 205,  649,  650 

Francis 1 ■. 37 

Henry,  Rev ; 205 

Samuel  Henry,  M.  D, 180,  330,  332 

Dill,  Richard,  D.D 6,    165,  261,  376,  405-420,  422-427 

Dillingham,  James 163 

DTsraeli's    Miscellanies 244 

Disruption  of  the  Scottish  Church,  see  Church. 

Dixie,  S.S 632 

Dobbii-, ,  D.D.,  Sr. ,  of  Lurgan 363,  419,  485 

Henry  J.,  D.D 258,  259,  363,  485 

Doddridge,  Philip.  D.D. 27 

Dodge,  William  E ..-  688 

Douglas,  ,  Rev.  (?) .....328,  346 

Benjamin,  Gov.  (?) 601 


762 

Douglass,   Frederkk _ 228,    362,    365-368,    371-378 

Drayton,  1  he  Misses ..._. 627 

Dublin 6,  7,  16,  378,  396-398,  405-425,  443,  446 

Dubois,  ,  Rev.... .205 

Dubose,  Hambden  C,  D.D 689,  740 

Duff,  Alexander,  D.D 216,  217,  264,  446,  749,750 

Dufort, ,  Rev 205 

Dukes,  W.  C,  84,  95,   109,   144,   145,   148,   149,   154,   167,   168,   185,   188, 
354,  390,  637 

Dulles,  Joseph  Heatly,  Rev 235 

Dumas,    Alexandre.. 579 

Dunean,  Irelend... 61 

Dunkin,  Benj.  F.,  Chancellor 178 

Dutch   Reformed  Church,  see   Church. 

Earnest  Worker 703 

East  India  Co 410,  412,  414 

"Ecclesiastical    Catechism,"    see    Articles. 

Republicanism,"  see  Articles. 

Eckard,  J ames  R.,  D.  D 1 9 1 

Edgar,  John,  D.D 27,  48,  258,  358,  363.  700 

Edinburgh,  217,  218,  262,  264,351,352,434-436,452,  454;  anti-slavery  in, 
352,  366-370,  573,   751 

colleges  of,  see  College. 

University,  see  University. 

Edinburgh    Witness. 265 

Edmonston,  Charles 240 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  D.D 1 445 

Tryan,   D.D... 445 

Elders,  82,    90-92,    96,    126,    130,   155,   162-165,    181,   182,    194,   195,  207, 
217,   226,   283-294,   445,   527,   536,    568,    569,   584,   591,   635,   637, 
644,  680,  684,  704,  710.  721,  759 
"Eldership,"  see  Articles. 

Elliott,  S.  McDowell 375-377 

Ellis,  John  W.,  Gov.  of  N.  C 618,  624 

Ellison,  EHzabeth,  see  Clark. 

Frank 448-450 

genealogy 748 

Joseph -. 90,    354,    748 

Margaret  Adger... 380,  748 

Sarah  Ehzabeth,  see  Adger. 

Sarah,  of  Winnsboro.... '. 468 

William,  of  Winnsboro.... 79,   392 

Elmore,  Franklin  Harper 440 

Emancipation... 78,   241 

Emmet,  Robert 173 

England,  27-29,  31,  38-46    51,  55,  244,  264,  267,  359-362,  437-441,  443- 
446,  454,  455,  484-486,  625,  649 

Presbyterian  Church  in,  see  Church. 

England,  John,  Rt.  Rev 483 

Engles, ,  D.D 606 

Joseph  R.. - .....:...282 

English,  James ...509 

Episcopal  Churches,  see  Church. 

EpiscopaHanism,  68,   73,   143,  214-216,  230,  236,  357,  442,  445,  483,  536 
544,  588,  598,  600,  608,  681,  694,  695 

Ethnological  Society 267 

Europa,  S.  S 315 

Evangelical  AUiance.. 353,  359-362,  388,  399,  734,  735 

Ewart,  James -. 90 

Samuel ! 90 

Ewing,  John... i 344 

Executive  Council  of  South  CaroHna 585,  586,  637 


763 

Fanning,  F.  D. ..3 1 6,  483 

Fast  Day 562,  564,  567,  596,  618,  644 

Fauntleroy,  Eugene 558 

Henry ...357,  364,  428,  429,  432,  433,  447,  448,  558,  743 

Isabella  Smyth  or  Smith,  4,    11,    12,    16,  39,   59,   316-319,   344,   345, 
348,  382,  395,  428,  429,  431,  432,  446-448,  550,  551,  557-559,  579- 

583,  592,  688,  715,  743 

Samuel  S.... .....558 

T.  Smyth .- 558 

Fayetteville,  arsenal  at, ....618 

Female  Orphan  School,  Dublin 409,  422,  425 

Fillmore,  J.  O.,  Rev ..553 

Millard,  President 449 

Fire  Company 340,  635 

in  Charleston,  see  Charleston. 

Fisher, D.D 60,    61,    67,    102 

Fleming,    Eliza,    of   Lurgan... ...405,   406,  408,  409,    415,    419 

James,  of  Lurgan.... .409-412,  415,  416,  419 

Jane  Eliza,  see  Adger. 

Robert ..339,  341,  531 

Thomas 62,  211,  232,  341,  342,  467,  531 

Flinn,  Andrew,  D.D 67,  89,  145,   162,   164,  205 

Jane  A.A.  Smyth,  436,  451,  457,  459,  463,  467,  468,  470,  577,  583, 

584,  626,  627,  632,  634,  638,  652-656,  667-669,  672,  684,  685,  710, 
743,  746 

John  William,  D.D 283,  640,  746 

Florida 60,    72-74,    317,    526,    632 

Floyd,  John  Buchanan ...567 

Folly  Island,  see  Island. 

Forbes,  E.,  Prof ......262,  750 

Forrest,  John,  D.D ..97,  294,  627,  635,  636,  654,  655 

John,   Mrs .....627 

Forts  of  Charleston  harbour,  464,  501,  567,  570,  650;  Sumter,  see  Sumter; 
Wagner,  see  Wagner. 

Fourth  of  July 388 

Fowles,  J.  H  ,  Rev 265 

Fox,  John 137 

Frazer,  "Capt." 242 

C.   P ......690 

Free  Church  College,  see  College. 

Church  Magazine — 263 

Church,  of  Scotland,  see  Church. 
French  Protestant  Church,  see  Church. 

Frierson,  E.  O.,  Rev.... 205 

Gadsden,  C.  E.,  Rt.  Rev 215,  216 

Christopher,  Rev 544,  647,  658 

Gale,  R.  W 623 

Gallaudet,  Thomas  H.,  D.D 251,  682 

Galloway,  J.,  Rev ...44 

Garibaldi,  Guiseppi. 661 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd 157,  241,  366,  367,  575 

Garvin, 344,  432,  433.  551 

Gary,  John  H  ,  Capt.,  S.  C.  College  Cadets 612 

Geddes,  Gilbert 323 

Geddings,  EH.  M.  D 348 

Genealogy 743-748 

General   Assembly,   see   Assembly. 

Assembly's  Theological  Seminary,  see  Seminar^'. 

"Geneva,"  by  Dr.  Hodge 284,  285 

Geneva  Tribunal 554 

Georgia  in  the  Confederacy 571,  585,  624,  634,  672 

Gibbs,  Mrs  Benjamin 337,  653 


764 

Gibbotis,  S.  vS.,  wreck  of _ 257,  300,  303-315,  466,  475 

Gibson,  William.  D.D 15,  16,  258,  263,  363,  485,751 

Gidiere's  shop 326 

Gihon,  John 1 83,  1 84.  467 

Gilchrist,  Adam,  Rev 174,  211,  471 

R.  B 211,  216,  354,  637 

Robert  C 163,  187,  534,  568,  569,  604,  629,  660,  727 

Gildersleeve,  Benjamin,  D.D.,  87,  109,  158,  165,  169,  170,  174-176,    215, 
248,   321,   333,   354,   359,   448,   467 

Benjamin,  Mrs ..338 

Gihnan,  Samuel,  D.D 143 

Girardeau,  John  Lafayette,  D.D.,   194-198,  200,  205,  483,  502,  552,  553, 
627,  645,  661,  684,  690,  694,  696,    697,   699,  715 

Thomas  J.,  Rev..... 205 

Glading,  Richard 90 

Glasgow ..257,    261,    265,    351,    367,    434,    440,    441,    452 

Glasgow,  City  of,  S.  S.. 467 

University,  see  University. 
Glebe  Street  Church,  see  Church. 

Goodwin,  A.  D.,  Colonel 670 

Goudy,  Alex.  P.,  Rev 406,  410,  411 

Goulding,  Charles.... 634 

Francis  R.,  D.  D 633,  634 

Thomas,  D.D 93 

Gourdin,   Robert  N .'..586 

Gowan ,  Peter,  Re^ 690 

Graham's  Regiment.... 653,  656 

Great  Britain,  S.  S : 383 

Great  Western  Institution 402 

S.  S ....362,  398-403,  475 

Greaves, ,  M.  D .....443 

Green,  William  Henry,  D.D .'. 271,  701 

Gregg,  James 90 

Greer,  vSamuel  M.. '. 6,  405,  406,  409,  413,  415,  419,  420 

Grimshaw's    school 75 

Gunboats,   Confederate,  see  Confederate. 

Guthrie,  Thomas,  D.D 446 

Hagood's  Brigade ..641,  674 

Haldane,  Robert,  Rev 482 

Hall,  John,  D.D 183,  270 

Robert,  D.D 446 

Hall's  Journal  of  Health 511,  512 

Halley,  Robert,   D.D 41,  43,   44,   53.  55,  56,    141,   264,   266,  437 

Hallock,  Gerard . ......553 

William  A : 278-280,  552 

Halsey,  Capt 303,  305,  308,  310,  311,  314 

Hamilton,   Alexander.... 589 

J ames,  D.D , 264,  443,  683 

James,  Jr.,  General 327 

Wilham,  Rev ......27,  705,  719,  720 

Hamlin,  Hannibal 579 

Hampden,  ,  Rt.  Rev 397,  398 

Hampton  Court  Conference 244 

Legion_ 624,   628-630,   664 

Hanna,  vSamuel,  D.D : ......4,  19,  261 

William,   D.D 4,    19,   261,   446 

Hanson,  James,  Rev : 48,  452 

Happerset, ,  D.D .....6 1 7 

Hardee,  W.  J. ,  General ......673 

Harris,  John,  D.D ....41 

Harold's  Cross  Cemetery 7 

Harper  &  Brothers 634 


765 

Harrall,  William .....185,  322 

Hartford  Convention 589 

Hatteras,  see  Island. 

Hawes'  Shop,  battle  of 664 

Hayne,  Eliza 627,  628,  633 

Isaac  W.,  Colonel 563 

Robert  Y 327 

Haynesworth,  G.  W : .....570 

Hayti 393 

Hazlett,  John 417,  418.  420,  421 

Hemphill,  W.  R.,  Rev .....271,  272 

Henderson,  Sam  and  John 103,  328,  440,  452,  453 

Henrv,  Alexander.... 135,  165,  378,  478,  479 

j'ames,  AI.   D .6,   405-409,   412-415,   417,   419,   420,   438 

Robert 90 

Thomas   Charlton,   D.D 68,    85,    86,    97,    145,    164 

Herald  of  Trulh 491 

Hibernian  Society 77 

High  Churchism 2 15,  735 

Highbury  College,  see  College. 

College  librarv,   see  Library. 

Hincks,   Thomas   D.,   D.D ......15,   23,    24 

Hindman, ,  D.D 30 

Hinds,  Samuel,  Rt.  Rev 128,  397 

Hinton,  John  Howard,  Rev 359,  360,  444 

"Historical  Catechism" 231,  233 

Society,  see  New  York. 

Hitchcock's  Analysis 700 

Hodge,  Charles,  D.D.,  69,  104,  165,  226,  269,  270,  283-286,  514,  564, 
565,  569,  588,  598,  600,  603,  606,  607,  609,  611,  617,  619,  620,  701, 
702,   741,  742 

Hugh  Lenox,  M.  D.... .....342,  514 

HofiF,  J.,  printer . 135 

Hoge,  Moses  D.,  D.D...... 610,  618 

William  J.,  D.D ..: 618 

Holmes,  Sandiford.... .' 308,  314 

Home  Missions,  see  Missions. 

Home,  S.  S.,  loss  of '. 327,  328,  345, 

Honey  Hill,  battle  of ......670 

Hopkins,   F.... 600 

John  Henry,  Rt.  Rev 611 

Homblower,  William  H.,  D.D 357 

Hort,  Elias  B.,  Rev 208 

Hospitals,  see  Confederac}-. 

Hotels,  foreign 351,  366,  371-373,  442,  452,  453 

Houston,  Thomas,  D.D 31,  35,  49,  69,  238,  259-261,  688,  718,  719 

Howard,    Seth.... '. .....634 

Wallace,  Rev .510 

Howe,  George,  D.D.,  146,  181,  188,  284.  285,  459,  460,  498-503,  514,  584, 
621,    622,    644,   686 

Huger,   William  Harleston,   M.   D 710,   730 

Hughes,   WiUiam  L.,   Rev ...204 

Humphreys,  Edward  Porter,  D.D.... 362 

Hunt,  Jeremiah  (?),  D.D 143 

Hunter,  James  Harper 37,  319 

Huntington,  Judge 551 

Hutton,  Edward,  M.  D 406,  410,  411,  414 

Hyde,  ,  of  Dublin .405,  406,  408,  414 

Independence  Table 581 

Independent,  see  Church. 

Index,   plan  of 119-121 

India,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 
Indiana,  Seminary  of,  see  Seminary. 


766 

Institute  Hall 552,  563 

Ireland,  3,  9,  61,  71,  171,  173,  238.  257-262,  343,  344,  418,  427,  441,  448, 
451-453,  475,  476,  482,  485,  486,  539,  586,  743,  747-749,  anti- 
slavery  in,  see  Anti-Slavery;  Presbyterian  Church  in,  see  Church; 
see  also  Belfast. 

banner   of -_____'. ...258 

"Irenaeus,"  see  Prime,  S.  J. 
Ironclads,  see  Confederate  gunboats. 

Ironsides,  U.  S.  S ..65 1 

Irvine,  Robert,  D.D 716,  717 

Island,  Black,  655;  Chicamacomico,  303,  304,  312;  Folly,  649.  654,  655; 
Hatteras,  305,  306,  310-312,  314;James.  641,  644,  648-650,  652,  653; 
John's,  648;  Morris,  570,  571,  596,  597,  618,  649,  651,  653-657, 
659,  660;  Ocracoke,  311,  313;  Pea  or  Bodies.  303-305,  308-310, 
312,  313,  327,  467,  487;  Sullivan's  341,  458,  463,  464,  476,  478,  615 

Jackson,  Thomas  J.,  General 283 

Jacobs,  Ferdinand,  D.D 185,  186,  195,  198,  467 

William,  Rev 206 

Jacobus,  Melancthon  William,  D.D....: 278,  566-569,  573-575 

James'  Island,  see  Island. 

Jameson's  Journal ...751 

Jamison.  D.  J 563 

Janewa}^  Jacob  J.,  D.D 165 

Japan,   missions   in,   see   Missions. 

Jay,  William,  Rev 141 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  President 708 

,  of  Va 316 

"Jerry  Rescues" 553 

Jockey  Club,  see  Charleston. 
John's  Island,  see  Island. 

Johnson,  Andrew,  President 679 

Isaac... 329,  333 

William  Hallock,  Rev 230 

Johnston,  Joseph  E.,  General 674 

&  Hunter 262,  264,  749 

Job,   Chancellor 177,   216,   252-256,   286-289,   291 

W.  J ....204 

Jones,  Charles 549,  558 

Charles  Colcock,  D.D 741 

Samuel,    General... .......632 

Jordan,  William 465-466 

Journal  of  Commerce,  299,  553-556,  560,  561,  564,  571,  572,  576,  592, 
593,  596-598,  600,  601,  604,  610,  612,  617 

Judd.  Gideon  N.,  Rev . .70 

juvenile   Missionary  Society,   see  Missions. 

Justice  and  Police,  see  Executive  Council  of  So.  Ca. 

Kansas,   anti-slavery  in,  see  Anti-Slavery. 

Kaufman,  Abraham,  Rev 2 1 5 

Kemmerer, , 450 

Kennedy,  John,  Rev 1 1 

W.  P _ 31 5 

Kent, ,  of  Richmond .-. ....448 

Kentucky  in  S^cession 616 

Keokuck,  U.  S.  S 660 

Kerrison,  — — ,  ?  .  308 

•      Charles 279 

Kershaw,  Joseph  Brevard,  General , 632 

Killen.  W.  D.,  D.D... 363,  485,  585 

King,  David,  D.D 228,  264,  437,  446 

Gadsden,  Capt 651 

Mitchell 71,  216,   242-246,   256,   349,449 

Kirk,  P.  S.,  Colonel 658 


767 

Kirkpatrick,  John  E.,  D.D ...19.5,  471,  472 

Kirkwood,  William.. 37 

Knowles,  Sheridan,  Rev.. 1.5,   24,   395.   396 

Kollock,  Henry,  D.D.,   (d.   1819,) 281 

LaBorde,  Maximilian,  M.  D 583 

Lafar,  D.  X.,  Rev , .695 

Lamb,  James 80,  97 

Lanneau,  Fleetwood ; 146,  386 

Pleetwood,  Jr.... 644,  645 

John  Francis,  Rev 144 

Latham,  Robert  Gordon,  M.  D 265,  267,  268 

Laurens,  Henry.... 581 

Law,   William ..84,    90,    9 1 

Lawrence,  Abbott 438 

Leavitt,  Jonathan 221,  350 

Le  Conte,  Joseph  and  John, 583 

Lecture  room  of  Sec.  Church,  see  Church. 

Lee,  Robert,  E.,  General .595 

Legare,  Hugh  vSwinton 64,  215 

I.  S.  K.,  Rev ...215,  234 

James.. 64 

Leland,  A.  W.,  D.D.,  65,  76,  88.  89,  188,  199,  257,  273-277,  306,  354, 
486,  499,  584,  618 

Lenox,  James 270 

Letters  TO  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.D.,  from  Adger,  James,  412,  413;  Adger, 
John  B.,  D.D.,  280,  290,  291,  596,  709;  Alexander,  James  Wad- 
dell,  D.D.,  268,  270,  271,  461 ;  Andrews,  A.  O.,  Sec.  Y.  M.  T.  S.,  142; 
Ansley,  J.  A.,  Rev.,  709;  Anonymous  negro,  694-696;  Axson, 
I.  S.  K.,  D.D.,  281,  294,  295,  564;  Bachman,  John,  D.D.,  242; 
Backus,  John  C,  D.D.,  269;  Baird,  E.  T..  Rev.,  703;  Baird,  N., 
350,  351;  Baird,  Samuel  J.,  D.D.,  292;  Bancroft,  Mrs.,  587,  620; 
Bell,  Robert  J.,  D.D.,  47,  48,  370,  371;  Black,  Moses,  Rev.,  377; 
Blackwood,  William,  D.D.,  584,  585,  589-592;  Bliss,  Seth,  D.D., 
598-603,  611,  612;  Boardman,  Henry  A.,  D.D.,  603,  604;  Boggs, 
William  E.,  D.D.,  707;  Breckinridge,  R.  J.,  D.D.,  241,  242;  Brown, 
Samuel,  D.D.,  470,  471;  Brown,  vShipley  &  Co.,  421,  422;  Bruce, 
William,  Jr.,  Prof.,  24,  25;  Buttolph,  David  L.,  D.D.,  187,  208, 
636;  Cairns,  William,  Prof.,  26;  Campbell,  Hugh,  D.D.,  454,  455; 
Campbell,  W.  W.,  Rev.,  708,  709;  Carnahan,  James,  D.D.,  238; 
Carroll,  J.  Hitchcock,  Rev.,  559,  560,  573;  Chalmers,  Thomas, 
D.D.,  351,  352;  Chambers,  John,  D.D.,  561,  562;  Chichester,  C. 
E.,  Rev.,  707.  708;  Church,  First  Pres.,  Columbia,  90,  91;  Church, 
Second  Pres.,  82,  83,  95.  96,  109,  144-148,  154,  187,  692,  693,  698; 
Colt.  Roswell  L.,  248-250;  Comstock,  Elon,  556,  557,  560,  561, 
576,  577;  Conellv,  H.,  D.D.,  272,  273;  Cooke,  Henry,  D.D..  50, 
265,  266;  Cunningham.  Mary,  364-366;  Dale.  James  W.,  D.D., 
586,  587;  Davidson  &  Torrens,  371,  372,  377;  DeSaussure,  H.  W., 
Chancellor.  93,  94;  Dickson,  Samuel  Henrv,  M.  D.,  180;  Dill, 
Richard,  D.D.,  407,  408,  415-417;  Duff.  Alex.,  D.D.,  749,  750; 
Dukes,  W.  C,  187,  188;  Edgar,  John  D.D.,  27,  48;  Edmonston, 
Charles,  240;  Elliott,  S.  McDowell,  375;  Fauntleroy,  Henry, 
428,  429,  433;  Fauntleroy,  Isabella  (Smyth  or  Smith),  317-319, 
350,  351,  557-559;  Forrest,  John,  D.D.,  294,  635,  636;  Gihon, 
John,  183,  184;  Gilchrist,  Robert  C,  Maior,  569;  Gildersleeve, 
Benjamin,  D.D.,  169,  170,  248;  Girardeau,  John  L.'  D.D.,  197, 
198;  Goulding,  Francis  R.,  D.D..  633,  634;  Greer,  S.  M.,  419, 
420;  Halley,  D.D.,  55,  56,  266;  Hallock.  William  A.,  D.D.,  278- 
280;  Hanson,  James,  Rev.,  48;  Hazlett,  John,  417.  418,  420,  421; 
Hemphill,  W.  R.,  Rev.,  271,  272;  Henrv.  James,  M.  D..  405- 
407,  413-415;  Hincks,  Thomas  D.,  D.D.,  24;  Hodge,  Charles, 
D.D.,  283-285,  289;  Houston,  Thomas,  D.D.,  49,  259-261; 
Howe,  George,  D.D.,  181,  284,  285,  593,  621,  622,  633.  686;  Jaco- 


768 

■  bus,  M.  W.,  D.D.,  278,  566,  567,  573-575;  Johnston,  Job,  Chancellor, 
252-256,  286-289,  291;  Jordan,  William,  465,  466:  King,  Mitchell, 
242-246;  Latham,  Robert  Gordon,  M.  D.,  267,  268;  Leland,  A. 
W.,  D.D.,  88,  89,  152,  273-277;  McCosh,  James,  D.D.,  262-264, 
265,  750,  751;  McCurdy,  Samuel,  Rev.,  376,  377;  McKinney, 
David,  D.D.,  578.  579;  Maclean,  John,  D.D.,  701,  702;  Mac- 
Master,  E.  D.,  D.D.,  247,  248;  Maddox,  J.  W.,  431,  432;  Magie, 
David,  D.D.,  562,  563;  Magrath,  A.  Gordon,  637;  Mann,  W.  A., 
570;  Matthews,  John  D.,  D.D,.  616,  617;  Miller,  Samuel,  D.D., 
230-237.  Molleson,  G.  P.,  172,  173;  Morgan,  James,  D.D.,  25, 
26;  Nichol,  James,  281,  282;  Packard,  Fred.  A.,  Rev.,  250-252; 
Palmer,  Benjamin  Morgan,  D.D.,  295,  499,  502.  705,  706;  Palmer, 
B.  M.,  D.D.,  Sr..  86-88,  239;  Pinckney,  C.C.,  D.D.,  260;  Plumer, 
WilHam  Swan,  D.D.,  559,  704;  Plunket,  Anna  (Smyth  or  Smith), 
688;  Rafn,  C.  C,  Sec,  R.  S.  N.  A.,  282,  283;  Robertson,  James, 
Sec.  Scottish  Anti-Slavery  Soc,  366-370,  378;  Robinson,  John,  70, 
74,  83,  84,  96-98;  Savage,  J.  A.,  Rev.,  53,  54:  Scott,  W.  A.,  D.D., 
292,  622,  680-683;  Sinclair,  J.  C,  Rev.,  293,  294;  Skinner,  Thomas 
E.,  Rev.,  617,  618;  Smith,  F.  R.,  M.  D..  170-172;  Smith,  J.  Pye, 
D.D.,  266,  267;  Smythe,  A.  T.,  583,  5S4;  612,  613,  Smvth,  J.  A., 
469,  470;  Smyth,  M.  M.  A.,  348,  353-355,  378-394,  466-469;  Smyth 
or  Smith,  James,  347-350,  403,  404,  549,  550;  Joseph,  238,  239, 
256-258;  Robert,  319,  320;  vSamuel,  342-345.  Spear,  Arthur,  29, 
30.  Sprague,  W.  B.,  D.D.,  687,  700-703.  Sterelly,  John,  Prof., 
25.  Stewart,  Daniel,  D.D.,  247.  Stoughton,  John,  D.D.,  46, 
47,  51,  52.  Synod  of  Sotith  Carolina,  693.  Tarbotton,  William, 
Rev.,  52,  53.  Thornwell,  James,  D.D.,  177-179.  Trumbull,  H. 
Clay,  Rev.,  681,  682.  Van  Dvke,  Henry  J.,  D.D.,  587-589,  593- 
596,  610,  611.  Walker,  Peter,  289.  290,  Watson,  Samuel  Lyle, 
Rev.,  292,  293.  Watts,  Edward  K.,  Rev.,  50.  51.  Whateley, 
R.,  Rt.  Rev.,  398.  Wilson,  James,  Rev.,  47;  Wilson,  John  Leigh- 
ton,  D.D.,  621;  Wilson,  Thomas,  27,  28.  54,  55.  Witherspoon, 
John,  D.D.,  155-159.  Wodrow,  Andrew,  229.  Woodrow,  James, 
D.D.,  639.     Wright,  Robert  S.,   189, 

Letters  FROM  THOMAS  SMYTH,  D.D.,  to  Adger,  James,  307-312; 
Adger,  John  B.,D.D.,  281;  Adger,  S.  D.,  103-105,  107-110,  320-322, 
331-333,  346,  347,  464,  465.  Church,  Cong.  (Circular),  of  Chasn., 
154,  155;  Church,  First  Pres.,  Columbia,  92,  93;  Church,  vSecond 
Pres.,  91,  92,  145,  148-152,  159,  181,  185,  544,  545,  689,  690,  69^; 
women  of,  687.  Comstock,  Elon,  571-573.  Davisdon  &  Torrens, 
372-376.  Gihon,  John,  184.  Goulding,  Thomas,  D.D.,  93. 
Hazlett,  John,  418,419.  Hodge,  Charles,  D.D. ,  269,  270.  Jacobus, 
M.  W.,  D.D.,  567-569.  Journal  of  Commerce,  N.  Y.,  596-598. 
King,  Mitchell,  71.  Magie,  David,  D.D.,  564-566.  Plunket,  Anna. 
(Smyth  or  Smith),  363,  364.  Robertson,  James,  Sec.  Scottish 
Anti-Slavery  Soc,  368,  369,  377,  378.  Russell,  Joshua  T.,  Rev., 
72-74.  Spear,  Arthur,  31-36.  Smythe,  A.  T.,  613,  614,  620. 
Smith,  M.  M.  A.,  82;  Smith,  S.  A.,  451,  455-463,  559,  642.  South- 
ern Presbyterians,  604-610.     Young,  ,  D.D.,  22,  23.     Zeigler, 

,  366' 

Letters  FROM  MRS.  THOMAS  SMYTH,  to  Adger,  J.  A.,  433-443,  463, 
628-631;  Adger,  John  B.,  D.D.,  74-76,  79,  80,  81.  105;  Adger, 
Joseph  EHison,  452-454;  Adger,  vSarah  E.,  312-315,  322-324,  335, 
340,  341.  342;  Adger,  S.  D.,  98-103,  324-331,  333,  334,  337-339, 
340,  341,  448-450,  463,  464.  623-633.  649-652;  daughters  645-647; 
daughters  and  sisters,  652-656.  Smvthe,  A.  T.,  592,  593,  667- 
670.  Smyth,  S.  A.,  457-459,  622,  638-6'41,  656,  657;  Smvth,  Thomas, 
D.D.,    348.    353-355,    378-394.    466-469. 

Letters  TO  MRS.  THOMAS  SMYTH  from  Adger,  Joseph  Fllison,  686. 
DuBose,  Hampden  C,  D.D.,  740.  Fauntleroy,  Isabella  (Smyth  or 
Smith),  12,446-448.  Huger,  William  Harleston,  M.  D.,  730;  Smyth, 
James  Adger,  643-645,  658,  659,  664-666:  Smyth  or  Smith,  Samuel, 
395;  Smyth,  Thomas,  D.D.,  82. 


769 

Letters,  Memorial  and  Miscellaneous — Adger,  James,  to  his  wife  335; 
Adger,  Jane  Eliza  Fleming,  to  Mrs.  James  Adger,  330;  Adger, 
John  B.,  D.D.,  716;  Adger,  William  to  S.  D.  Adger,  166-168,  330, 
Aiken,  Charles  A.,  D.D.,  to  A.  T.  Smythe,  741,  742.  Ass.  College, 
Belfast,  Fac.  of,  to  Univ.  of  Glasgow,  257,  258.  Beecher,  Henrj' 
Ward,  D.D.,  721.  Brackett,  Gilbert  Robbms,  D.D.,  717.  Buttolph, 
David  L.,  717,  718.  Chichester,  C.  E.,  Rev.,  721-726.  Clark,  Belle 
Plunket,  to  S.  A.  S.,  59.  Dobbin,  Henry  Jackson,  to  James  Seaton 
Reid,  D.D.,  258.  Fauntleroy,  Isabella  (Smyth  or  Smithj,  to  J.  A. 
Smyth,  579-583.  Garvin,  William  &  Co.,  to  Henrv  Fauntleroy, 
432.  Hamilton,  William,  D.D.,  to  E.  A.  Smyth,  719,'  720.  Hodge, 
Charles,  D.D.,  to  A.  T.  Smythe,  741.  Houston,  Thomas,  D.D., 
718,  719.  Irvine,  Robert,  D.D.,  716,  717.  McCullum,  H.  S., 
to  Central  City  Courier,  552,  553.  Matthews,  John  D.,  D.D., 
717.  Needham,  Edgar,  to  Henry  Fauntleroy,  432,  433.  Smythe, 
A.  T.,  to  J.  A.  Adger,  663;  Smythe,  A.  T.,  to  S.  D.  Adger,  648, 
649,  659-662.  Smyth,  E.  A.,  to  S.  A.  Smyth,  645,  646.  Smyth  or 
Smith,  James,  to  his  father,  36-39.  Southern  Presbyterian,  721. 
Talmage,  T.  DeWitt,  D.D.,  727,  728.  Van  Dyke,  Henry,  D.D... 
to  editor,  595. 

Eewers,   James,   Rev 27,    719' 

Lewis,  Taylor 60 1 ,  612 

Liberator - 157 

Liberia .._. 78,    158,    393 

Library,  Belfast _ _...._ ..._.. .__ _. 214- 

Belfast  College, '....29,  214,  493 

British    Museum .445 

of  Robert  Hall 446 

Highbury   College .....20,    214 

of   Osymandyas .116 

Smyth,    11,   39,  46,   55,    104,    113-118,    166,    184,  214,  218,   228,  232, 
269,   270,   278,   281,   282,   305,   313,   316,   359,   360,   384,   385,   397, 
437,  444-446,  459,  460,  493-505,  541,  637,  652,  701,  702,   717 
Smvth,  Thomas,  second  librarv,  498,  502,  503,  505,  521,  541,  639, 
685-688.  728 

of  Dr.  Williams 214 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  President 554,  561,  574,  579,  603,  617,  619 

Literary  and  Philosophical  Society.... 131,  243-246,  265 

Liverpool 443 

and  Charleston  packets 303 

Logan,   Christian,   Rev.... ...204 

Londonderry,  see  Derrv. 

London,  27-29,  31,  38-46,  55,   115,  244,  264,  267,  344,  351,  359,  360,  362, 
438-441,  443-446,  484-486 
Missionary  Society,  see  Missions. 

Quarterly  Review 750 

University  of,  see  University. 

Long,  Willis... 558 

Longmuir,   John, ....264- 

Longstreet,  Hannah 476,  705 

Lopez,  David..... 149,   151,  470 

Lord, ,  D.D 606 

Lorimer,  J.  G.,  D.D ....217,  240,  241,  265,  446 

Lottery,  Sec.  Church,  see  Second  Church. 

Louisiana  in  Secession .6 1 9 

Louisville 37,   39,   432 

Lowndes'  farm... ...476 

Lowrie,  John  C,  D.D 192,  232' 

Ludgate  Hill  Coffee  Houss 42 

Lunatic  Asylum 1 63,   205 

Lurgan 4,  6,  363,  410,  416,  418,  423,  485 

Lushington.  Stephen 55 

Lutheran  Church,  see  Church. 

[491 


770 

Lyell,  Sir  Charles _ : 315 

Lyons, ._._._ , 448-450 

Macauley,  Zachary... 55 

Maccourdie,  John  A.,  Rev 377,  378 

Mackhn,  Alex.,   D. D 7,   7 1 9 

Maclean,  John,  D.D ___ 701,  702 

MacMaster,  E.  D.,  D.D 226,  227,  248 

Macready's  visit  to  Charleston . 349 

McBrvde,  James ._... 206 

T.  L.,  D.D 188,  206,  341 

McCheyne, ,  M.  D.  (?)... 481 

McCord,  Louisa  R.,  see  Smythe. 

Louisa  Susanna  Cheves 75,  671,  675 

McCormick,  Robert  M.,  Rev .205 

William  J„  Rev 205 

McCosh,  James,  D.D.... .262-265,  269-271,  446,  497,  750,  751 

McCr&cken,  Henry  Joy 3 

McCradji   &  Son ....: 668 

McCullum,   H.  S 552,  553 

McCurdy,  Samuel,  Rev 371,  372,  374,  376-378 

McDowell,  Robert,  (Robbin,) .406,  408,  409,  413,  417 

William  A.,  D.D 66,  88,   158,   174,  211,  743 

McElhenny,  James 321 

McElroy,  ,  D.D.... 221 

McEwen, ,  D.D I  5 

McFie,  James... 90 

McGee,  Warren ....478,   684 

McGill,  Alex.  Taggart,  D.D... .226,  290 

McGuffy,  Wilham  Holmes,  D.D .631 

McKee, ,  of  1  aterson i. 100,  358 

McKinney,  David,  D.D 574,  578,  579 

McKnight,  James .258 

McLagan, ,  D.D 263 

McLeod,  Alexander,  D.D., 231,  232 

McMurray,  George .20 

McNeill,  Robert. ....654,  662,  675 

McNeil, ,  Rev 293 

Maddox,  J.-W... 431,  432 

Magee,   Anne  or  Agnes,   see  Smyth. 

College,  see  College. 

James,  of  Saintfield,   grandfather  of  Thomas  Smyth 4,  513 

James.... ^ 6,   614 

Martha  Maria,  6,  7,  181,  185,  261,  359,  378.   390,  391,  394,  395,  403, 
405-427,  466,  467,  614 

WilHam,  Rev.... .-. 4,  6,  363,  423,  485 

Magie,  David,  D.D 562-566 

Magrath,  Andrew  Gordon,  Gov.  of  S.  C 586,  637,  671 

Magruder,  Thomas,   D.D.... .-. 174-176 

"Mammon" ....41,  232 

Manassas,  first  battle  of.... — ...623,  633 

Manigault,  Joseph,  Capt 663 

Mann,  W.  A. -..^- -..-570 

Manual  of  Second  Church,  see  Second  Church. 

Marriage  of  deceased  wife's  sister 61,  180 

form  oL.. ....- -..66-68,   247 

Marron,  S.  N. . .- — - —37 

Marsh,  Sir  Henry,  M.  D 186,  443,  512 

Martin,  E.  J -90 

Wm.  M.,  General -... 627 

Mason,  John,  D.D . — - 445 

John  H.,  Rev..... — — —.-398 

Mathews, ,  Rev ...- - .-.-606,  607 


771 

Matthews,   John   D.,   Rev 306,    486,    487,    616,   617,    717 

Maurice,  Frederick  Denison,  D.D _ 444 

May,  S.  J.,  Rev 553 

Mecklenburg  Articles: .708 

Melville,  Henry,  Rev .....444 

life  of  Andrew ...243,244 

Memminger,  Christopher  Gustavus... 178,  216,  517,  563 

Memphis    Presbyterian :... 706 

Mercury,  see  Charleston. 

Merrick,  James  L.,  Rev 144 

Methodist,  see  Church. 

Middleton,  Bentivaglio,    Count 661 

Midget,  vSquire ..310 

Miles,  tames.  Rev..... 142 

William   Porcher ..657 

Miller,  Arnold,  D.D 192,  205 

Hugh.. ..  265 

James,  Rev . 29,  35,  44-46,  53,  59 

Lovick,  Colonel 673 

Samuel,  D.D.,  61,  69,  70,  104,  124,  165-169,  177,  216,  226.  227,  230- 
239,  283,  285,  286,  289,  293,  513,  514,  742 

W.  D,,  D.D 258 

Milliken,   William ...^. ..354,  483 

Mill's  House .552 

Ministers  sent  from  Second  Church,  see  Second  Church. 

in  Secession  Convention ...563 

advice  to,  127-129,  479-481,  521,  522,  524,  530-537,  539-541,  722-723, 

Ministry,  the,    10,   20,   26,   27,  48-50,   70,   85-87,    113-115,    118,  119,    125- 

130,  142,   143,  204-206,  212,  285-288,  290,  293,  490,  505,  512,  566, 

588,  599,  605-607,  618,  635,  636,   649.  709,  715,  719 

Missionary    Boards,    controversy    concerning,    156,    157,    174,    179,    180, 

192,  21  1,  227,  289,  408,  £58 

Societv,  Am.  Home 74,  156 

Society,  Juvenile 4,  76,  81,  139-141,  321,  679 

Society,  juvenile  of  Belfast 29,  718 

vSociety,   London ,.. 29,   66,   484 

Society,  Western  Foreign.. ..156 

Missions,  Assembly's,  Board  of  Domestic. ...60,  72-74 

Foreign,  4,  5,  6,  29,  31,  35,  65,  66,  72,  75,  76,  77,  78,  79,  80,  81,  97,  106, 
107,  139-141,  156,  157,  174,  179,  181,  183,  188,  192,  204,  205,  216, 
217,  306,  321,  347,  360,  362,  394,  405,  410,  411,  414,  415,  417,  422, 
503,  505,  605,  621,  693,  732;  in  Africa,  78,  79,  106,  107,  143,  188, 
204,  621;  in  China,  76,  140,  144,  205,  347,  689;  in  India,  79,  140, 
144,  217,  264,  410,  411,  414,  415,  417,  418,  422,  749,  Japan,  505; 
Palestine,  144;  Persia,  144;  Sandwich  Islands,  81;  Singapore,  72, 
144;  Smyrna,    144,   629 

Foreign,  Am.  Board  of  Com.  of..... 79,  139,  141,  152,  156,    179,  563 

Foreign,  Presbyterian  Board  of 156,  157,  174,  170,  180,  188,  621 

Foreign  Preslyterian  Board  of  So 143,  188,  621 

Home ...5,    60,    72-74,    156,    174,    179,    180,    192,   605 

Home  and  Foreign,  Presbyterian  Church  of  Ireland,  6,  394,  405,  407, 
409  411,  414-418,  422 

Missouri    Compromise ■. 565 

Synod  of,  see  Synod. 

Mitchell,  ,  M.  D '. : ..479 

John  A.,  Rev,.... 76,  140,  144 

] .  W ■ 60 1,611 

MolTett,  Andrew ;...354,  454 

George : 181,  182 

Moneynick,  Ireland 61,  453,   747 

Monitors.  U.  S ..;... 659 

Monod,   Adolphe,  D.D 443,  519 


772 

Moses,  Franklin  J.,  Governor  of  S.  C 673 

Morgan,  James,  Rev 25,  26 

Morris  Island,  see  Island. 

Morrow,  James,  M.  D .._.. 655 

Morse,  S.  E - .__..599,  601,  602 

S.  F.  B.... 599-602 

Sidne: .....360 

Moultrie,  Fort,  see  Forts. 

James,  M.  D 180 

Mount   Pleasant 615 

Mullally,  Francis  Patrick,  D.D . 650 

Murphy,  James  G 258 

Musgrave  &  Edwards. .617 

Name,  changes  in,  see  Smyth. 

Nashville 447,   550,   551,   557,   558,   580-582 

Needham,  Edgar 432,  433 

Negro  churches,  see  Church. 

Negroes,  78,  108,  159,  194-201,  204,  314,  322-326,  329,  330,  332-335, 
338,  339,  341-343,  347,  365,  367,  381,  383.  385,  388,  389,  393,  434, 
435,  438,  452,  467,  469,  470,  563,  579,  622-626,  628,  631,  638,  641, 
643,  644,  649,  651-653.  656,  658,  664,  666,  670,  672-675,  685,  690, 
694-696,   701,   705,    715,   733,   736,    737 

Nelson,  Isaac,  Rev 373 

Nesbit, ,  of  London ...216,  217,  446,  454 

Newark  Presbytery,  see  Presbytery. 

New  Brunswick 171.    172 

Brunswick  Seminary,  see  Seminary. 

England 598,    605 .    681 

Jersey,  College  of,  see  College. 

Mexico ...577 

Orleans 36,  349,  350,  637,  641,  642 

Newport 191,  455-458,  477 

New  School  Presbyterianism,  see  Presbyterianism. 

New  York,  38,  60-64,  98,  100,     172,  191,  307,  353,  477,  510,  598-602,  612 

New    York  Herald . 588,  596 

New  York  Historical  Society 596 

New    York  Observer. 191,  250,  279,  280,  360,  510,  682 

Times 584 

Tribune 602 

Nevin, ,  D.D 617 

Nichol,  James 281,  282 

Noel,  Baptist  Wriothesley,,  Hon.  and  Rev 438 

North  British  Review 263 

North  Carolina  in  the  Confederacy 617,  618,  624,  632,  671,  673-675 

Northhfmpton 27 

N.  C.  Presbyterian,  see  Presbyterian. 
North,  the,  279,  280,  362,  562,  565-567,  571,  575-578,  580,  586-591,  594, 

597,  599-604,  606,  607,  609,  616-620,  633,  694 
North   African   Church,   see   Church. 
Northern  Antiquities,  see  Royal  Society. 
Observer,  Charleston,  see  Charleston. 

New    Yor?. ,  see  New  York. 

O'Conor,  Charles... ...-.600 

Ocracoke  Island,  see  Psland. 

Ogilby, -,  Rev 165,  172,  396,  398 

Old  Bailey,  execution  at..... .41,  42,  45 

Old  School  Presbyterianism,  see  Presbyterianisifa. 

O'Neal,  Charles 182 

O'Neall  or  O'Neill,  John  Belton...... 228 

Orange,  N.  J 60 

Ormond  Quay  Church,  Dublin 6,  405,  408,  409,  416,  422,  425 

Orphan  House,  see  Charleston. 


73 


Orr,  William 3,  614 

Oxford,  Ohio 247 

Tractarian  movement 214,  483,  716,  717 

Pacific,  S.   S..... 437,  443,  448 

Packard,  Fred.  A 250-252,  386 

Palestine,   missions  in,   see  Missions. 

Palmer.  Benjamin  Morgan,  D.D.,  179,  192,  193,  256,  295,  498,  499,  502, 
558,   618,   622,   649-652,   662,    705,    706,   715 

Benjamin  Morgan,  Sr.,  D.D .....62,  86-88,    157,   179,  216,  239,  701 

Edward,    D.D 179 

Edward,  Jr...... 649-652 

Palmetto  badges.... 628,  632 

flag 593-595 

Palmetto  State,  S.  S.,  see  Confederate  gunboats. 

Panharmonican .77 

Papvrotomia.... 77 

Paris 320,   324,   3  35,   441-443 

Parliament,  Houses  of 437,  438 

Pastoral    experiences ...67,  68,    163,  316,  478-483,  536 

Paterson...... 100,    102,   239 

Patton.  Francis  Landry,  D.D.,  LL.D 230,  237 

Peabody,   George. 232,   360 

Pea  Island   see  Island. 

Peck,  J.  R.  G.,  Rev 587,  594,  596,  597,  661 

Peel.  Sir  Robert ..438,  440 

Pelagianism 155 

Persia,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 

Pendleton,  S.  C.,  460,  559.  596,  622,  623  625,  626,  628,  632,  638,  640- 
643,  646.  657,  661,  665-668,  671,  672,  675,  743 

Perkins  Professorship 639 

Perry,  Commodore.. 655 

Peters,   Absalom,  D.D 155,  156,  159 

Petersburg,  seige  of 618,  664-666 

Petigru,  James  L-... - 178 

Phillips,  ,  D.D 43 

Philips.  William  Wirt,  D.D.... 60,  479 

Philadelphia,  4,  37,  62,  104,  162,  165,  172,  175,  176,  307,  322,  341,  342, 
477-479,  531,  562,  585,   603,  604,   618,   619,   688 

cabal 175 

Inquirer ...591 

Pickens,  Francis  Wilkinson,  Gov.  of  S.  C,  562,  563,  586,  612-615,  624, 
625,  632 

Pinckney,  Charles  Cotesworth.  D.D 460,  740,  741 

Pinner's   Hall 27,    54 

Pinney,  ,  Rev 106 

Pittsburg 4,     155-159 

Plumer,  William  Swan,  D.D..... 174,  559,  573,  704 

Plunket,  Anna  Smvth  or  Smith,  4.  11,  16,  39,  59,  100,  102,  318,  344,  345. 
348,  357,  363,  364,  428,  429,  431,  433,  438,  551,  558,  559,  583, 
688,  715,  743 

Anna  II - 318,  447 

Isabella,  see  Clarke. 

James 100,  318,  348,  364,  428,  447,  557,  743 

Thomas  Smyth - ..-.433 

Samuel 433 

Polk,  Leonidas,  Rt.  Rev.,  General 619 

Poole, ,  publisher... 222 

Poor  House  Cemetery 23 

Porter,  A.  A.  r?)  Rev 380,  385,  386,  388,  389,  391,  466 

A.  Toomer.  D.D..... 624,  625,  628-630,  646 

Ebenezer,  D.D : 146 

William 135 


774 

Portraits 40,  41,  59,  334,  382,  387,  446,    742 

Post,  Reuben.  D.D 211,  482 

Potts,  George,  D.D ....__ .._..183 

Powell.  ,B.,  Rev ..__ .._.. _.398 

Prelacy. 215,   217,   241 

Prentiss,  William  Otis,  Rev... 695 

Presbyterian  Banner 573,  574,  578,  579 

Board  of  Publication.... 282,  591,  703 

Central 300,  491,  631 

Church,   see  Church. 

Hercld..... 247 

Historical   Society 292,    742 

North  Carolina 293,  294,  297,  298 

of  the  West 247 

Presbyterianism,  50,  51,  130,  154-156,  162-16^,  171,  211,  214-216.  221, 
226,  236,  239,  241-243,  247,  253,  260,  281,  283,  286-294,  347',  445, 
591,  709,  731,  734-737;  Tracts  on,  see  Articles 

old  and  new  school,  and  conflict  between,  60,  127,  154-159,  166,  169, 
173-179,  193,  194,  211,  215,  234,  242,  272,  294,  342,  343,  347,  349, 
357,  662,  681,  688,  704 

Southern,  Review  and  Weekly,  253,  280,  291,  296-300,  437,  502,  515, 
604-610,  621,  636,  639,  640,  663,  680,  681,  721-726 

In  Ireland,  Reid's  History  of... 227,  228,  232,  233,  290 

Presbytery 288,   295,   607 

Belfast 377 

Charleston,  174,  175,  178,  179,  195,  359,  393,  684,  692,  699,  722,  723, 
736 

Charleston  Union,  4,  27,  75,  144,  166,  169,  174-176,  192,  193,  211, 
229,  233,   239,   342,  467 

Newark.... oO,    6^\    70 

"Presbytery  and  not  Prelacy,"  215,  217,  226,  236,  237,  239,    260,    268, 

269,  299,  445,  749 
Prime,  E.  G.  D.,  D.D 191,  510 

vS.  T.,  D.D.,  "Irenaeus" .-.. 249,  250,  682 

William  C 682 

Princeton,  49,  50,  60,  69,  74,  86,  97-100,  103,  104,  115,  116,  142.  144,  166, 
171,  183,  192,  226,  227,  230,  235,  237,  268-271,  284,  285,  293,  474, 
475,  587,  619,  689,  700-702,  717:  library  of,  172,  741,  742 

Revietu,  or  Biblical  Repertory,  107,  229,  232,  283-285,  287,  289-293, 
297,   298,  490,   557,   558,   607,   609.   680 

Prichard,  James  Cowles,  M.  D 265 

Prussia,  schools  of 254 

Psalmody. 271-277,    294 

Puritan  Theology . 28 1 ,  505 

Queen's  College,  see  College,  Belfast. 
Race  week,  see  Charleston. 

Rafn,  C.C : 282,  283 

Ragin,  Henry,  Cadet 670 

Railroad,  Blue  Ridge .....447 

Louisville,  Cincinnati  and  Charleston.. 327 

Raleigh  Register. 617 

Standard 617 

Ramsav,  David,  M.  D 483 

Miss .....201.    482 

Randalstown,  Ireland .....452,  453,  747 

Rabbi  Raphall 596 

Ravenel,  Daniel 216 

William  C,  M.  D 478 

Rebellion  of  1798,  Irish 3,   173,  614 

Reconstruction 568,  572,  577,  588,  675,  679,  694-696,  704,  705 

Reformation 591 

Reid,  Edward,  D.D 228,  261 

James  Seaton,  D.D. ..227,  228,  232,  258,  259,  261,  262,  437,  446 


775 

Repertory,  Biblical,  see  Princeton  Review. 

Republicans ......562,  564,  586,  594,  602,  617 

Review,    Princeton,    see    Princeton. 

Southern  Presbyterian,  see  Presbyterian,  Southern 

Revival  of  1846,  Sec.  Pres.  Church .183,  189,  194,  359,  364 

of  1858,  Sec.  Pres.  Church 195,  197 

Rhett,  Robert  Barnwell 655 

Rice, ,  Rev...... .606,  607,  609 

T.  O.,  Rev 490 

Richmond,  Legh,    D.D 445 

Richie  bequest  to  Columbia  Seminary 704 

Roanoke  colony 303 

Robespierre.. ....255 

Robertson,    Ann ......487,    488 

Catherine... ■. 628,     632 

James 366,    368-370,    377-378 

Samuel 105,    135 

Samuel,  Mrs.... ...380 

Robes,  official,  of  S.  C.  Legislature...... 580,  581 

Robinson,  Ann  F ..467 

Arthur : 664 

James  K ..136 

John,  61,  62,  70,  71,  82,  83,  84,  86,  91,  95,  97,  98,  105,  109,  136,  138, 
149,    154,    164,    166-168,   215,  341,   354,   355.  380' 

Margaret  and  Mary. 97 

Mary    T 487,    488 

Samuel : 167,  325,  380 

Susan ....216,    347 

Rochester    assembly,    see    Assemblv. 

Rogers,  Zabdiel,  Rev " 383 

Roman  Catholic 350,  357,  364,  558,  591,  607,  681,  694 

Royal  Belfast  College,  see  College,  Belfast. 

Society  of  North,  Antiquities 282,  283 

Rudd  &  Carleton 596 

Rules  of 'conduct 113,  114,  119,  123,  124 

Russell,  Joshua  T.,  Rev... .72,  73 

Sabbath-school,  105,   108,   127,   163,   169,   195,  321,  333,  680-682,  733 

Sachtleben,  August 623,  641,  643,  670 

St.  Andrew's  Church,  see  Church,  Presbyterian. 

Hall  552,     563 

vSaintfield ...' 7,    431,    743 

St.  Michael's  Church,  see  Church.  , 

Luke's  Church,  see  Church. 
Sandwich   Islands,  mi.=sions  to,   see  Missions. 

San  Franci.sco,  secession  excitement 622,  683 

Sass.  Jacob  K ...:. 637 

Satanic    agency 51,    481 

vSavage,  J.  A.,  Rev 53,  54 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  Rowe 514 

Schooners 312 

Scotch   Church,   see   Church,   First  Prespbyterian. 

Scotland,  206,  228,  254,  262-265,  367,  433-437,  440,  441,  443,  452,  454,  467 

Presbyterian    Church,    see   Church 
Scottish   Anti-slavery  Socletv,   see  Anti-slavery. 

Assemblies  of   1838-9,  History    of 115 

Kirk,  disruption,  of,  see  Disruption. 

Scott,  C,  Rev 205 

WilHam  Anderson,  D.D.,  179,  217,  222,  292,  315,  364,  378,  390,  403, 
404,   443,   467,   622,   680-683 

Winfield,    General ...616 

Seabury,  Samuel,  D.D 588,  598 

Secession 549-619,   622,  637 

Ordinance  of 563,  567,  581,  679 


776 

Secessionville. 644,  64.5,  649,  652 

Second  Presbyterian  Church,  see  Church. 
Session,  see  Church,  Second  Presbyterian. 

Seminary,  Theological,  Alleghany .....226,  278,  567,  578 

Tlieological,   Andover 205,    235 

Theological,   Columbia,   89,   93,    144,    165,    178,    179,    188,    192,    199, 
205,  226,  257,  270,  283,  293,  347,  354,  460,  493,  494,  497-505,  559, 
560,  596,  639,  640,  652,  693,  697,  704,  707,  708.  717,  718,  722,  723 
Theological,   Columbia,  library  of,  see  Library,  Smyth. 

Theological,  General 1 65,   396 

Theological,    Indiana 165 

Theological,  New  Brunswick,  .205 

Theological    Princeton,    see    Princeton. 
Theological  Union,  library,  see  Briggs,  C.  A.,  D.D. 

Theological  Union,  Va ..283 

Theological,  Yale,  see  Yale. 

Sentinel.. 211 

Sermons,  27,  28,  85,  88,  113,  114,  UQ-UI ,  146,  173,  199,  250,  305,  306, 
311,  313-316,  332,  335,  346,  384,  386,  393,  444,  470,  471,  478,  483, 
490,  491,  531,  534,  588,  598,  621,  663,  684,  685,  710,  722;  also 
Articles  and  Bibliography 

Seward,  William  H 557,  575 

Shaw,  Colin,  Rev 249,  250 

Sheplev,  Chief  Justice..... 279 

Sherman,  Wm.  Tecumseh,  General... 40,  257,  644,  671,  673,  674 

Shipley,  Joseph 412,  418 

Shotwell, ■,  Rev 706 

Shrewsbury,   Elizabeth   K.,   see  Adger. 
Signal  Corps,  see  Confederate. 

Simms,  William  Gilmore 64 

Simons,  James ....581 

Simonton,  Charles  H.,  Colonel 257,  641,  650,  692 

C.  S ; 169,  170,  182 

Mrs .330,    332 

Sims, -,  Rev .44,  45,  53 

Sinclair,  J.  C 292,  293 

Singapore,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 

Skinner,  Thomas  E.,  Rev 617.  618 

Thomas  H.,  D.D .....156,  157,  162,  357,  362 

Slavery,  55,  157,  158,  174,  201,  228,  233,  234.  250-252,  279,  280,  351-353, 
360-363,   365,   368,   370,   371,    376,    557,    565,   575,   577,   578,   585 
.    592,  593,  598-600,  602,  604-610,  619,  637,  694-696,  705,  736.   737; 
see   Anti-slavery   and  Abolition. 

Slight,  B . ,  Rev 44,  46 

Small,  Robert,  Rev !.....204 

Smith,  Sir  CuUing  Eardley 362 

&  Enghsh ...290 

F.  R.,  M.  D... 165,  170-172    513 

Henry  M.,  D.D ..195,  201,  202 

Isaac  P.,  U.  vS.  S ....648,  649 

J.    Pye,    D.D .265-267 

William  J ..146 

WilHam  Sr.,  "Mudian" 146-151,   154,   166-168 

or   Smyth,    see   Smyth. 
Smyrna,  missions  in,  see  Missions. 
SMYTH  Fi^MILY. 
Smyth  or  Smith,  Anna,  see  Plunket. 

Anne  Ransom,  (Briggs).  550,  551,  557,  583,  584,  634,  638,  640,  645, 

653,  656,  659,  667,  669,  672,  673,  675,  710,  744 
or  Smith,  Ann  Magee,  d.  of  James  of  Saintfield,  4-12,  16,  39.  40,  45, 
59,  ,317,  342,  344,  345,  356,  383,  429-431,  5.t)9,  551,  558,  718,  743 

or  Smith.  Anne,  of  Paterson 592 

Augustine 335,  336,  346,  389.  743 


777 

Smvthe,  Augustine  Thomas,  197,  206,  232,  280,  284,  291,  335,  348, 
354,  355,  363,  380,  381,  383,  384,  387-392,  394,  433,  434,  443, 
446,  448-451,  453,  457,  459,  463,  467,  469,  470,  494,  551,  554,  559, 
563,  583,  584,  592,  593,  612-615,  620,  622,  623,  626,  635,  644,  646, 
648-651,  654,  655,  659-663,  671,  673-675,  683,  684,  705,  710,  741, 
743,  744 

Smyth  genealogy.... .....:.... .743-747 

grandchildren    of  Thomas,  505,  529,  540,  640,  656,  666,  672,  675,  699, 

709,    710,    721,    744-747 
or  Smith,  Isabella,  see  Fauntleroy. 

James  Adger,  165,  187,  197,  252,  263,  321-327,  329,  330,  333-335, 
346,  348,  353,  355,  363,  381  383,  384,  386-393,  395,  433,436,443, 
446-451,  454,  455,  457-459,  463,  466-470,  550,  551,  557,  579-585, 
592,  620,  622,  633-635,  638-641,  643-645,  647-650,  652-656,  658-660, 
662,  664-668,  670,  672,  673,  6/5,  680,  684,  685,  693,  705,  710, 
743,  744 
or  Smith,  James,  4,  11,  36,  39,  317,  320,  344,  347-350,  364,  403,  404, 

549,    550,    715,    743 
Jane  Ann  Adger,  see  Flinn. 

or  Smith,  Jane  Carleton,  wife  of  Joseph,  59,  61,   100,   102,  358,  378, 
404,   743 

or  Smith,  Jennie,  d.  of  Joseph.. 551,  559 

or  Smith,  John  O .....238,  239,  357,  455 

Joseph  (I)..... 3    19,  513,  743 

or  Smith,  Joseph  (III),  4,   11,   18,  39,  59,  61,  98,   100,  345,  348,  354, 

356-358,   395,   509,   558,    743 
(Joseph)  Ellison  Adger,- 433,  450,  451,  457,  459,  460,  463,  467,  468, 
470,  540,  577,  584,  623,  628,  631,  639,  641,  643,  645,  646,  650,  653 
654,  659,  667,  668,  670-672,  675,  685,  705,  710,  743,  745 

Julia    (Gambrill) ......675,  710.  745 

Smvthe,  L.  Cheves  McC,  Rev 505,  744 

Louisa  Rebecca,  (McCord),  515,  662,  663,  668,  669,  672,  675,  683,  744 
Smyth,  Margaret  Milligan  Adger,  62,  64-66,  68,  74-82,  95,  97-109,  120, 
152,  159,  165,  170,  172,  178,  184,  186,  187,  197,  199,  200,  219,  223, 
226,  230,  239,  250,  252,  269,  271,  277,  286,  290,  303-315,  319-335, 
337-342,  344,  346-348,  353-355,  359,  363,  365,  366,  378-395,  412, 
420,  433-443  446-454,  456-460,  463,  466-470,  473,  476,  479,  487, 
493,  503,  526,  529,  534,  535,  551,  558,  583,  584,  592,  593,  613, 
616,  621-633,  636,  638-660,  664-670,  672,  675,  684-687,  706,  715, 
730-740,  743,  747;  amanuensis  for  her  husband,  120,  219,  226, 
337,  687;  death  of  .  hildren,  165,  168,  329-335,  339,  348,  359;  en- 
gagement, 65,  66,  81,  82,  97;  travels  in  Europe,  75,  433-443,  447, 
452-454;  visits  Pres.  Fillmore,  449;  plans  For.  Miss.  Soc,  75; 
school  life,  75:  wedding  journey,  98-105;  work  for  Conf.  soldiers, 
624-633,   645,  646,  649,   653-655,  665 

or  Smith,  Maria,  d.  of  James 404 

or  Smith,  Mary,  d.  of  Joseph : 455,  456 

name,   changes  in,. 4,    167,   593 

or  Smith,  Peter,  son  of  James .350 

or  Smith,  Robert,  4,  11,  36,  37,  39,  316,  317,  319,  320,  344,  394,  551, 
743 

or  Smith,  Robert,  son  of  Joseph'. 357 

or  Smith,  Samuel  (I),  3,  4.  6,  8-11,  16,  19,  36-39,  40,  45,  47,  59.  317, 
342-345,  348,  356,  357,  382,  394,  395,  428-433,  509,  513,  551,  614, 
718,  743;  views  on  abolition,  343;  comes  to  America,  38,  39,  40, 
45,  59,  344;  business  reverses,  10,  343,  344;  visits  Charleston;  344, 
loss  of  children,  23,  343 ;  death,  428-43 1 ,  743 ;  elder,  4.  1 9 ;  in  Ireland, 
3,  4,  6,  8-11,  343,  344;  change  of  name,  4 
or  Smith,  Samuel  (II),  4,  11,  36-39,  316-319,  344,  551,  614,  743; 
member  of  Legislature,  317 

or  Smith,  Samuel,  son  of  James 350,  404 

or  Smith,  Sarah,  d.  of  James 404 


778 

Sarah  Ann,  335,  363,  381-383,  388,  389,  391,  392,  394,  450,  451,  455- 
463,  466-468,  470,  476,  540,  559,  584,  622,  623,  626,  632,  634, 
638-642,  645-647,  650-657,  662,  667-670,  672,  685,  710,  743 

Sarah  Ann  Magee 108,  165,  168,  313,  321-327,  329-335,    466,  473 

Susan  Adger, 165,   168,  314,  321-327,  329-335,  466,  743 

Susan  Dunlap  Adger,  197,  335,  354,  355,  363,  387-389,  391-393,  433, 
450,  451,  456,  459,  463,  466-468,  470,  584,  626,  632,  638,  652-656, 
662,  667-669,  672,  683,  710,  743 
Thomas,  D.D,  called  abolitionist,  175,  215;  meets  Margaret  Adger, 
62;  engagement,  Margaret  Adger,  65,  66,  80-82;  admission  of  church 
members,  183;  visits  Albany,  700;  ambition,  43,  212,  526,  718,  740; 
departure  for  America,  59,  69;  love  of  animals,  515,  540;  appear- 
ance, 171,  339,  552,  559,  560,  595,  723,  728,  730,  738;  arrested  472; 
articles,  see  Articles;  visits  Augusta,  168,  192,  205,  328,  331,  348; 
Author,  books  of  influence,  727-729,  early  efforts,  17,  21,  22,  532, 
MSS.  lost,  257,  305,  306,  722,  work  app.  abroad,  216-219,  437, 
716,  717,  739,  w.  first  pubHshed,  4,  139,  latest  w.,  700,  703,  704, 
706,  708-710,  methods  of  w.,  113,  114,  119,  121-123,  219,  221, 
353,  520-522,  718,  nine  months'  w.,  490,  491,  persistence  in 
w.,  123,  355,  406-408,  w.  at  Princeton,  741,  742,  revised  works, 
493,  494,  742,  w.  on  shipboard,  315,  399,  during  war,  636,  637, 
640,  662,  663;  see  Articles,  section  Authorship,  Bibliog.,  Sermons; 
autobiography,  15,  115,  118,  123,  124,  131,  176,  191,  193,  203, 
207,  211,  213,  257,  307,  315,  466,  467,  473,  488-491,  529,  534, 
537,  541-543,  685,  701-703,  715,  720;  visits  Baltimore,  190;  views 
on  Baptism,  248-250,  269,  281,  295,  296,  480,  558,  592;  life  in 
Belfast,  3-27,  227,  258-260,  485-486,  530,  532,  551,  718-720;  visits 
Belfast,  40,  219,  362,  364,  365,  367,  372-375,  377,  378,  452;  at 
Belfast  College,  see  life  in  Belfast;  Belfast  Col.  certificates,  15, 
23-28,  47-50,  228;  Pres.  ministers  in  U.  S.  who  were  at  Belfast 
Col.  with  him,  27,  719;  studies  bibliography,  214;  birth,  11,  509, 
743;  book-buying,  39,  46,  55,  104,  115,  214,  281,  282,  305,  313, 
316,  385,  444-446,  497,  502,  505,  686;  book-list  for  students,  707; 
visits  Boston,  315,  350,  380;  loses  brother,  316-319;  burial,  715, 
733,  734;  burial  ground,  468,  469,  661,  715;  calls  to  other  work. 
165;  to  First  Church,  Charleston,  71,  77-80,  to  First  Church, 
Columbia,  65,  80,  90-94,  to  Duane  St.  Church,  165,  181,  183, 
184,  to  New  Brunswick,  165,  169-173,  232,  234,  to  S.  C.  College, 
165,  177-179;  visits  Cambridge,  397;  visits  Carrickfergus,  9, 
2  62,  372;  B —  catastrophe,  162,  189,  194;  comes  to  Charleston, 
61,  509,  526,  689-  thinks  of  leaving  Chaileston,  162-166,  169- 
173,  177,  178,  342;  cheerfulness,  514,  515,  537,  539,  721,  732; 
with  his  children  abroad,  451-454,  sends  son,  to  enter  army,  613, 
614,  635,  affection  for  ch.,  323,  338,  339,  451,  456,  birth  of  sec. 
son,  346,  conversion  of  ch.,  197,  470,  death  of  ch.,  165-168,  329- 
336,  339,  348,  359,  describes  elder  ch.,  108,  321,  disciplines  son, 
390,  with  grandch.,  529,  540,  685,  721,  letters  to  ch.,  see  Letters, 
study  withdraws  him  from  ch.,  355,  teaches  ch.,  197,  456,  459, 
503.  539,  540,  542,  642;  with  children  of  Sec.  Ch.,  653,  683,  699, 
733,  734;  views  on  Sonship  of  Christ,  235;  as  a  churchman,  214, 
217,  226,  227,  235,  268,  269,  295,  734-737;  member  of  Cong.  Ch., 
of  Ireland,  18-20,  47,  48,  214;  joins  Pres.  Ch.,  of  Paterson,  60; 
interest  in  Free  Kirk,  217-219,  228,  240,  241,  262,  352,  736;  call 
to  Sec.  Ch.,  61,  64,  65,  68,  70,  72,  77,  82-89,  91-98,  104,  144,  145, 
finds  .building  too  large,  68,  89,  106,  144-151,  plans  semi-centennial 
of  Sec.  Ch.,  206,  207,  290,  491;  first  communion.  Sec.  Ch.,  75, 
389;  views  on  Consti.  Sec.  Ch.,  162-164;  installed  in,  69,  145; 
see  Section  Life  in  Sec.  Ch.,  also  Smyth,  T.,  as  pastor;  opposes 
revision  of  Book  of  Church  Order  or  Discipline,  704,  706,  707, 
719,  735,  736;  coat  of  arms,  62,  63,  748;  color-blindness,  62,  542; 
visits  Columbia,  65,  81,  179,  204,  722,  723;  commonplace  book, 
113,    119,    131,   349;   as   Confederate  citizen,   504,    549,    635,    637, 


779 

640,  642,  644,  646,  647,  649-653,  657,  660,  663,  737,  see  also  Smyth, 
T.,  views  on  secession;  skill  in  controversy,  237,  530,  716,  736; 
prayer  before  Dem.  Convention,  554-556;  loses  letter  of  credit, 
446;  death,  710,  711,  715,  721,  729,  743;  in  debate,  16,  17,  192, 
530,  716;  receives  D.D.,  227,  236,  238;  fails  to  receive  LL.D., 
227-229,  257-262;  diploma,  Princeton,  69;  disposition  in  youth, 
14,  IS,  40.  42,  43,  45;  dress,  62,  308,  313,  323,  339,  380,  595,  697; 
visits  Dublin,  7,  181,  185,  353,  373,  375,  376,  395,  396-398,  414, 
443,  466;  journey  to  East,  see  ill-health;  views  on  Eldership,  see 
Articles  and  Elders;  writes  epitaph  for  wife  and  self,  493;  Evan- 
gelical alliance,  see  Ev.  Al.;  witnesses  execution,  41,  42;  habits 
of  exercise,  191,  455,  457,  462,  471,  509,  510,  663,739;  visits 
Edinburgh,  217-219,  351,  352,  366,  367-369,  391,  414,  433-437, 
446,  467,  742;  visits  England,  443-447,  454,  455;  death  of  his 
father,  428-433,  447,  743;  plans  work  in  Florida,  60,  72-74;  Gibbons 
wreck,  see  Gibbons;  visits  Glasgow,  41,  217,  227,  367,  391,  433,  434, 
440,  441,  446,  452,  453,  467;  baptizes  grandchildren,  529,  699, 
709;  ill-health,  first  in  Charleston,  105,  109,  509,  from  large  church, 
see  Smyth,  T.,  Sec.  Ch.,  expects  early  death,  220,  last  illness, 
709-711,  lessons  from,  509-520,  526-528,  739,  brought  on  by  over- 
work, see  Smyth,  T.,  overwork,  paralysis,  see  Smyth,  T.,  paraly- 
sis, ill  at  Port  Stewart,  452,  453,  prevents  journey  to  East,  443, 
512,  causes  final  resignation,  689,  692,  697,  738,  during' war,  667, 
668,  679,  in  youth,  11,  29,  31,  509;  at  Highbury,  20,  27-29,  40-46, 
50-55,  60,  266,  444,  484,  486,  487,  524;  house  in  Meeting  St.,  460, 
469,  470,  498,  502,  503,  654,  656,  658,  660,  665,  666,  675,  684-688; 
house  in  Spring  St.,  116,  118,  359,  380,  381,  383-385,  387,  413, 
459,  460,  498,  499;  hospitality,  529,  553,  556,  585,  594,  597,  610, 
717;  amusing  incidents,  483-488;  installation,  69,  145;  visits 
Ireland.  441-443,  452-454,  466,  467,  475,  476,  539;  see  visits 
Dublin  and  Belfast;  indices,  119,  120,  121,  27G;  journey  cf  1844,  7, 
181,  183,  350,  351,  353-355,  359,  364,  365,  466;  of  1846,  7,  315,  359- 
363,  364,  366-382,  385,  387,  388,  390,  391,  393-398,  466, 
467,  735;  of  1850,  43,  185,  433-448,  451,  455,  467,  742;  visits 
Kinderhook,  102;  needs  lay  workers,  130,  181,  182;  gives  private 
lessons,  16;  letters  of  sympathy,  705;  lessons  from  his  life,  509, 
512-514.  517,  519-530;  library,  see  Library;  college  librarian,  29, 
214;  certificate  of  licensure,  69;  visits  Liverpool,  399,  403,  414, 
438,  441,  443,  445;  literary  life  and  reading,  11,  113,  119,  122,  131, 
202,  212,  "214,  236,  244,  246,  282,  305,  313,  327,  328,  349,  355, 
520-522,     636,     639,     652,     667,     685-687,     707,     708,     711,     719, 

720,  723-726,  728,  739,  740;  see  Smyth,  T.,  author;  visits  London, 
29,  41,  42,  216,  217,  359-362,  381,  384,  437-441,  443-446,  454,  455, 
484;  loneliness,  211,  212,  223,  526-529,  537;  first  love,  20;  hears 
Macready  read,  349;  interest  in  Mrs.  Magee's  will,  7,  391,  394, 
405-427;  marriage,  66,  75,  95,  389,  390,  524,  526,  743,  747;  views 
on  marriage  of  deceased  wife's  sister,  61,  180;  membership  in 
college  literary  societies,  296,  other  societies  mentioned,  29,  229, 
244,  267,  282,  283,  295,  296,  487,  595,  740;  memorial  services 
730;  methods,  see  Smyth,  T.,  author;  advice  to  ministers,  see 
Ministers;  views  on  the  ministry,  see  Ministry;  separation  from 
other  Pres.  ministers,  see  Smj^th,  T.,  loneliness;  desires  to  go  as 
missionary,  29,  31,  32,  35,  60,  80,  81;  in  miss,  boards  cont., 
see  Miss,  Boards  Cont.,  in  Juvenine  miss,  soc,  see  Miss.  Soc; 
ordains  missionaries,  144,  347;  miss,  sermons,  see  Articles  and 
Bibliog. ;  chairman  Synod's  com.  of  For  Miss.,  143,  181,  204; 
visits  Montreal,  61,  385;  helped  by  mother,  10;  change  of  name, 
4,    167;  naturahzed,   351.   380;   love  of  nature,   9,   315,   387,   521, 

721,  731;  interest  in  negroes,  107,  159,  194-196,  198-200,  202,  204- 
206,  393-394,  552,  694,  733,  736,  737;  visits  New  Brunswick,  165, 
173,  342,  467,  513,  719;  visits  Newport,  191,  455-458.  476,  477; 
vi.sits   New    York,    59,    60,    98-102,     183,    190,  191,  303,  307,  314, 


780 

353,  355,  364,  433,  436,  458,  466,  477,  510;  visits  Norfolk,  306, 
311,  313;  315;  visits  North  Carolina,  105,  109;  befriends  Northern 
clergyman,  585;  ordained,  60,  61;  overwork,  12,  39,  40,  109,  355, 
359,  406-408,  439,  447,  503,  512,  708;  visits  Oxford,  397;  pain, 
190,  193,  515,  517,  663;  paralysis,  185-187,  189-192,  194,  201,  271, 
359,  433,  439,  455,  509-511,  529,  552,  684,  687,  690,  692,  697, 
719,  720,  737,  738;  learns  to  speak  after  paralysis,  684,  738;  visits 
Paris,  389,  440-443,  445,  passport,  380,  381,  as  a  pastor,  47,  48, 
105,  107,  108,  138,  145,  151,  175,  176,  181,  182,  185-189,  194, 
195,  201-207,  270,  316,  321,  323,  325,  328,  337,  340,  341.  354,  359, 
363,  364,  380,  382,  386,  389,  390,  393,  466,  478-483,  486,  534-537, 

544,  545,  568,  569,  587,  588,  634,  635,  637,  640,  642,  644,  645, 
647,  669,  679-686,  687,  689-694,  697-699,  709-711,  716,  727,  732- 
734,  739;  paster  emeritus,  692,  693,  697-699;  visits  Paterson,  59, 
60,  98-102,  104,  342,  378,  380;  patriotism,  4,  360,  613,  614,  737; 
see  Smyth,  T.,  as  Conf.  citizen,  defends  South,  and  love  for  the 
Union;  penmanship,  22,  460,  512,  700,  705,  719;  visits  Philadelphia, 
62,  104,  176,  190,  307,  341,  342,  477-479,  531;  poems,  20,  22,  336; 
repeats  poetry  aloud,  510,  539,  723-726;  portraits,  40,  41,  382,  387; 
at -Port  Stewart,  see  ill  health;  prayer  important,  523,  688,  732; 
as  a  preacher,  43,  124-126,  146,  171,  188,  330,  356,  382,  471,  472, 
478,  530-534,  544,  552,  658,  684,  693,  716,  720,  731-733,  738;  writes 
against  Prelacy,  214-217;  in  controversy  between  Old  and  New 
S.  Pres.,  166,  174,  176-179,  193,  342,  662,  663;  division  of  O.  S. 
Pres.  Ch.  in  1861,  569,  587,  604-610,  618;  in  organization  of  Pres. 
Ch.,  South,  621,  662;  in  division  of  Chas.  U.  Pres.,  174,  179,  193, 
211,  239,  240,  359,  467;  connection  with  Princeton  Sem.,  49,  50, 
60,  61,  69,  86,  97,  103-105,  115,  116,  140,  144,  166,  192,  226,  227, 
268-270,  474,  475,  587,  689,  700-702,  717;  inclines  to  a  professional 
life,  165;  on  psalmody,  272,  273,  277;  publications  unprofitable, 
221,  222;  recklessness,  191,  472-477,  622,  623;  reflections,  488- 
492,  509-542;  as  a  refugee,  639,  641-643,  658-675,  679,  716;  religious 
life,  18,  26,  27,  47,  50,  105,  108,  193,  194,  196,  202,  203,  213,  214, 
223,  225,  226,  517-520,  522,  523,  526-529,  537,  642,  685,  687,  690, 
693,  705,  711,  716,  718-730;  resigns,  165,  194,  201,  203,  689-693; 
rules  of  conduct,  see  Rules;  salary,  74.  82,  83,  95,  97,  98,  165, 
172,  179;  visits  Saratoga,  190;  seals,  62;  self-control,  191,  192, 
213,  471,  472,  531;  sermons,  see  Articles,  Bibliog.,  and  Sermons; 
long  sermons,  146,  684,  disciplines  servant,  643,  666;  shipwrecked, 
see  Gibbons;  love  for  his  sisters,  582,  583;  censured  as  slave-holder, 
228,  362,  363,  366-378;  defense  of  slavery,  228,  592,  637,  736,  737; 
defends  the  South,  549,  557,  564-569,  571-573,  579,  588,  589, 
592,  596-598,  600,  601,  611-614;  engagement  to  Miss  Spear,  18, 
29-36,  40,  43-45;  in  storm,  s&e  Great  Western;  unprofessional  studies, 
131,  202,  246,  455-458,  521,  639,  640;  fire  in  study,  608,  684-688; 
called  "Mr.  Take-your-time,"  583;  on  temperance,  45,  142,  143, 
540;  testimonials,  Belfast  and  Highbury,  23-27,  47-50,  60,  228; 
preaches  against  theatre,  316;  visits  theatre,  41,  45,  54;  on  tobacco, 
540;  Deed  of  Trust,  492,  494;  love  for  the  Union,  564-566,  568, 
572,  597,  598;  visits  Vincennes,  356,  357;  visits  Virginia  Springs, 
105,  123,  187,  189,  191,  203,  207,  213,  291,  316,  461-463,  465, 
466,   470-473,    477,   478,    487,    511,    513,    529,    534,   537-539,    542- 

545,  551,  631,  689,  690;  pastoral  visiting,  see  Visiting;  preaches 
at  Wall  St.  Ch.,  60,  plans  history  of  War,  504,  637,  652;  returns 
home  after  War,  675;  loss  of  property  during  War,  4  92,  549,  720, 
722;  visits  Washington,  187,  190,  191,  380,  448,  449,  514;  wedding 
journey,  98-105;  makes  purchases  for  wife,  62,  64,  385;  will,  252, 
491-494;  strength  of  will,  738,  739;  in  yellow  fever  epidemic,  1871, 
698;  tribute  to  Dr.  Young,  22.  connection  with  Zion  Pres.  Ch., 
194-201,  690,  733. 

Smyth  or  Smith,  Thomas,  son  of  Joseph ..357 

or  Smith,  Wilham 4,   11,  36,  37,  317,  320,  614,  743 


781 

James. .....206 

Lectures 494 

Library,  see  Library. 

Powell,  c.,. 672,  673 

W.  M.,  Rev .27 

Snowden,  Amarinthia  and  Isabella 627 

G.   T : 90,   91 

Socialists 254 

Society  for  the  education  of  young  raen  for  the  ministrj^  323,  337,  387, 
'631,  684,  687 

college,  see  College. 

literary  ai.d  philo.,  see  Liteiary. 

for   the    Promotion    of    National    Unity ..595,    599-603,    611,    612 

"Solace  for  Bereaved  Parents" 291,  335,  336,  490 

Soldiers'  Aid  Society 632 

Ladies'  Asso.,  in  aid  of  their  volunteer 627,  632 

Relief  Association 624-633,  653,  655,  665,   673 

Relief.  Ladies'  Aux.  to  the  Christ.  Asso ....630,  632 

South  251,  279,  280,  351,  362,  549,  557,  560,  562,  565-567,  570-576,  578, 
580,  584-592,  594,  595,  597-600,  602-604,  606-610,  616-622,  634, 
680,  681,  697,   727,  737 

reconstruction  of,  see  Reconstruction. 

Carolina,    75,    560-563,    566-568,    570,    573,    578,    580,    581,  585,  586, 
597,  598,  613,  614,  637,  646,  679,   704,  705 

Carolina  College,  see  College. 

Carolina  Commissioners 561,  567 

Carolina  Executive  Council,  see  Executive  Council. 

Carolina  Legislature 135,  137,  561,  563,  579-581,  605,  673,  692, 

Carolina  Military  Academy ..570,  670,  671 

Southern  Presbyterian,  see  Presbyterian. 
Southern  Board,  see  Missions. 

Speakers,  advice  to 530-534 

Spear,    Arthur 30-36,    42,    44,    45 

Caroline 18,    29,    30-36,    40,    44,    45 

Spencer,  Thomas 486 

Sprague,  William  Buel,  D.D .....697.  700-703 

Spring,  Gardiner,  D.D 508,  618,  619 

Lindley ^ 618 

Stanton,  Edwin  M 367 

Star  nf  the  West,  U.  S.  S 570,  580 

Staveiy,  ,  D.D 227,  453 

Sterelly,  John... 25 

Stevens,  P.  P.,  Major 570 

Stewart,  Daniel,  D.D : 246,  247 

Dugald : 23 

Margaret 409,    413-416 

Robert,  D.D ...:. 261 

Robert 409,    413 

Stiles,  Joseph  C,  D.D 600,  611 

Stillman,  Alfred  R ..730 

Annie   R 728-730 

Charles,  D.D 204,  277 

Stokes,  William,  M.  D 186,  512 

Stoneman's  raiders 67 1 ,  672,  675 

Store,  Big ...623,  633 

Stoughton,   John,   Rev 29,    44-47,    51,    52 

Striebv, .  Rev 553 

Stringfellow.  Horace  D,  D.D 600,  602,  611 

Stuart,  Colonel 6,  614 

General 6,  614 

Martha  M.,  see  Magee. 

Moses,  D.D 235 


782 

Styles,  John,  D.D '..... _._._ 45 

Sue,  Maum,  c 314,  322-325,  339,  341,  342,  346,  393 

Sullivan's  Island,  see  Island. 

Summerton.  life  at,  515,  544,  656,  658-660,  662,  663,  665-670,  672-674,  679 

Stmimerville,  refugee  camp  at.... ..643 

Sumter,  Fort,  367,  491,  561,  567,  570,  572,  576,  588,  591,  604,  612,  614- 
617,  649-651,  656,  657,  660,  661 

Sumter  Watchman .188 

Sunday  School  Union, ....250-252,  479,  629 

Symington,    WilHam,  D.D..... 227,  264,  446 

Synod  of  Alabama,  504;  Albany,  174;  Augusta,  168,  192;  Cincinnati,  234; 
Genessee,  174;  Geneva,  174;  Indiana,  356;  Missouri,  706;  New  York 
Asso.  Ref.,  273;  South,  United,  662;  South  Carolina,  188,  204,  504, 
605,  606,  693;  of  South  Carohna  and  Georgia,  93,  143,  155,  168,  174, 
181,  192,  193,  328,  342,  499,  500,  504.  693;  Tennessee,  143;  Ulster, 
15;  Utica,    174;  Western  Reserve,    174. 

Syracuse .• 552,  553 

Tables,  serving... 130 

Tallahassee,  see  Florida. 

Tallulah  Falls. 487,  488 

Talmage,  T.  DeWitt,  D.D 727,  728 

Taney,  Roger  Brooke 513 

Tarbotton,   William,   Rev 44,    5 1-53 

Taverner,  James  H .....568,  644,  645 

Taylor, ,  D.D.,  of  Bridgeport 585 

Alex.,    Capt 641 

Thomas,  of  Bridgeport 585 

Thomas 91 

Teetotalism 142,    143 

Temperance ...38,  39,  45,  55,  76,   142,   143,  605 

Society,  Yourg  Men's 142 

Teanant,  Sir  James  Emerson..;. 363 

Tennessee  in  the  Confederacy.... ....619,  627 

Territories,  slavery  in.... ....'. 575,  577,  578 

Theatre,  the  ntw 316 

Theological  College,  Belfast,  see  Ccllege. 

school  oi  the  Covenanters... .49 

Seminary,  see  Seminary. 
Third  church,  see  Church. 

Tholuck,  F.  A.  G ....: 359 

Thomas,  Camp 649,  650,  652,  653 

John  P.,  Colonel ; 671 

Stephen 82,   91,   96,    182 

Thompkins'   ice-cream : 442 

Thompson,  George 366-370,  391 

Thomson,  James,  D.D.,  father  of  Lord  Kelvin ..15,  227,  259 

Thornwell,  James  H.,  165,  177-179,  188,  192,  193,  256,  257,  279,  283 
286,  289,  437,  491,  498,  534,  558,  584,  598,  600,  609,  610,  618, 
704,  716.    734 

Tracer-, ,  publisher 216 

Tract  Society,  American 229,  232,  278-280,  553,  591,  600,  605 

Charleston .629 

Tracy,  Joseph,  Rev.... 279,  280 

Trapier,  Paul,  Rev ...695 

Trimble,  William,  Rev _ 5  14,  537 

Trumbull,  H.  Clai-,  Rev 681,  682 

Tucker,  John  Randolph,  Commander ....659 

Tupper,  James 694 

Turner,  D.  McNeill,  D.D 204 

Tussaud,  Mme :... 439 

Tweedie,  Alexander,  M.  D... . 446 

Ulster ......:...« 1,   551 


783 

Underground  railway ;. 553 

Union  Theological  Seminary,  see  Seminary. 
Unitarian,  see  Church. 

U.  S.  Army 617,  618,  622,  637,  653-655,  661,  663,  664,  670-675,  705 

Constitution,  251,  280,  556,  561,  565-568,  573,  575,  576,  578,  579, 

589,  590,  i97,  598,  602,  619,  708 
Government,   561,   565,   570,   572,   574,    577,   602-604,   614,   617-619, 
649,  680,  696 

mint - 94 

monitors 659 

Unity,  National,  Society,  see  Society. 

"Unity  of  the  Human  Races,"    123,   142,   221,   228,   244,   259,   260,   262- 

268,  300,  363,  433,  444,  447,  467,   737,   749-751 
University,  Belfast,  see  College. 

Dublin - - 398 

Edinburgh .._ 269,  436 

Glasgow 15,  227-229,  25  7,  259 

London.... ;... 29 

Prini.eton,  see  College  of  N.  J. 

of  Virginia 598,  631 

Unwin,  William  j.  Rev..... 29,  42,  44-46,  60-52,  55,  444 

Van  Dyke,  Henry,  D.D ...595 

Henry  Jackson,   D.D 587,   588,   593-599,   610,   611,   620,   688 

Vardell,  Anna ...: 322 

Vedder,  Charles    Steuart,  D.D., 530,  699 

Venable,  Charles  Scott,  LL.D., 583 

Vincennes 11,    36-39,    317,    343,    344,    356,    357,    428-432,    447 

Vicksburg 317-319 

Visiting,  pastoral.... 85,  534-536,  683,  684 

Virginia  in  the  Confederacy 570,  616,  624,  627-630,  663-666 

Virginia  Springs,    105,    187,    191,   203,   207,   316,   353,   440,  461-463,  465, 
466,  471-473,  478,  487,  513,  529,  537-539,  542-545,  570,  595,  710 

Volunteers,  Confederate 567-570,  580,  631 

Waddell,  Robert...... 90 

Wadsworth,  Charles,  D.D. 162,  683 

Wagner,  Battery 653-657,  671,  708 

Waite,  James  T. ,  Rev... .205 

Walker,  Elnathan  G.,  Rev 205 

Peter ...284,  289,  290 

War  Between  the  States,  207,  299,  503,  504,  549,  557,  566,  568-576,  579, 
580,  586,  588,  595,  598,  603,  604,  611-675,  679,  694,  697,  720,  737 

Between  the  States,  Records  ol... 504,  637 

of  1812 .340,  341,  589 

Florida 317 

Mexican 317,  38  r,  389,  614 

Warren,  S.S . 317 

Samuel :.... ...135 

Sergeant.. 416,  419 

W.  Dalton... - ...620,  635 

Washington... ....190,    191,   448,   449,    514,   561,    567,   617,   649 

George,  President 94,  556,  582 

Watchman  and  Observer 384 

Waterburv,  Jared  Bell,  D.D 599,  601 

Watkins,  Francis  N 1. 248,  284 

Watson,  Samuel  Lytle 283 

Watts,  E.   K.,   Rev 44,   45,   50,   51 

meeting-house 486 

Wayland,  Francis,  D.D...... ...279,  280,  306,  445 

Webster,  Daniel 449 

Weir,  John,  D.D 444 

"Well  in  the  Valley".... 291,   292,   300,315,   483,  490,   591,   709,   716,    729 
Wells,  Thomas,  M.  D 141 


784 

Western  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  see  Missions. 
Theological  Seminary,  see  Seminary. 

Westminster  Assembly 446 

Weyer's  Cave.. 543 

Whaling,  Thornton,  D.D .504,  505 

Whately,  Richard,  Rt.  Rev... 128,  180,  396-398 

Wheeler's  men 672 

Whewell,  William.    D.D .397 

Whilden ,  J ohn  M ......570 

White,  Elipha,  D.D 1 74 

j£mes  T.,  Rev 205 

Wm.  Spottswood,   D.D... 514 

Whiting,  Margaret  Rogers .....98,  102 

Whitney,  Stephen 184 

"Whv  do  I  Live" 300,483,  716 

Wightman,  Wm.  May,  Rt.  Rev 694 

Wilberforce,  William 55 

William  of  Orange .9 

Williams,  Thomas  P 314 

Wilkes,  Mathew,  Rev 484 

Wilson  vs.  Beecher 156 

Hugh 185 

John,  D.D 43,  47,  486 

John  Teighton,  D.D... 79,  188,  204,  621,  692 

Joseph  M 292 

Robert,  D.D 258 

Samuel  R.,  D.D 704 

Thomas 27,  28,  41,  43-45,  54,  55,  524 

Winslow,  B.  D.,  D.D..... 599 

Witherspoon,  John,  D.D 155-159,  488 

Wodrow,  Andrew 229 

Women's  work.  Confederate,  see  Charleston. 

Woodrow,  James,  D.D 639,  640,  663 

Woodward,  G.  W ..565 

Wright,  Henrv  C 366-368,  370 

Roberts 182,  185,  189 

Yale  Divinity  School 600 

Yates,   Joseph  A.,   Colonel 648 

W.  B..  Rev 597 

Yeadon,  Richard 354,  483 

Yellow  fever 89,  169,  170,  175,  176,  204,  349,  463,  464,  669,  698 

Yorkville 192 

Young, ,  D.D :.....16,  22,  23 

James 90 

Y.  M.  C.  A 300,  443,  594,  630,  632 

Zeigler,  — — ,  of  Edinburgh 366 

Zion  Church,  see  Church,  negro. 


